Take Good Care of Yourselves

This is a time in our world where so many of us are feeling lost, helpless, and unsure about what we can or should do. We, as individuals, need to find a way to meet our own basic needs before we truly are able to give our best to help heal our society.
People need to take better care of themselves. The question is, how do we do that?

" I don't have time, I am not feeling great right now, I am too busy taking care of everyone else. I don't have the right supplies, I need to work, I need to just spend all my time on my computer or phone". 

The list of reasons used to put your own real needs last is enormous. Have you heard about the procedure of putting your oxygen mask on yourself first during an emergency so that you can help others? We need to do that in our daily life so that we can keep going ourselves and be there to help others be well. I'll be the first to admit that I have in the past and still continue to struggle with taking the time and focusing on what I need at the moment and then to follow through and meet those needs. 

Through my various health struggles, I have learned that you start with ONE step at a time and build on what you learn and accomplish. I want to try concentrating on one topic or idea a week and try and incorporate it into my life. I know that it can take a long time to truly master some goals. Still, I am sure that even small efforts with thinking, learning and implementing will lead to positive changes. Maybe something that I share will inspire you!

I'm hoping others will join me in this journey so watch for "Take Good Care of Yourself Sundays." See what changes I am making to hopefully increase my ability to cope in such a challenging time and to continue trying to lead a healthy life.

Recreation therapy and other disciples break up our activities and our therapeutic goals into several categories of health that are intended to create a holistic approach to health and wellness. I sometimes use these as labels for my blog posts, and I also want to use them as ways to organize the topics and ideas I plan to investigate and work on.

Physical 

Social

Emotional/ Mental Health

Cognitive/ Intellectual Health

Spiritual Health 

Sometimes also considered are  

Environmental Health 

Occupational Health

Financial Wellness

Do you have any particular challenges you are facing? Do you have favourite ideas for self-care? 

See you this Sunday for the first 

"Take Good Care of Yourself Sunday."

Spring is Challenging this Year

Spring is officially here but this year we, along with the rest of our world, are facing a great many challenges.

We are starting a period with some common challenges to those faced during winter isolation and we need to try and take care of ourselves. I live in Manitoba where our northern winters often lead to a lot more time spent indoors as well as increased isolation. Cabin fever is real. People start to stay home more because of the weather, and some of us do not respond well to the lack of light, and as a result, we stay home even more. People might even show signs of Seasonal Affective disorder and Depression or other health-related issues.


Social distancing, self-isolation and actual quarantine are necessary and are occurring all around the world right now. Fear of illness and loss and financial loss are real issues. People are concerned and afraid that they might not have the necessities of life such as milk for their kids, prescriptions and even toilet paper. How this will all evolve with time is unknown and a lot about what is ahead for us as individuals are genuinely outside our control. All this adds up to massive stress and many concerns for us personally and for our world. Things have rapidly changed.

What we need to look at now is what we CAN do. How can we address our physical, emotional, social and spiritual wellness? We need to think positively and plan actions for what we can do for our families, our communities and ourselves.

I want to use this blog to start sharing ideas for Leading A Healthy Life during challenging times. I also plan to share more simple projects and ideas suitable for individuals and families, children, people with special needs. I also want to give support to all those fantastic people, like my co-workers, who work with older adults.

I am huge on personal goal setting! I think it is more critical than ever right now, and it is also essential to set up a routine. It might be quite a flexible plan, but still, a reason to get up and do the activities that keep you and your loved ones healthy and keep your mood elevated. 

What I want you to focus on is creating two different lists. 

Get yourself out two pieces of paper and label them:

1. TODAY (no matter what time of day it is right now)
2.  THE NEXT 5 DAYS

On the today sheet

• Just make some decisions about what YOU need to do.. and check them off as you do them. Heck, give yourself stickers if you want to. Decide what is for dinner, if that is your responsibility today, and when you want to serve it. When are you taking your medications, when are you taking time to meditate or do yoga? Decide if, for today, it is okay to watch TV programs as a marathon. Decide on bedtimes. Decide what time to set your alarm clock for tomorrow. What else is on your mind?

On the 5-day sheet 

• Consider reaching needs outside your home. Do you need to order anything? Do you need to go to work? Do you need to contact people and cancel any commitments? Do you have plans to help others in your community during this crisis?

• Consider the people who live with you. Do your kids need home study supplies, do they need to practice their instruments, or perhaps want to take up a new hobby. Do you need to set up an online meeting for anyone? Do you need to review your plans for your Kids TV and online time? Do you need to set aside quiet time with a loved one just to be together? How about having a family meeting about how you might handle your meals and snacks with the current changes in living, Decide who gets to feed the cat or walk the dog and when?

