A day at Braintree

Alot of people have asked me what my day is like so I thought I'd share a typical day with Courtney at Braintree.

I usually arrive between 7:30 and 8 depending on traffic. Along with the one to one nurses's aid I help Courtney with her morning bath. Every other day we wash her hair. I help Courtney get dressed -lately she is helping more and more.

Courtney has at least 6 1/2 hour sessions of therapy each day. There 2 - 1/2 hour sessions of pt, ot and speech each. PT sessions are for stretching, standing and/or walking, bed mobility and assessing the tone of Courtney's muscles which have improved greatly since the baclofin pump was implanted just one week ago.

OT sessions are almost always joint PT sessions so that Courtney's entire body is worked. For instance, while in the standing lift the other day therapists played with a balloon with Courtney to get her using her left arm more. They work on getting Courtney to follow commands as well.

Speech therapy sessions focus on cognition as well trying to get Courtney to follow those simple commands I've written about - picking out yes or no from paper cards. These are the exercises that Courtney seems to hate the most. She will often grab the card, crumble it and throw it on the floor! The speech sessions that are her favorite are the ones where she gets to eat!

While 3 hours may not seem like much it is a great deal of activity for Courtney. In between sessions nurses administer medications, check Courtney's incisions or assess her skin integrity and make sure that all of her vital signs are good.

During therapy I sometimes just sit in the corner and watch. Other times I will stand next to or in front of Courtney and speak softly to her to calm her down. Sometimes I'm just a 2nd or 3rd pair of hands to move equipment more quickly so as not to tire or frustrate Courtney.
Of course I'm always encouraging Courtney, telling her she's doing a great job.
I'm very pleased to say that Courtney is developing trust in her regular therapists - Alissa, Melane and Kathleen. It's comforting to see her trust them knowing how vulnerable she must feel.

In between therapy if Courtney is in the wheel chair we walk around the hospital upstairs, downstairs, in the lobby. When it's not to cold we'll go outside for a few minutes. She'll feed herself ice chips (the only thing she's allowed to eat without speech - although that's changing soon). When Courtney's in bed between therapy I encourage her to sleep. Sometimes I'll lay down with her to calm her and other times I sit in a comfy chair in the corner and the two of us nap.

By 4pm Courtney is exhausted and usually takes a cat nap until Craig arrives. Then she'll stay awake for about an 1 1/2 hours playing catch with him or just sitting quietly. By 6pm she's pretty much done for the day and ready for a long night's sleep. I help her get ready for bed and usually leave around 7pm.

Each day brings amazing new things that Courtney does. Each day is a true gift. It's a gift from God that we have Courtney with us and a gift from Paychex that they are supporting me through this leave of absence. We are truly truly blessed to have so much support from employers, friends, family and all the wonderful people here at Braintree.

By the time I arrive at "Uncle Kevin's" house in West Roxbury I'm exhausted! We've also been blessed with wonderful caring family and Kevin almost always cooks dinner for us. I'm sure we'd be eating crackers and peanut butter otherwise! Thank you Uncle Kevin!