CT in OT

Preface My media project was on a case study about Paula who had Parkinson's disease. The item that I was assigned to work with was a golf tee. Paula is 76 years old and was diagnosed with Parkinson's at age 69. She is a retired professor who spent most of her time at the computer in her home office. After being moved to a skilled nursing facility, Paula misses her husband and having communication with her friends online. Paula has decreased visual acuity due to her cataracts and had low gross and fine motor coordination. However, she is very independent and strong-willed and doesn't enjoy "boring" activities.  Parkinson's is a chronic, neurodegenerative disease that affects the neurons within the brain that produce dopamine . With significantly decreased dopamine amounts, comes increased muscle tone. This further results in debilitating symptoms such as tremors, bradykinesia (slowness of movement), rigidity (muscles inability to relax), and postural instab...

Brent Boyle started his usual weekend as a little-league softball coach, however, upon waking realized something was off; his fingers and toes were tingling. Brent brushed this off, assuming it must have had something to do with how he slept. As he continued his day, he assumed the tingling would subside. However, the next morning his entire body was filled with the same tingling sensation and he was unable to move his body including picking up his head. After realizing the condition had significantly worsened, filled with fear Brent and his wife rushed to the hospital. There he was sent to the Clevland Clinic 2 hours away and he was then diagnosed with  Guillain Barré Syndrome.    Guillain Barré Syndrome (GBS) is an autoimmune disorder that attacks the myelin on the neurons of the Peripheral nervous system (PNS). The PNS transfers information to and from the Central nervous system. During GBS, the body undergoes molecular mimicry and confuses the neurons with invaders. T...

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive, neurodegenerative disease that intrudes into people's lives from ages around 40-70 years old.  The literal definition of ALS can be broken down like this:       Amyotrophic - "a" : without, "myo" : muscle, "trophic" : nourishment     Lateral - to the side of     Sclerosis - abnormal hardening of body tissue  This disease, also known as, Lou Gehrig’s disease, damages motor function neurons of voluntary muscle control. Voluntary muscle controls consist of speaking, eating, and even body movements. It affects both upper and lower motor neurons. The upper motor neurons carry messages from the motor cortex to the cranial nerves while the lower motor neurons carry messages from the motor cortex to the skeletal muscles. This inevitably fatal illness has 2 main types: sporadic and familiar. Sporadic is most common while familiar is genetic.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...

I recently watched a moving video about a man named Andy who was diagnosed with Young Onset Parkinson's Disease. Andy is a full-time dad and husband and it is very obvious that he has an amazing support system. Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects the production of dopamine in your brain. Once the dopamine is no longer being produced effectively, muscle tone increases causing bradykinesia, tremors, and balance issues.  https://chillcryotherapy.net/cryotherapy-potential-prevention-treatment-for-parkinsons-disease/ Even with his progression of Parkinson's, Andy is still able to do many different occupations and ADLs, with some modifications. One example is his driving. Andy is still able to drive his children to and from school by adjusting the way he used the steering wheel. He also had difficulty transferring his right leg to the brake so now he uses his right leg for the gas pedal and his left for the brake.  Andy is optimistic yet realistic abo...

Chris Norton grew up in a family who valued optimism. He was awarded a football scholarship at a local college and started his college days unsure of what he wanted to do career-wise. In October of 2010, one of his football games took an unprecedented turn for the worst. Chris was rushed to the hospital where he underwent tests such as MRIs (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) and CT Scans (Computerized Axial Tomography).  It was later identifed that he fractured both his C3 and C4 vertebrae which is the worst case scenario for spinal cord injuries. Seven days later Chris was told that he only had a 3% chance of function ever returning below his neck. He used that statistic to motivate him like never before. "If I wasn't sleeping I was training." - Chris norton A spinal cord injury is defined simply as damage/fracture to a certain area on the spine. This fracture causes damage to the spinal nerves within the spinal cord. It level of impact depends on where the injury occurred. T...

     Many people have an unrealistic understanding of  Alzheimer's as being a "forgetfulness" disease or even that it's "a normal part of the aging process." However, it is much more than that. After viewing @volleybrad 's video on Youtube , I and 1,233,811 other viewers saw the gravity of Alzheimer's disease authentically. Unlike other illnesses, this fatal disease only worsens with time. It is progressive and degenerative and hard for anyone to witness. The unfairness of this disease only increases with the knowledge that there is no cure and only little treatment of this illness. The caregiver oftentimes suffers just as much, if not more, than the patient themselves.       The Alzheimer's Association defines this condition as the most common subtype of dementia that affects memory, thinking, and even behavior . This leads to the inevitable inability to do simple ADLs. Being a caregiver for someone with this disease comes with a great deal of ...