Lifting OThers: Journey of a Future OT

         My client, Alice, is a 51-year-old woman with a diagnosis of secondary-progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) that she has had for 18 years. This type of MS involves periods of decline followed my periods of remission. Eventually, it follows a pattern of decline. Symptoms that Alice experiences because of her diagnosis include fatigue, decreased gross and fine-motor coordination that becomes worse with fatigue, and weakness which limits AROM in the shoulders. She fatigues quickly, but still reports cooking and doing laundry and pushes herself to do all of her own self-care too. Her husband reports that he comes home and dinner is prepped but not prepared (starts tasks without completing them). My innovation was based off of the spoon theory because a self-reported goal was for Alice to be able to keep doing what she does without bothering her husband. This is a theory that uses spoons as a visual representation of energy levels for the da...

 As a lifelong Tennessee Titans fan, Tim Shaw was one of the first people I thought of when I realized that we had a Neuro Note over Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). My interest in hearing about his story comes from having seen his condition progress as he cheers on his team from the sidelines. I was unaware of his diagnosis or who he was until he came out one game to be honored as the 12th Titan. Since then, I have noticed him at games still going to support his team. What I have noticed is the decline of his condition from being able to walk on the field to needing a wheelchair for assistance. What I was unable to see from just watching him is the purpose and drive that he possesses. This, I learned more about along with his story from his TED Talk "From Strength to Significance." Tim Shaw starts his talk by sharing his condition in Fall 2012. At this point, he states that he was living the dream; he was an NFL linebacker for the Titans and had money, power, and influen...

 Amanda Buch, a neuroscientist and daughter of a man with Parkinson's, spoke about her father's life and diagnosis at Union Hall for Brain Awareness Week. She talks about her dad and how when she was young, he was a software architect on Wall Street as well as a musician and composer. When he was 47, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Amanda's first thoughts after this diagnosis consisted of how her life and relationship with her father change. She said that she saw his occupations become more and more difficulty to complete. He had physical, emotional, and mental changes that included a slumped posture, shuffled feet when walking, and left side tremors before he played his guitar. Something interesting that she mentioned was that large crowds and lots of noise would make his symptoms worse. Eventually, her father lost his job and the family moved, making it harder to communicate with her dad as could not see each other all the time and he could not keep his att...