• Consider your own needs. What do you need to happen in the next five days, JUST FOR YOU! It might be an exercise plan; it might be daily phone chats to keep in touch with your friends? Do you, like my youngest daughter, find baking relaxing and want to look for new challenges in your cookbooks? How about some tea time, or time for music, or relaxing in a bubble bath?

I am going to go now and work on my new hobby, watercolour painting. It helps keep me calm and happy.

Take good care of yourself!

pictures in this post courtesy of Pixabay

When Our Goals are No Longer Right for Us

I have spent this evening fighting to input info into a database program for one of my volunteer recreation activities.  I think I played with it for over 2 hours before I came to the conclusion that it wasn't me doing something wrong.  The program is glitchy. Truly Glitchy. Why did it take me so long to give up?

I reported 2 bugs in the past few months and eventually they got fixed and I was feeling happier about how the program was operating. When I used it today I got frustrated and I kept trying, again and again, thinking "what if" I do this or remove and re-add the troubled option? Nope. I tried rebooting my computer. Nope.

It was late at night before I decided it was out of my control and nothing I did was going to change the outcome. I would need to wait until the glitch actually gets fixed.
Why did I waste so much time?

I think being stubborn and maybe a little obsessive has actually worked in my favour and gotten me through a lot of hard times. But NOT Always.

One of my blogging friends recently wrote about changing an important life goal after 9 years of frustration. She questioned her readers "Is this giving up?".   It is a hard question. She is going to keep working on the needed physical skill itself so her readers agreed that it is not giving up but simply working towards her goal in a less frustrating way.

Why are we so hard on people who are giving up, or changing their goals and dreams? Why are we so hard on ourselves?

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, thought like a child, and reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up my childish ways. 1 Corinthians 13:11

Change is continual through our lives and is not restricted to the coming of adulthood, Sometimes as adults, we need to accept that change in a necessary part of our lives and sometimes a sign of personal growth

 If something is no longer your passion, no longer useful or perhaps just not a priority anymore why do we stubbornly hang on to it?  It must be a little different for everyone. Could it be a habit that we feel secure in? Could we be afraid of humiliation and being seen as a failure? Maybe we are scared of that unknown step just beyond us into the future and fear that that step will take us into a worse place than we are in now.

What I believe is wrong is procrastinating so long that fear of that change leaves you waiting in a place that is negative and damaging. It gets in the way of your hopes and dreams and perhaps the needs of others around you.

Lately, I have been watching Marie Kondo on Netflix. She is famous for bringing her organizational strategies to people who are struggling with their physical spaces. Her approach is to take individual items and ask if they give you Joy as a way of deciding what to declutter. If an item is no longer wanted, she says to thank the item and then let it go. Watching this show I am finding that her method is much more charming, practical and hopeful than I expected.
If millions of people are benefiting from her method for decluttering their belongings how many others would benefit from taking such a kind approach to their life choices?

Set those goals and ambitions but don't forget to keep reevaluating your choices to be sure they are still right for you.  If your thoughts about what you are doing give you JOY you are on the right track.  If you decide this is no longer something that you want to do or be, let it go. Release it and be ready to make changes but don't forget to be kind to yourself and be thankful it for what you have learned along the way.

Your past choices and experiences have strengthened you and made you ready for what is yet to come.

Arthritis and Me

I have had a sore knee for a long time.

When I was doing rehab after my brain injury they asked me to do exercises such as sit to stands and squats and I had a horrible time because of pain, not just neuro issues. That would be when we finally got an x-ray of my knee and I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis.

I have spent a long time walking with a bad gait and frankly it never did get quite normal. My knees and hip have taken a real beating. I tend to stand with all my weight on my "good right side".  I tend to twist a little on my hip as I walk and I kind of thud down on that right leg because I don't totally trust that my left leg will support me even though there is no good reason to think it won't now. I am a heavy person and have been since I was a child. My father had bad arthritis. The result of all these risk factors is that  I now have arthritis in both knees and my right hip as well as a bit in my lower back.

I have done a lot to keep the arthritis under control over the years but it just keeps getting worse.  I tried using a knee brace about 6 years ago and that was not all that helpful. I found it very uncomfortable and they are harder to fit properly on a heavier leg. I tended to be moving both legs kind of funny when I walked and it just was a bad treatment for me at the time.

I have been going to exercise classes and I find the water programs for people with arthritis to be especially helpful.

I do try and pace myself and sit and rest my leg when I need to be that isn't always easy. One of the issues that the arthritis help sites talk about is severe fatigue. I would say that is one of my issues continuing from the brain injury too. This makes it doubly harder for me to willingly exercise a lot or work on loosing weight - both of which would ultimately help with the same fatigue and the joint issues.

