My Rehab Journey…Part 1 Brian A Beh
My Rehab Journey commenced on Wednesday 21 April 2016 when, after leaving the ICU at Bankstown Hospital and being admitted to the Stroke Unit,I was taken almost immediately to the Rehab Gym for assessment by Ms. Laura King the Physiotherapist Extraordinaire.
This location was going to be my second home for the next 16 weeks- 6 hours a day, 5 days a week!
When I entered the gym that day I was in their words “a mess”- 0/5 strength on my entire right side; hemiparesis on the right side of my face, in a wheel chair\{could not walk\},my late night radio voice reduced to a gravel like husky tone and the equivalent of a garden hose up my right nostril\{my swallow had been damaged|
And so, my journey began.
I started with the basics- “Sit2Stands’ and countless repetitions on the Tilt Machine plus stepping, balancing and many other exercises that Laura and her group of amazing physios had planned to achieve my recovery.
In all during my residency in the gym I did more than 25,000 S2S’s and over 130,000 repetitions on the Tilt machine!
With all plan clear quantifiable objectives were set. Each Thursday Laura was able to assess my progress- I always achieved my weekly targets and we continually ‘raised the bar” to a higher level.
All the planning, exercises and skill of Laura and her team slowly started to pay off- I started to get stronger and on Friday 5 June 2016 I managed to walk back to my ward from the gym\{it was a manner of walking\}-I took about 12 minutes to cover 80 metres!!
Ah the progress! For which I got aa Gold Star!! Still have it on my small radio 4 years later!! I treasure that star more than the several international businness awards I have received.
One personal objective I set for myself was on my Discharge Day I would walk out of the hospital in my business suit, Hardie Amies shirt, Bally shoes, silk tie, cuff links and other regalia- this little brown duck was not going out in a wheelchair in tracky dacks or ‘jarmmies’ -See Photo Below.
Very deliberately I approached my rehab journey with 3 key thoughts in mind, so each day I went to the gym I would-
1. Strive to learn something new.
2.Do an exercise better than the day before.
- If asked to do 20 reps of a certain exercise, say “why not do 40 reps’!
- I made sure that my motivation and desire to recover mirrored the skill and professional of the physios who were guiding me on my rehab journey-otherwise I was wasting theirs and my time!
TRUST ME- ThESE THOUGHTS WORKED FOR ME!
Next week, Stay tuned for…. Stage 2 of My On-Going Rehab Journey!
