Thank You

Mood: Overjoyed!
The sun is out! The day is beautiful! What more does one need in life?

[ Yes I know it was only yesterday that I was tired, reckless, and losin my mind (lol).
But you'd be amazed what a good night's sleep can do!
Besides, I'm sure everyone has their bad days. Yesterday was definately mine].

So the source of my happiness is my volunteer work. I usually go after my 8 o'clock class in the morning..but I just couldn't get up @ 6:30 today. So I went directly from home to be there at 10am (I volunteer at a health care home). At this time I wait until the morning mass is over in the main lobby and then help the physiotherapist set up for some physio exercises that occur in a group setting. I must say there has been such a positive outcome of these group exercises! Elderly people come on wheel chairs, with their walkers, and even if they don't have any major physical problems (ofcourse to be involved in these exercises, a doctor's referal is needed). So the outcome has been very positive (since when we first started) of the amount of people that have begun to show up and the positive results that they are receiving (many people that have walkers have seen an improvement in weight bearing; their ability to stand up, and their muscles are getting stronger!)
As the physiotherapist was conducting the exercises (and of course I take mental notes..haha), I met a new member of the physio team. He's actually a recently graduated kinesiologist from York U. I was very excited to be working with him cuz I felt I could talk more easily with someone my own age. We assisted two patients (after the group exercises were over) who were more dependant on nursing care. It is just remarkable how much a persons life changes after a stroke or after a genetic illness. One of the patients, a brilliant man, one of Canada's greatest Doctor's.. he was close with Trudeau and John Paul II among the few known figures. Now, after stroke.. and bedridden, it is very difficult to communicate with him. Working with him, the positive feedback I received was from a firm grip of his hand- him not wanting to let go.
Many patients I meet are tough to understand when they are responsive because so often they mummble or rock, usually saying and communicating very little. Such was the case with a patient suffering from Huntington's Disease.

With one of the physio assistant's I have been assisting a patient with walking. The patient is very young..maybe 42.. who is in the late stages of Huntington's. Due to this, she is bedridden and because her muscles are constantly in motion, she has lost her sence of balance. When I first saw her I was shocked at how thin and how young she was. She is constantly burning calories because of the tremmbling and spasms she goes thorugh.

Earlier this year we began taking walks with her up and down the hallway; her small figure struggling with the steps she was taking. As we were walking, the phyio assistant would always talk to both me and her; about her illness, about her children. It is a very awkward situation to be in because it is difficult to interpret if the patient understands, if the patient minds.. or if she even wants to be walked with. The patient is a human being of course, but limited in her abilities to communicate. If she could talk what would she say? What would she want?
So today I told myself I wouldn't engage in a conversation that involved her illness, and her fragile state (it's kind of rude, don't u think? to be talking about someone when they're right there). Instead, I constantly focused on her steps, focused on her energy, and complemented her very often. Even the assistant noticed- we began telling the patient to straighten her back, straighten her legs, and appraised her when she did so. I honestly was so touched with how well she was doing. She was trying very hard, at her own slow tempo, to coordinate her steps and straighten her posture. We had to support her several times because she wobbled; but she was doing very well. In contrast, last week was the complete opposite. The patient could not walk straight, could not take her steps in sequence..right/left, right/left.. it was more right/right tummble/left. So you could imagine how happy it made me to see her doing so well. I told her we would be back again next week, at which she nodded her head!
After such success, I feel so rewarded! I think the whole physio team feels the progress everyone is making! I am so proud to be helping out in this way.

Take a step outside of yourself and realize the pain and problems other people are going though.
You'd be amazed at how health, which is usually ignored by us unless we are sick, is tremendously valued by these people.

Spreading the Love <3
Augie