The past year or two my hip pain in particular has gotten really bad. I had a fall at work just over 2 years ago and it was like someone turned on a pain switch. My hip really didn't bother me much until that point.  I suddenly had a lot of inflammation and pulled muscles that eventually settled down with time and physiotherapy but the pain never totally went away. The arthritis in my hip has progressed rapidly over the past year and now the pain is constant and severe.

I have had cortisone injections in my knees and right hip over the past 18 months. The first hip one felt like a miracle but at about 7 months it wore off. The second one only lasted about 4 months and the last time it only took the edge off.

My family doctor, as well as the sports medicine specialist that I have been seeing, told me I needed to get on the waiting list for joint replacements. It is a long wait around here to see an orthopedic surgeon, never mind the long wait for the actual surgery.  I saw the surgeon last week and despite the fact that I am considered a higher surgical risk we are going ahead with the hip surgery.

My plan is to get myself in the best shape I possibly can before this surgery.  I am still focusing on  leading a healthy life.

I had prepared a post about goals and planning but when I saw this TED Talk by Matt Cutts.  I thought this seemed like an interesting idea that I wanted to explore further.
I had made an effort through December to post daily. It did not happen.  I did post more frequently and I posted a lot more than before about my love of holidays and  I shared a lot more about my everyday life during December. I feel like that was a positive change. It also reminded me how much I like taking pictures and blogging.

This Ted Talk did not strike me as being just about goal setting or doing what is needed or even particularly self improvement. What struck me is that this might be more of a challenge to try something new and push through our comfort levels. If you give a project/change a try for 30 days and find you don't enjoy it... then you just learned something more about yourself and can move on. Maybe you will discover that you can say with pride "I did it!" even if you never want to do it again. Maybe you will find a new passion you want to pursue.  I love the idea of taking something I have tried briefly in the past and devoting a month to take it to the next level.

I do want to add that even with a one month project I still recommend using SMART goals. Check out the link to my blog post on the topic.

What shall we choose to try in next month?

Sharing New Ideas Here

I would like to start  sharing more of the resources and different projects I do with my art groups and some other therapeutic recreation interests on this blog.

I have felt very uncertain about putting actual programs up on the blog. It is a little bit unnerving somehow. Leading a Healthy Life is and always will be about my personal journey and the things I feel passionate about.  I have shared a lot of personal information here over the past nine years since I started this blog on the advice of my occupational therapist.

I keep thinking that I should open some kind of professional themed website or blog for the purpose of sharing recreation therapy ideas and local resources and yes, I do get asked once in a while if my projects or programs are on line for others to get ideas. I really don't want to divide my blogging efforts between two spaces but I have been a bit hesitant to let professional colleagues have access to my umm... vulnerable side which I occasionally share here.

The other side of the issue is that I think the programs I can share would be useful for some of the people who already visit this blog. People who have experienced some major life changes, caregivers and some of my friends might be interested too.

I have worried about this for a long time now and have finally worked it through in my own head. I am comfortable in who I am and I can own the experiences I have had. I have gone through a lot of ups and downs but I still keep going and the times when I have not coped well just show I am human and need support. That is not something to hide but something to be proud of.

I am looking forward to sharing some new posts with art projects, theme ideas and resources as well as more of the healthy living and therapy ideas I learn about on this journey.

What are you waiting for?

I was recently at a meeting where we had a large group discussion and talked about changes we could implement. It was a bit of an exercise in discussing needs and goals and then coming up with creative solutions. I was happy - that's my kind of thing~

The take away lesson was to take responsibility for the changes you want to see next around you. Try and come up with ideas but don't just stop there. Don't assume it is someone else's responsibility and sit there waiting for things to changes.  Just go for it yourself and make positive change happen.

So what are YOU waiting for? What are you going to do to make a difference?

Let's Draw Recreation Therapy-- Video

I love this little video. It explains in under 3 minutes what I do at work!

One thing the video does not make clear is that we need to make the activities fit the needs of the individuals. My seniors would not be suited to doing a ropes course for a social activity but they do love singing along with an entertainer or having a discussion group and coffee party!

Therapeutic Recreation is not all about fun and games... We look at the person's current abilities and needs as well as their interests, their past hobbies, work history and what new things they might like to try. We use that information to help a person with recovery or to maintain their current skills.

Our main objective is to help people achieve a good quality of life.

I Resolve...

On our very first cruise vacation last September.

New Years Day has come and gone.

I read a comment on one Facebook post about a group that started off the New Year singing Auld Lang Syne. A few minutes later they made their first resolution.. to learn the lyrics! How can you top a goal like that?

I have been going through the list of things I could or should work on this year and I was back to making the list of things I feel I need to improve or accomplish. Loose weight, get fit,  practice guitar, clean my house, sew a quilt, become a better artist, learn new skills,  and the list goes on and on.

