The Best Kept Secret in Rehabilitation
The following information may come as a shock and is certainly not something that the medical community wants you to know:
Real life doesn’t happen in a hospital or at an outpatient clinic.
Let’s start from the beginning: you have sustained a brain injury. Maybe you had a stroke, you were in a car accident, you fell off a treadmill at the gym, a coconut hit you while you were on the beach, a 2x4 hit you in the face while you were looking for paint samples at home depot (don’t laugh, I’ve heard all of these stories at one time or another from actual patients), but regardless of the cause, you just lived through something that has changed your life forever.
Now comes the rehab…
You find yourself on an inpatient unit – just fancy talk for a hospital with people that are legally required to bother you at least three hours a day while doctors and nurses work around the clock to get you medically stable. Next, you transition to outpatient therapy. For a lucky few, this may mean an outpatient day program consisting of 5 hours of individual and group therapy sessions or, more likely, 2-3 days a week of individual therapy (occupational, physical, speech, etc.). Finally, the day comes when all of the madness ends and you are sent home.
Usually this is the time, my patients have said, that reality hits and you are forced to come face to face with the most terrifying fact: a brain injury is forever.
It’s ok though, we speech therapists always know how to prepare you – you completed all those worksheets for goodness sake – what more could you need to prepare you for real life (said with just a touch of sarcasm)?!
Oh right – probably some more support, education, ideas, strategies on what your new ‘real life’ looks like and how to be successful.
Don’t get me wrong – I love a good worksheet. It is often a great way to challenge you by working on areas that are difficult – memory, attention, thought organization – in a safe and structured environment. However, as a therapist, if I’m not teaching you ways to use what you are learning from the worksheet to and connection it to how it can help you be successful in real life, then in my opinion, I have failed you. It is my job to make that connection between the skills you are learning in an isolated speech closet (you know how they keep is in the room with no windows) and put it to good use outside the hospital and clinic walls.
My entire career as a speech therapist has been spent asking: “How can I make it more functional?”. I think as a professional specializing in brain injury, it is my job to get you ready for the time when all the professionals (therapists, nurses, doctors) are gone and the uncertainty truly begins.
Life Beyond Rehab is all about providing you (or your caregiver/employer/teacher) with functional support strategies and continued education for managing every-day life with a brain injury. I wanted to find a way to bridge the gap and make that integration back into the community as smooth and successful as possible.
As we continue to post information, it is important that we talk about topics that would mean the most to you. What are you struggling with at home that you don’t feel you were prepared for when you left the hospital after your injury? What areas of your life could benefit from a few helpful hints to make your day a little easier? What cognitive skills (e.g. memory, attention, organization) have changed since your injury and seem to keep you from getting back to your life?
We want to post what you care about. Take the time to visit our website: www.lifebeyondrehab.com
scroll to the bottom and let us know what topics are most important to you by filling out our “Contact Us” form.
If you or your caregiver need help navigating life after brain injury through education, support or individualized strategies, don’t hesitate to pick up the phone and give us a call at
480-881-1487
for your free 15 minute consultation – we’re here to help guide you through
LIFE BEYOND REHAB.
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