Physio assessment - I have a new advocate
 

Hi all, my communications are crap at the moment but I had to share what may be my little window of optimism.

My gp gave me a referral to physiotherapy as I have been getting a lot of pain around my left knee aka my good leg! I finally had my assessment yesterday and the guy was great. He knew very little about pcs but took the time to listen to me stumble along explaining it.

He asked lots of relevant questions relating to signs, symptoms and how it all impacts on my life. He ran the usual stand on one leg and resistance tests and confirmed that had lost a lot of muscle control and stability in my left leg since the blow to the right side of my head.

He has been very proactive since my assessment yesterday in finding out the best team to help me. He is going to work with me weekly to attempt to get my muscles working together while we wait for the acquired brain injury rehab team to take me on.

I wanted to share this to recommend that people take up physio referrals and also psychiatric referrals. Even if you feel it has nothing to do with what is going on with your symptoms these other professionals can often assist by advocating on your behalf that these symptoms are more likely to be neurological in origin rather than structural or mental. This then helps to build a body of evidence on your behalf about what this condition is not, and gets you referrals back into the neuro teams from many different angles.

More than physical
 

It is my opinion that one must consider the body, mind, intellect, emotions. I would not discount that a deficit in more than one of these aspects complicates treatment. I can certainly understand if someone did not want to talk to a psychiatrist. But with the struggles we face it makes sense to me to take any help you can get.

Any port in a storm so to speak. With PCS being so miss understood by some many in the medical field any advocate you can get in your corner is a plus. Or stack the deck, in your favor. If you are like me in work comp. these are even more important. As I have said very early on in my recovery. I want my health concerns addressed that was/is priority one.

I knew I was injured and was aware that it could alter my health and life. What I demand are clear answers. Even if the answers are we don't understand the brain that well and you may not be the same. What I HATE is the blank look and no explanation for the tremors, headaches, confusion, emotions and other symptoms that continue.

mollymum,

Good for you. What a find. Just having someone who listens is such a blessing. Has anybody suggested equine therapy? It can help the brain re-establish gate cadence. Something about how the gait of the horse stimulates the brain to get the motions back.

ALL,

The use of the other disciplines can be great. There is a need to be cautious in selecting some of these specialists as the wrong specialist can also write somatoform in the medical record and prevent further access to care. This is not a reason to not pursue other specialties. Just a word of caution in the selection process. Be extra cautious if an insurance company or IME, QME, etc makes a referral. They usually work against the injured worker or injury victim. In those cases, an well informed plaintiff's attorney may be able to help with a referral.

My dog Louis is almost as big as a pony now and he helps immensely with my walking, and also takes me home if I get disorientated. Having been around animals my entire life I understand the equine therapy logic, maybe the ABI team will suggest it. I have a lovely new walking stick for when I am out alone - hopefully I won't wrap it round anyones head in a pcs tantrum.

That's great, Molly. My physiotherapist is a wealth of knowledge on neurological conditions. I didn't imagine he would help me so much.

Re equine therapy - is it okay to ride horses (providing one doesn't fall off) or will all the bobbing about be bad for the head, especially with dizziness?

I taught therapeutic riding for a number of years so its a topic near and dear to my heart :)

Before being accepted into a reputable program, your doctor will need to sign off and usually your physio. Sometimes the programs physio will also do an assessment on your first visit to help choose equipment suitable for your needs. The riding instructor will also assess you needs for a mount.

All this assessment is very important for the therapy... if you are prone to dizziness, riding may not be for you, depending on the type and frequency of dizziness. If you are unbalanced, a particular type of horse will be (attempted) to be chosen for you. One that has a steady (slow) walk and doesn't transfer too much movement through its back into your pelvis and trunk. The horse should be wider through its back for a wider base of stability.

Lots of factors will be taken into consideration, those are just a few examples above, even just trying different tack can make a huge difference to someone that's unbalanced.

So there isn't necessarily lots of "bobbing about" depending on the horse, some have more active walks and will transfer more movement through to their riders. These mounts are excellent choices for some autistic kids that really need the extra stimulation.

Please make sure if you're going to give therapeutic riding a try that you you choose a reputable program that is a member of Path http://www.pathintl.org/ or CanTRA http://www.cantra.ca/ and not just some random person, with a random stable and some random horses.

Always wear a *properly fitted* helmet. Mine saved my life.
Starr