 I usually think that my priority should be fitness. I am really acutely aware of how important it is to keep strong and keep your joints and muscles working their best. That is remarkably hard to do when you are exhausted.  Yes, yes.. you get fitter and then you have more energy and that is true even when we are talking about post stroke or brain injury fatigue. It can so hard to keep up a positive attitude.

I think what I need to do is to give myself permission to reduce stress and just rest and be kind to myself this year. I have worked long and hard to make changes in my life and I need to reflect on what I have already accomplished and experienced. I need to look for the small little things in life that bring peace and joy.

I do try to practice  mindful meditation and I truly believe that is what helps keep me going and positive. I want to try and bring some of that feeling to my everyday actions. This year I want to take time to focus on what I am doing and on the people I am with. If I am listening to music I want to focus on the music and not be mentally reviewing the lists of things I need to do that day. When I am doing an exercise I want to think about the exercise and focus on how that movement feels. I want to spend more time living in the moment. Not all moments can be joyful, but they are reality and a part of life and I want to give my all to those experiences too. 

I want to wish everyone a wonderful 2016 full of fun, joy, happiness and peace!

I'm Back!

Hello!

It has been months since I blogged.  My last post  included the cliff hanger that I had received a termination notice for my job.

Yippee! I get to stay in my same job!  I had a term job while a staff person was away on maternity leave. When she decided not to return to her former position the situation changed and eventually my little part-time job turned into a permanent job. I am at work about 26 hours every two weeks plus an extra shift every once in a while.

When I thought my job was over I applied for another job as a casual employee at a different Personal Care Home and I got that job too. It is like being a substitute teacher. I get called to see if I can come in to work when regular recreation staff are on vacation or off sick. It is not ultimately a lot of hours but I am really enjoying working there too.

The other things I do each week include facilitating a weekly Art Group at the Stroke Recovery Association of Manitoba, participating in a local community choir and I am still involved with Girl Guides.  I enjoy time with family and friends and I keep trying to learn new things. 

Guitar lessons are on the back burner for now. It just felt like too much for this year but I am not giving up permanently.  I dug out a book of beginner Christmas carols and I am playing and singing away when no one is at home with me except the dog!

I still spend a lot of time really exhausted and I have a lot of joint trouble now but I keep going anyway. I am trying to be very careful how I move and trying to pace myself. It is hard though because my heart and mind wants to try everything and do everything but my body keeps saying "Enough is enough!".

I have worried a lot about what to do with this blog.

The fact is that I am not all that up front at work or in professional situations about my health, my recovery experiences or my level of disability. I am not ashamed of who I am or what I have experienced but most of the time I feel like it is just too much work to explain my life to people. I also don't want to be judged and I don't want people second guessing my professionalism or my ability to do a good job based on the fact that I have had a brain injury.

I strongly believe in advocacy for the rights of people with disabilities or special health needs and I have felt very ashamed about my unwillingness to  be open and speak up for myself.  I was worried that other Recreation Professionals would only see my weaknesses and that no one would hire me and give me a chance to show my strengths.

I have learned a lot about health, recreation and therapy in the past couple of years and I do want to share what I have learned. I have thought a lot about opening a separate blog with ideas about Therapeutic Recreation but I think being true to myself  means that I should just keep going forward with this beloved blog of mine.  I want to continue to share my personal story but I also plan to write about a broader variety of recreational and leisure activity topics, health conditions and community resources. I want to share some of the fun activities I am involved in. 

The title of my blog still works for me.
I still want to write about Leading a Healthy Life.

What Next?

 I checked my email yesterday and opened one from my boss and there it was--- 4 weeks notice of the termination date for my part time job.

I have always known that my job is a term position related to someone's maternity leave. The leave is almost over and changes are going to happen. I knew it was a short term position and thought of it as an excellent way to get real life experience after doing the training. This job has been very rewarding and I have enjoyed my work, spending time with my co-workers and I am really sad that this is coming to an end. I admit it was physically harder than I expected largely due to the issues related to the building. I have pushed and pushed, gone up and down stairs, dragged, lifted and twisted. You know what? It has gotten easier over the past year.

I previously thought I had gotten as far as I could with physical rehab. It seems that working in a 9 story building, where you can't always wait for the elevator, encourages a whole lot of exercise that I would never have chosen to do for myself. On the other hand my neuro and muscle work related improvement is meeting a spot where my age and years of walking funny have damaged my joints. I am going to physiotherapy as needed  and it helps.

Jasper resting at the cottage after a long day of play.

What next?

I follow a wonderful blog The Murphy Saga and the amazing and inspiring author recently wrote :

I've got a choice to either stew over it and be miserable until it consumes me, or I can get busy adjusting to my new life.

 What a powerful approach to dealing with change!

