today is my third day doing my OT and i feel good! 🙂
occupational therapy or OT refers to the use of meaningful occupation to assist people who have difficulty in achieving a healthy and balanced lifestyle.
according to the OT manual that was given to me, occupational therapists work with a variety of individuals who have difficulty accessing or performing meaningful occupations. they work with individuals who have conditions that are mentally, physically, developmentally or emotionally disabling. their goal is to help their clients have independent, productive and satisfying lives. basically, its about helping someone like me, a leukemia patient on remission, get back my independence and enjoy life as normal as possible. isn’t that great?
so my first OT session which lasted for 3 hours was on dressing, we called it “dress for success”. i told the therapist that i can put my socks, jockey and pants all by myself but its the upper stuff which i find difficult to put on alone. so he helped me in putting on a patient gown as if i’m going to wear a shirt and then he gave me a small panel with fabric and buttons and he asked me to button up the material like a shirt. it was difficult and painful but i was able to pull it through after 30 minutes. whew! the process was repeated i think 3 times and after that he asked me to answer a 3-page questionnaire full of abstract figures. whew again!
afternoon of the same day, i was with my physical therapist and i had fun doing some leg exercises and walking. first it was walking with a walker, then with my cane. i was so proud of myself because i was able to walk farther and broke my own record. after taking a break, i had some stress testing and arm exercises. i was exhausted but i felt really good. seeing those sweats coming out made me smile.
second day of OT is on shaving and it was hard. its been a while since i used my hands that way and coordination was difficult at first. i almost cut the side of my lower lip while shaving my moustache. and i felt really sad when we tried shaving a little of my goatee. he he he.
so today is the third day and i still have two more sessions for OT. i feel a lot better now and i want to believe that i’m getting better, well except for a fever spike two days ago.
i can walk now, a few baby steps, without my cane and it felt really great. i hope i could jog and jump soon.
again i want to say thank you to all those who are praying for me and supporting me financially, emotionally and spiritually. thank you so much. God bless all of you.
the journey continues………..ahoo! ahoo! (inspired by “300”) he he he
B-R-O-K-E-N-M-A-N 