OT/PT

Starting in Kindred Hospital, Richard began receiving occupational therapy.  I mentioned before that in St. John's the OTs would try and talk him out of receiving therapy because it was difficult to move him to get him to the therapy room. One of the OTs actually broke his arm while doing therapy.  It is as if she didn't even look at x-rays of his arm before she started therapy.  What she did would not have hurt most people with normal bone structure.  Richard didn't have normal bone structure, and it caused an injury.  She told him at the time that she was sure that she had just broken up scar tissue, but the x-rays afterward show otherwise. She never came back to give therapy to Richard.  We've never seen her again.

While in HealthSouth, Richard was allowed to receive his first physical therapy.  It was aggressive.  He made tremendous progress there, and I couldn't believe it when he walked again.  It was really a miracle.

After he got out of the hospital, he started therapy at a hand center in Santa Fe.  They were afraid that they were going to hurt him, and didn't push him enough.  Sadly, there was a lot of movement that he lost during that time because they didn't want to work him too hard.

He also received OT and PT services in Los Alamos. Still, they were not wanting to push.

In the end, I find that OT and PT specialists are either wonderful, or they are terrible, and there really isn't too much in between.  The problem is that you can't do without them at all.

The hippocratic oath vows first to "do no harm" but that cannot be done without knowing what you are dealing with.  When serious injury has occurred, don't let anyone touch you that has not seen your x-rays!  It is dangerous.

Finding a balance between pushing you too much and not enough is an art that is learned only through experience. I find that it is something that most occupational and physical therapists struggle with, especially in cases with serious injury.