First my husband and I are going on a two week vacation and taking time to have an adventure and enjoy a break away from it all.

I will start to apply for jobs again. I probably should have started much sooner but I was enjoying being settled into this life. I am optimistic that I will find another part time job .. hopefully a permanent one!

Maybe I will take some more courses, maybe I will actually spend time practicing guitar maybe do some different type of volunteering. There are so many new things out there that I could try out..

or

 Maybe I should follow Jasper's lead and just take more time to nap.

Childhood Dreams and Adult Aspirations

Life Goal

What’s one thing that your 10-year-old self thought you would do?

Can you still do it?

How would you approach it to make it happen?

 #HAWMC

Childhood Dreams and Adult Aspirations

When I was a 10-year-old I think I imagined myself a ballet dancer, or a scientist or a zoo keeper or a famous pianist or perhaps I could be a helping people as a missionary in distant and exotic places. Even though I had never gone sailing, I figured that someday I would live on a sail boat in the Caribbean. How can choose only one thing when as a child I thought, like many kids do, that I was invincible and that I could do EVERTHING!

Can I still do it?  I think the bigger question is would I still want to make any of  my childhood dreams come true?

Ballet Dancer?
... all of me hurts at the moment and spinning  and leaping would make me nauseous. I can go in a few weeks and see my 7 year old granddaughter's dance recital and watch her dream of being a great ballerina someday.

Scientist?
... I did become a scientist and worked in that field for about 14 years. I can't do that job any more but that is okay - I am ready for new challenges.

Zoo Keeper?
... At some point I realized that is one really messy job and I wouldn't really want to do it. I do like to learn about ecology and all creatures that have ever  lived, from microorganisms to those extinct dinosaurs. I hope to have more amazing experiences meeting wild animals but I am happy watching the  Discovery Channel.

Pianist?
... I did about 7 years of lessons and it all went away when I got sick. I might be able to get better at playing the piano if I just tried again, but for now I will keep trying to make progress on the guitar.

Distant places?
... I have a daughter who travels to many exotic locations while learning about international health issues and she is doing a lot of good in this world. I can live that dream of mine through her adventures.

Live on a sail boat?
... I had a chance to go sailing on a tiny boat sailing.  I felt sick and dizzy, but loved it anyway. I have plans to go on a Caribbean cruise this year if all goes well.  I think I am okay with living on solid ground.

I have had new goals to work on. This blog, so far, is largely about how I have been working on making my dreams come true.  I am still working on gaining more skills and getting more competent at my older skills. I will just keep taking one step at a time while working on "Leading a Healthy Life".

As I write this I am realizing how many of my own childhood hopes and dreams have been fulfilled in some fashion by my children in their own unique ways. I am proud of my family and ever grateful to them for their patience and support.

 It's not only children who grow. Parents do too. As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours. I can't tell my children to reach for the sun. All I can do is reach for it, myself. 

~Joyce Maynard

PS ~ I have already missed many of the "Daily" posts in the Health Activist Writers Month Challenge. Easter and hurting my back have made this a couple of difficult weeks and I have not been on the computer as much as usual. I plan to still do all the prompts, but they might not be in the right numerical order. I am learning to do only what I can, when I can.

Linda

 

The Final Week of College

The end is in sight.

Painting by Edmond W. Greacen - Ethol with Roses

My course in therapeutic recreation is going to be over after 5 more work days.  In many ways it feels like we just got started and now it is over already. This has been such an exhausting  and difficult experience and in many ways it has been  positive and life affirming.

In a somewhat overwhelmed moment I told my husband I wasn't sure this has been worth it and that I might never actually get a job.

He said he knows it was worth it. My confidence and attitude is so much better.  My interest in learning is  back. My stamina and energy level really has increased since I have been pushing myself to the limit day after day. Physically I still have a lot of issues and I have more than a few emotional scars from the trauma of the past 6 years but I feel very different about myself right now. I feel a sense of value and direction in my life once again.

I don't know what will happen next.
Maybe I will get a job soon.
Maybe I need to get even more training somewhere.
Maybe I should go on a trip.

I think I might just  relax and take some time to smell the roses!

Keep Calm and Carry On?

I am participating in WEGO's challenge to post everyday in APRIL. WEGO is a group that empowers online communities in Health Activism to help others.

Keep Calm and Carry On. Write & create your own “Keep Calm and Carry On” poster. Try to make it about your condition! You can then go to (http://www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/) and actually make an image to post to your blog. #HAWMC

 

 

I was very surprised to find out that people think of Therapeutic Recreation Facilitators as people who just lead Bingo Games and do Arts and Crafts with Old People. It is so much more...

 

One of the first appointments with my Occupational Therapist involved a discussion about what my goals for recovery were.  What were the things I needed to do and what were the things I wanted to do? What had I lost with the injury that would impact on my life?

