When I was younger I wanted to become
a physical therapist so I could “help” people… but after this first clinical
rotation, I soon learned that this would not be the case. It is going to be about people “helping” me…
healing me, teaching me, growing me and giving me more than I could ever give
them.
During this first clinical rotation there were many people placed in my life. Many of these people I will probably never see again. Funny how that works, right? I have known these people for a total of one month amounting to the most of 12 visits…. accounting for a little under 12 hours and they have made a larger impact on me than some of the people I have known all my life.
Many of the patients that made an
impact on my life were affected by a stroke.
Before I came into the clinic, I had read about the anatomy of a stroke,
types of strokes, how the stroke impacted a person… name it, I had read about
it. However… all this reading was about
the stroke itself, it failed to take into account the patient. If patients were to define themselves by a
disease… yes, this would look like a book patient… a “case study” defined by
words on paper, with all the right symptoms and no personality… simply put… a
paper full of facts. Does this ever
happen, will I ever encounter a “book patient” with no feelings, no
personality? There has not been one patient
I have met that has chosen to define themselves by their condition. At first, I was confused. I found myself referring to the book,
thinking… “Wait, if you have this condition… you can’t do that… you can move
your arm like that if this is torn… wait…STOP… that’s breaking the rules!”
Humans are messy. Our bodies, minds, and souls are connected in
such a way that we will never be a clean-cut “case study.” When I
think about it… I can’t believe that I thought every patient was going to be
the same… as if cut out of a “Rotator cuff” or “Lacunar stroke”
cookie cutter. This thought reminds me
of Psalm 139:14 :)
This past month, through these
patients, I was shown what it truly is to have trust … to the point of tears, gratefulness
… for even the bad days, perseverance… when life around you seems stagnant and
to have peace… when worrying seems so much more attractive.
