How physical rehabilitation works wonders with patients

WHEN 49-year-old Wayne Edinboro, a miner for more than 20 years, went to access services at the Health Ministry’s Disability and Rehabilitation Division inside the Palms

Brickdam Compound to treat a sudden physical inhibition he had suffered, he could not even move his wheelchair without assistance.

It was two elderly women, including his dear mom Lorraine Benn, who were on hand to provide assistance to Wayne, but what they often got in return were angry words and hostile behavior, because he himself was not sure what was happening to him.
Residing in Mahdia, Wayne worked in the interior and was having quite a normal day when he suddenly started feeling unwell and subsequently fell. This was around October 2016.
“I was working and I didn’t know it was a stroke until I went to the hospital. I came here in wheelchair, couldn’t work or use my limbs on the entire right side,” he told the Pepperpot Magazine in an interview at the Palms recently.

Wayne was a heavy smoker and although he’s heard the notion that people who smoke marijuana, or generally smoke a lot are prone to a stroke, he still cannot conclusively say what caused his stroke.
After being told that there wasn’t much that could be done for him at the Georgetown Public Hospital, Wayne found his way to the Rehabilitation Department where he found more help, and where he continues to receive therapy.

“When Wayne came here, he couldn’t even move his wheelchair; he had to be pushed by family members. He could not speak so we started with speech therapy. He was very frustrated and was lashing out at his family members. Maybe he was just frustrated and didn’t understand what was happening to him and why it was happening,” related Senior Rehabilitation Assistant, Aloma Fredericks.

Functioning Normally Again
In working with him, Fredericks trained him to use his left hand and helped him learn how to sign his name and to conduct other basic movements. Since he’s talented with art, he can also now continue to draw with his left hand.

Having received the right kind of assistance, Wayne is walking again and his limbs on the right side of his body are now functioning normally once more. In fact, he’s reached the stage where he doesn’t have to be taken for therapy, but goes on his own.
“We have to work with the patient’s emotional needs. Many of them come in disoriented and often question why it happened and are not aware of time and days and even family members. Sometimes patients don’t even know their own names. We first work with those things and constantly keep counselling them,” Fredericks explained.

Once the patient starts to accept the situation, then some exercises will be introduced. “Sometimes they don’t understand. We tell them to raise an arm and they don’t see the need to. Or, ‘It’s hurting me so why should I lift?’ So we have to constantly counsel them and

ensure they do what’s necessary,” she said.
Fredericks said the challenges faced on the job surely serve as a learning experience to her and the others. “I’m not going to say it’s easy, because different patients come with different challenges. But we keep learning on the job.”

Another Success Story
Ms. Joan Alexander, an elderly woman of Ituni, Region 10, has been receiving help from the department since last March. She benefitted from physical and occupational therapy at the facility.
Ms. Alexander told the Chronicle that one morning, she suddenly felt a fever, dryness to her lips, and swinging of the head. “I fell on the ground but I was conscious and I called out to a family member. I couldn’t get up. When I went to the hospital, the nurse said my cholesterol was high and I had blood pressure,” she said.

Following her stay in the hospital, Ms. Alexander came to stay with her daughter in Georgetown, who then sought help at the Rehab Department.
“These people here, God bless them. When I came here, I couldn’t walk. I used to lie down on a bed like a vegetable. They really worked with me. They helped me to exercise. It was painful, but it ended up good. Thank God, no more pain. I thank God for them. They fight with me. I used to hope and pray to go on to the bicycle and the bars. I don’t get any more pain. I’m so glad I can just get up and bounce up,” she expressed.

Meanwhile, 26-year-old Ronicia Martin, who is also a patient at the Rehab Department, is suffering with Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS), a rapid-onset muscle weakness caused by the immune system damaging the peripheral nervous system.
“It’s painful. It took away [the mobility in] my legs, my speech; I have respiratory problems. My heart gave out for 45 minutes the doctor told me. I just fell down. I don’t know until now what caused it,” she said.

Physiotherapist Christine Alphonso, who is working with her, said because of weakness to the lower limbs, Ronica will have to be helped to do certain exercises that will help her to be able to sit up and move from her bed to her chair at least.

‘Rehab Week’
The department concluded its observance of ‘Rehab Week’ just yesterday, after completing a number of activities that were designed to promote the value and importance of rehabilitation, while at the same time, saluting the professionals who provide these services.
Senior Physiotherapist Ms. Barbara Lawrence told the Pepperpot Magazine that ‘Rehab Week’ has been celebrated annually since 2003 and that the main purpose of it is to raise awareness about the services that are being offered across the country by the Ministry of Public Health.

She said it would be good for persons to begin utilising the services in their regions as opposed to travelling to Georgetown, since this can be very costly and time-consuming.
Over the last years, she said rehabilitation services have been established in all of the regions. In Region One, such services are provided at Moruca and Mabaruma, and a unit will soon be available at Port Kaituma.

According to Lawrence, in Region Two, services can be accessed at Suddie and Charity; Region Three, at the West Demerara Hospital, Leguan and Wakenaam; in Region Four, at the Georgetown Public Hospital, the Palms, Ptolemy Reid Centre and at Castellani House; in Region Five, at Mahaica and Mahaicony; in Region Six, at Skeldon, Port Mourant, and New Amsterdam; Region Seven, at Bartica and Kamarang; Region Eight, at Mahdia; Region Nine, at Lethem, Annai and Aishalton; and Region 10, at Linden and Kwakwani.
Lawrence had said she was hoping that as a result of these activities, more persons would seek their services, whether they have a hearing or speech impairment, or a problem with mobility.

“We believe that everyone has a contribution to make, so although you might have suffered an injury or have become paralysed or have lost function because of some illness, you can be rehabilitated and come back to make a contribution to society and that is where we come in,” she declared.