We talked about what I needed to do to be safe. What did I need to be able to do that were activities of daily living such as managing to dress and feed myself.  Issues related to moving physically, reading and knowing what to do with numbers were at the top of my list.

 

How do you want to spend your leisure time? What helps you participate in activities with your friends and family? What will it take for you to get to go back to volunteer or paid work or allow you to care for your family?

 

I wanted to read, I wanted to cook, I wanted to shop by myself. I had a goal of being organized and remembering what I was doing. I wanted to crochet even though my left hand was NOT working well. I wanted to enjoy photography. I wanted to go camping, hiking and boating.

 

What I REALLY wanted at that point was my old life back.

 

What have I done in my journey to get my life back?

 

I worked on reading and writing with my OT

I worked on how to cook again with my OT

I helped decorate and paint my cottage walls

I wanted music so I joined a very tolerant choir and I found a guitar teacher

I went to boating, sailing events for disabled people to help with my balance

I had  a physiotherapist that made me ride a stationary bike.

I was sent to aquatic therapy where I got to exercise and play in a pool.

I went for (remarkably slow) walks with friends to learn to walk again and gain endurance.

I joined the Stroke Recovery Association and found  peers for support and to do activities with.

I attend adapted Tai Chi classes with a physiotherapist to help with balance, spasticity and strength.

I attended an outpatient group where we  played games to encourage cognitive recovery

I attended a whole lot of sessions of Mindful Meditation.to help balance my emotions

I blog... for recreation and therapy too.. and the hope of making a difference to other people.

 

I have socialized and made new friends and got a lot of support on this journey.

 

That, my friends, is what I think Therapeutic Recreation is all about. 

 

Reality vs Pretend

I just finished a homework assignment.

That Experience a Disability Workshop my class did a couple weeks ago had a write up component to it.  The first part was writing about the different activity stations we participated in thinking up what kind of adaptations could make all these activities easier.  Yup got that. I actually tried to write a little more formally like what was expected for the class but eventually I gave up and just started writing whatever I wanted.
One section was writing about the leisure activity of playing cards, Connect 4 and Bingo as someone with arthritis or as someone with stroke. When writing about what it was like playing cards with the non dominant hand I found myself talking about how there are card holders available for purchase but it is cheaper to get someone to router a block of wood to make a gizmo for holding the cards.  I did not have anything nice to say about a different gizmo for helping do up buttons on a shirt. It was pretty hard to separate facts for the assignment from my many strong opinions.  (blush)

The last write up part turned out to be very stressful emotionally. It was a fantasy situation. You were to pretend you were a person who was just placed in a personal care home after having a stroke. uh huh.

The short simple version of that section would be:

Walking into the corn maze.

1. List several types of Leisure activities you enjoy
2. How you participated in each of them in the past,
3. How you have recently been participating in the activity.
4. What challenges are being faced?
5. What strengths do you have?
6. What are the objectives you are trying to meet?
7. Make a plan for how your Recreation Therapist can adapt or find related activities so  that you can take part in your favorite leisure activities.

In the Corn Maze

This hit very close to home. I did most of my rehab as an outpatient but I  still went through, a lot of goal setting while trying to get old skills back and eventually did give up on some activities I love. I read with interest as some of my blogging buddies work hard and struggle to reclaim their work and leisure skills too.  I realized a while ago that this job I am training for is something that I see as critical to recovery or at least to a good quality of life.

For this assignment I didn't need to imagine what my leisure interests might have been and how they can be adapted. I have been living this assignment over the past 5 years. I have indeed been fortunate to have had so much professional help, as well as friends and family, to cheer me on and keep me moving.

In case you are interested I listed my interests as Photography, Singing and making music, and Hiking and nature activities.

Do you watch "Ted Talks"?

Do you ever watch TED talks? It is a wonderful way to hear some amazing experts and inspiring people talk about a subject for 20 minutes. TED is a non-profit organization that uses the tag line-- Ideas Worth Spreading.  It began about 20 years ago with a conference to bring together people involved in the disciplines of Technology, Entertainment and Design.

Janine Shepherd, a former cross country skier suffered serious injury when hit by a truck during an Olympic training ride. She decided if she might never walk again she might as well learn to fly!  Her message is that you are not your body, and giving up old dreams can allow new ones to soar.

I hope you enjoy this talk. I found her to be inspiring and entertaining.

Closing Doors and Opening Windows

Open Window, Etretat

by Henri Matisse

 

When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.

Alexander Graham Bell

 

The staff of the college program I am entering, the disability advisor and my job coach have all stressed that I need to let go of my different activities for this coming year. I need to focus on school. I know that college is going to use up most of my energy and that spare time will become a thing of the past.

