Tyler is a 23 year old full-time student at the University of Memphis. On June 11, 2016, he was dropped out of a helicopter, resulting in 9 broken ribs, a broken sternum, a broken shoulder blade, and two broken vertebrae (T7&T8). One of the broken vertebrae cut into his spinal cord, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. Tyler spent 3 weeks at the Shepherd's Center in Atlanta, receiving PT and OT ~4 times a day. They worked with him on regaining upper body strength and adapting to life in a wheelchair. He stated that the therapists at Shepherd Center were very positive about his condition and helped him keep an open mind about what was to come. The occupational therapists were significantly helpful by teaching him new ways to dress himself and brush his teeth. Tyler remains very physically fit and goes to the gym 3x a week with no adaptive equipment. He tries his best to live a normal lifestyle that is not centered around his disability. In my opinion, Tyler is an extraordinary Spinal Cord Injury case because he manages to stay positive and continue living his life as a student, brother, and son. His long term goal is to regain some voluntary movement below his T8, and then continue receiving therapy and making progress from there. Although there is only a 5% chance of full recovery, he has faith that he will walk again one day. For now, his short term goals include maintaining a healthy lifestyle and finding new research options for SCI. I have learned through our study that spinal cord injuries can be very different based on where the injury occurred; however, the main goal of the occupational therapist and the client is to regain independence and maintain a fulfilling lifestyle. I think Tyler is doing a great job accomplishing this.
Pat Summitt is well-known for being an exceptional basketball coach for the Lady Vols at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, as well as being a coach for the women's USA olympic team. In 2010, Pat began showing subtle signs of dementia, but she ignored the signs for another year. In 2011, she was diagnosed at age 59 with early-onset dementia. She went to Mayo Clinic when she began experiencing symptoms including showing up to a game while leaving her car running and calling the wrong terms during the game. She also reported signs such as feeling disoriented when waking up in the morning. She reported that numbers were especially difficult to understand and deal with at this point. After her diagnosis, Pat was determined to continue coaching at UTK; however, after about a year she was encouraged to retire from her position as head coach. She then started the Pat Summitt Foundation to raise money and awareness for research about early-onset dementia. During the middle stages of de...
Awesome post!!
ReplyDeleteLoved reading your perspective!
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome and so inspiring!! I like that you underlined "and" in the sentence, "the main goal of the occupational therapist and the client is to regain independence and maintain a fulfilling lifestyle". That goes along with everything we've been learning in school. Having the same goal is so important!
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