I swear that whenever one of my favorite patients discharges (because let's be honest, everyone has favorites even if it's a patient), another one miraculously appears. I evaled a gentleman yesterday who fell off his horse and fractured his ribs. I will name him Bud.
Bud is a gentleman in every sense of the word. In the two sessions I've worked with him, he's called me every nickname your father, boyfriend, grandfather, or husband has ever called you -sweetie, sweet pea, sweet thing, honey, hun, purdy lady, baby girl, babe, darlin. You name it, he's called me it. Sometimes I think it's because he can't quit remember my name just yet. But I think it's really because he's just a gentleman born and raised in the good ol' southern United States.
When I first met Bud, he told me he was originally from Texas. I told him my parents were moving to Austin in November. As soon as I said "Austin", Bud laughed, shook his head and said, "You gotta get down and dirty with it honey. 'AWE-stin'. Not that California talk you sayin there." As we walked to the gym from his room, he proceeded to teach me how to use "yall" and "yonder" in my sentences. I told the other therapists, "I'm learning how to speak Cowboy!" I'm sure Bud thinks I'm nuts.
When I told Bud I grew up in the Philippines, he blurted in his southern accent, "OH so you speak Filipinian!" I knew we were going to have a blast in therapy already. So far, all we have been working on is Bud's endurance. He is able to shower, dress himself, do his grooming and hygiene standing at the sink, etc. with only stand-by assistance. It just takes him forever to do it because he fatigues so easily. And on top of that, Bud does not understand the concept of pacing. So we've gone over energy conservation strategies on the first day after the shower and have been focusing on building his endurance for functional activities.Today, we did nothing but play cards in dynamic standing. Bud was able to stand for about 15 minutes tops (which is great) before having to sit down. The one problem is that Bud likes to work, work, work and doesn't initiate sitting down and taking a rest break. I constantly have to ask him, "Bud, how does your body feel right now? Are you doing ok standing there? Are you starting to get short of breath?" This is what we're working on. The good thing is that he's aware of this concern of mine and is trying to make these energy conservation strategies a new part of his routine.
So we played cards for a good part of our 60 minute treatment today. Bud loves playing cards, which makes it a great activity to use when working on standing tolerance and functional endurance. Bud taught me how to play 21, Poker, and Rummy. Rummy was my favorite. I would try to jump ahead and "hit" and "draw" when I wasn't suppose to and Bud would tell me to hold my horses and listen to his instructions because I was getting ahead of myself. Sometimes I felt like I was the patient. But I only jump ahead because I don't understand Bud half the time he's talking to me because of his heavy southern accent. At times it feels like he's eating his words under his moustache. So I ended up learning how to play Rummy from my next patient who also likes playing cards. When I went back to see Bud for the second half of our session in the afternoon, he commented on how fast I picked the game up.
Bud has already stated his goals for me (yes me, not him) while he is in our facility and when he gets discharged. He says, "Imma make a cowgirl outta you before I leave this place!" Here is his goal list for me, which isn't very client-centered considering all I want to be able to do is beat him at Rummy:
1. Learn how to ride a bull. If this were a real therapy goal, I would be discharged due to insurance reasons (because I would refuse therapy sessions until Medicare denies reimbursement for skilled services), or I would be discharged straight to the hospital for a fractured EVERYTHING.
2. Learn how to rope a calf. I think I would much rather pet the calf than rope it.
3. Get me a pair ah dem cowboy boots. This I don't mind.
4. Eat his buffalo chili. I don't know where he's planning on getting us buffalo meat for this cooking task. Other than that, I'm all about kitchen safety and self-feeding!
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