You know what? It is hard to let go of my activities and social life.  I keep trying to negotiate a way that I can keep doing all the things I have been doing. Moving forward to new experiences means I have to leave past activities behind, at least for a while.

Yesterday I called my guitar teacher and told him I was quitting for now and then I cried. I have put a lot of time into getting that darn thing to sound half decent and I was just started to feel like I was making music instead of doing finger and hand therapy.

Volunteering at the hospital is another hard one to give up. The volunteer coordinator sent me the mailing of the recreation activities they need help with for September and I really want to volunteer with  most of them  but I won't be free. I realized with a smile that my reaction is a good thing. It probably means this Therapeutic Recreation program is a good choice for me.

Girl Guides? Actually this one feels okay. I will maintain my membership, and I will still attend the occasional event with girls and hopefully be a bit of a mentor for the younger leaders in my group. I will kind of take on a Grandma role. I will come to the enrollment and take pictures, I will show up for a couple of events over the year.  Guiding has a Trefoil Group for older leaders to meet for fun activities on a monthly basis and I have participated in that group for a couple of years. I already had to send my regrets regarding attending  a day in the country with the group that will occur on my first day of classes.  I am confident that I have the support of this group of women who have devoted years with a recreation and learning program for girls and young women. They understand about the value of the training program I am about to start.

On Wednesday I chaired my last meeting of the Peer Support Group that I have been involved with over the past several years. I am passing the group on to a couple of wonderful people who have been part of the group and I know that things will go even better with their fresh ideas, I am sorry to be moving away from Stroke Recovery Association of Manitoba but that feels right too. I will still show up when I can and I will keep in touch  with my friends but it won't be quite the same. I talked to the organization's Administrator, Russ, about what a home away from home the organization has been for me. He said that one part of the organization's official objectives is  "To assist the Stroke Survivor to again become a participating member of society through mental stimulation, self-help, and socialization" .  He said that is exactly what I was doing.
Moving forward is what is supposed to happen.

Surviving the College Course

I have been a busy person for the past couple of months. I am looking into employment and retraining options for the future with the help of SMD (the Society for Manitobans with Disabilities) and this has led me on several adventures over the past year but the past two months have brought the largest set of challenges. I went back to school and I also started volunteering at a hospital to gain work experience.

I completed the ten-week college course in Interpersonal Communication that I started in January. How did that turn out? I don't have the final mark yet but I expect to have passed comfortably.  I completed 4 short papers and wrote two exams. The first half of the course was an exercise in fitting in and getting back in the grove. I quickly became aware of some major learning problems that did not exist before my health issues started. I used to read a lot and be able to easily remember what I read or heard. That is just not easy anymore. The course had a rather good textbook that was set up with an accompanying online version of the text and a lot of extra study aides available online and boy did I need them.

The teacher is a nice guy with a true desire to educate his students. 

In class there were a lot of small group activities and he managed to let me stay put and have the small group come to me so I didn't need to get up and down all the time. The class room was a very "busy" place from a sensory point of view. There was a heater going, a buzz from the lights and a lot of wiggly classmates. I picked a seat to the left side of the room near the front and that helped a lot since I seem to see and hear a lot better when the action is to my right "good" side.  I had trouble catching everything the teacher was saying, especially if he turned his back to write on the board or talked faster when he got passionate about a topic. He has his own issues with hearing loss and was understanding and more than willing to make every effort to accommodate me.

I found that, even though I usually feel like my language skills and short-term memory are adequate for everyday life now, my language skills fell apart when I needed to learn so many new terms. The course had about 25 fairly complicated vocabulary words a week and I was really struggling. I understood the concepts but word retrieval was absolutely eluding me.  Even if through some miracle I recalled the new word, I might have trouble actually articulating it during class, sort of like a stutter. 

The saving grace for me was that the online resources had a lot of games like memory matching games. …find the card with the word and march with a card with the definition. There were vocabulary crossword puzzles, vocabulary sheets, examples of videos using the skills, and practice tests for each chapter. I worked so hard!! Even with all that my recall was extremely hit and miss. The reason I will have done okay on the exams is because the exam format was multiple choice.  Aha! Apparently I can recognize the word and understand it.  On-line practice fill in the blank tests were miserable.  My midterm exam mark with multiple choice was great.

Reading the textbook was a massive challenge too. I have worked and worked over the past 4 years to get my reading level back up again but it is still difficult.  The muscles in my face do not work evenly so my left eye tracks across the page slower than my right and with a little bounce. Reading this photo rich textbook, for content, was taking me as much as 7 hours actual reading time to get through 30 pages and for every hour of reading I would need to stop and rest my eyes for another hour in order to recover from the growing headache and accompanying nausea. 

