With every patient who does not understand the purpose of therapy or despises the idea of getting out of bed for rehab, comes a handful of patients who think and feel quite the opposite. My patient, who I'll name Pam, is one out of that handful of patients. I am writing this post for the sole purpose of saying how proud I am of Pam.
Pam is a 70+ year-old lady with leukemia. When she was first admitted to our facility, she could only stand to brush her teeth or comb her hair for 58 seconds. It took her a whole 70 minutes to get through an exercise routine that would normally take my average patient 20 minutes to complete. And it took all her strength to open the cap on her creamer bottle for her morning coffee.
Within 2 weeks, Pam was making slow but steady progress. She was standing longer, completing her exercise routine in a shorter period of time, and having more energy and strength to bust open her coffee creamer. The main concern her physical therapist and I had was that Pam was starting up again with chemo treatments. Five days in a row, Monday through Friday, mid-day, for an hour and a half. We were worried that, including preparation and traveling time, Pam would be too exhausted for therapy and end up regressing.
We came up with a plan. I would see Pam first thing in the morning at 6:50 AM to get her ready for the day doing ADLs, take her to the gym, continue occupational therapy, then she would have physical therapy from 8:00-9:10 AM. She'd have her breakfast, an hour to rest, and then off she'd go to chemo. By the time she'd get back, she would not have to worry about therapy and could relax for the day. This routine would start up all over again the next day. Monday to Friday.
Well, it's now Thursday. And Pam has shown no signs of decline. I show up to her room at 6:50 on the dot every morning and she greets me from her bed with a weak smile on her face. She does everything asked of her, no complaints. One thing that has become part of our routine is stopping by the dining room on the way to the gym to make her a cup of coffee with her special caramel machiatto creamer. That makes her happy. And everytime I think of how hard she is working and how pleasant and positive her attitude is with everything she is going through, I almost want to cry just watching her. I am so proud of her. And I have told her that time and time again.
Tomorrow is our last 6:50 AM occupational therapy session. If I make it up in time, I'm planning on surprising her with her favorite Starbucks latte to celebrate her last day of chemo and making it through a challenging week! On Monday, with her chemo done, I promised to schedule her later in the day so she can enjoy sleeping in again.
