Open Thank You to Therapists

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All

As a frequent reader and sometime poster on PTManager, I am not a " typical "

member of this forum. By that, I am not a therapist and have never really given

much thought to going back to college to change that. However, over the years I

do feel like I have been adopted as a member of this group. For those of you

that don't know my background, it is a financial one, having worked with a

Medicare Intermediary and some corporate therapy chains-both publicly traded and

privately held organizations. For the past 15 years I have worked to assist

therapists in private practice. With all that said, my experience as a patient

of PT, OT and Speech services have been somewhat limited. I have received

treatement for a frozen shoulder, assistance in figuring out how to avoid arch

pain with my running and more recently, assistance in battling through some low

back and hamstring problems related to my running work outs.

While these have all been good experiences for me, they haven't had a great deal

of drama that really helped me see some of the many facets of therapy. At some

point in many people's lives, they will undergo some sort of trauma that will

really help them focus a bit more on what therapists do and how they can affect

change in a patient's life. I hope most people will never have to undergo this

experience..., but if they do, I hope they get a care team like the one I have

had an opportunity to encounter. My father is 79 and a week ago last Tuesday,

had a stroke in suburban Minneapolis (Apple Valley). Fortunately, my step

mother was driving and she recognized the signs almost instantly. Added to

that, they were within a quarter of a mile of a local hospital. As soon as he

was stabilized, he was transferred to Regions Hospital in St and

immediately sent into surgery. Unfortunately, the clot was not removable and so

off he went to the recovery unit. Last Wednesday he was shipped to the Neuro

Unit and on Easter Sunday they transferred him to the Physical Medicine and

Rehab Unit.

His care team at Regions is unlike any I have ever seen (not that I have seen a

lot). From the doctors, nursing staff, PT's, OT's, SP's, Social Worker's and

Care Cooridinator's this staff has placed the patient and their family's need

for information first. I don't think I have ever seen doctors spend the amount

of time this staff has in making themselves available for questions. While I

expect this type of behavior from therapists, I have never seen a whole hospital

work at communicating the way this one has.

More importantly, the PT, OT and SP's that are working with dad are doing an

incredible job working to restore any function they can. While I was grateful

for therapy care in assisting my minor injuries, I took that somewhat for

granted. But listening to the workers at Regions Rehab Institute, I have a new

appreciation for the skill set you all have acquired and how you put it to work

to change patient's lives. Thank you for all that you do and please never lose

sight of why you are doing it! I have a new found and deeper appreciation for

your skills!

Again, thank you and keep fighting the good fight,

Jim <///><