The partial solution to the reading issues was that online version of the textbook. I had my textbook open with a highlighter pen in hand and I had my computer read the words to me. [On my MAC you highlight the text you want read and then hit Option plus Escape]. I highlighted anything in the book that I needed to review later in order to work on remembering or comprehending the material. I closed my eyes and listened through examples and basic information.

The formatting style of the textbook made this difficult too. The computer reads straight down the page as printed, including tables and pictures stuck in the middle of text passages. This is also not easy because you can't take your time when reading the hard concepts -- the computer voice plods on with or without you.

I still hope to go to college and take more courses in September but I am starting to become aware of how many barriers I will be facing. I have an appointment with a Disability Counselor/ Social Worker at the college to discuss my options for modifications or assistance in the future. Next time I might not get a multiple-choice exam!

The volunteer experience component of my back to work program overlapped with the last two weeks of the college course. My ability to study and focus plummeted and fatigue won out. I am sure my second terms marks will reflect my exhaustion.

Am I glad I did the course? You bet!

I found it hard to keep to the page limit in the papers I had to write for class. I always want to write too much!

Therefore...

I will save writing about my volunteer experiences for another day!

Me? Going Back to School?

 I have been keeping busy with all kinds of different activities but my main focus has been to gradually progress toward getting back to work. 

I was accepted into a re-employment program a year and a half ago and we have been trying to find out what would be a good job for me now. I did aptitude testing, I took a computer course through them and I have gone with my job coach to interview a variety of people about what their jobs are really like. 

The re-employment program is currently trying to find somewhere for me to volunteer in order to get some real life experience and investigate what might be a good field for me. They want me to volunteer or job shadow for about 12 to 15 hours a week for a minimum of a month in order to prove that I could eventually work part-time. It is possible that if I meet these requirements I might qualify for some government education subsidies.

Last October my case manager and I met with a Disability Counselor at our local community college. We talked about the option of my entering a program at the college and we had a good discussion about what kind of supports I could expect from the college. I also told her the program that was most interesting to me is a certificate program called Recreational Facilitator for Older Adults and we discussed how employable I might be after completing the program.

They have made recent changes and that Rec Facilitator program is no longer being offered on a part time basis so the only way I can get the certificate will be by going to college full time for 9 months starting next September.  It turned out that a couple of the classes I would need to take were offered in other part time programs and the counselor suggested that I take one course and see how it goes. If I do go on next year it would be transferred over and it would make next year a little bit lighter. Everything looks very promising, but I must admit that the thought of being a full time student is very daunting to me.

I am currently taking a course called Interpersonal Communication. The class is from 6:00 to 10:00  one evening a week for 10 weeks. I have made it through 6 evenings, one mid term exam and two assignments.

I am not sure where this will lead, but so far, so good!

Graduating from Therapy

Last Friday I had my final meeting at Easy Street, that fantastic hospital rehabilitation group that was overseeing my recovery. My Social Worker and my Dietitian were the only two therapists I have seen over the past year and I haven't seen either of them for the past 5 months. I have had a couple of phone-calls and many emails keeping in touch with my wonderful Social Worker.  She has kept me in the Easy Street Rehabilitation program while we have been sorting out all the issues related to the vocational rehabilitation program and my efforts to adjust to what is the new normal for my life.

Friday afternoon I went in for a last appointment with her before I was officially discharging from their program.  She assured me that she still wants emails letting her know how my life is going.

I have spent a lot of the time in Occupational Therapy learning to set realistic goals and hopefully these skills are now part of my everyday life!

Two years ago I wrote out a list of what I thought I needed to do before being discharged. My three daughters were all in university at the time and all taking about what courses need to be completed and what last assignments needed to be accomplished before they would graduate. I felt a need to make a "grad" list too. I planned to buy myself a particular piece of jewelry from a hospital fundraiser when I finished rehab, just like university graduates buy a Grad ring.  

I may not have completed all my self-appointed assignments before I was discharged, but I have confidence that I will eventually compete most of my self appointed tasks in some fashion or another. They won't be the first "late" assignments in my life.  (grin)

Some of these items may sound a bit silly, but for me they are all meaningful.

•               Shop independently (done)

•               Cook independently (done)

•               Bake pretty cakes again (done)

•               Read for fun and have it feel like fun  (done)

•               Get my driver's license back (done)

•               Make a photo book of the hospital garden

•               Play a nice song on the guitar

•               Take part in some kind of sport or athletic challenge

•               Get the hang of Photoshop 

•               Finish an afghan I started just before I got really sick

•               Get a job

It is really kind of scary and exciting all at the same time to be officially out of the rehabilitation phase of recovery.  I know that this really is a new chapter for me.

 I still have a lot to work on ... but I am ready to be stepping out on my own.