FOUR hours of therapy = one tired Jack! This is my sharing about fatigue, not the Fletchers asking me to share, but important for folks to understand fatigue and the healing brain. Jack will be working VERY hard to get the most out of his therapy sessions over the next several + weeks. Rest and therapy with only one visitor at a time with no more than two a day (family can make exceptions based on fatigue levels and specific targeted therapy) is extremely important so his energy is used where it will best help Jack. Why....? FATIGUE AFTER BRAIN INJURY (excerpts from brainline.org): DESCRIBING fatigue. What exactly is traumatic brain injury-related fatigue? Think about a car. It needs gas to run. If your tank is low, your car will start sputtering and then stop once you have reached the end of your reserve. It’s the same way with fatigue after TBI. Fatigue is caused by a decrease in physiological reserve, which includes a person’s physical and mental reserves. When your brain is “tapped out,” you feel tired. Basically, when a person’s brain is overtaxed, fatigue will set in. WHAT can make fatigue worse? If you have neurogenic fatigue — that is, fatigue related to the damage in the brain’s nerve cells — here are some things that can make the fatigue worse: •not using pacing strategies appropriately, like dividing work (therapy) into “chunks,” and not getting overly fatigued by working to long at a given task •not getting regular, restorative sleep •not taking the necessary naps or getting the rest you need throughout the day •not getting proper exercise or nutrition •taking medications that have sedative properties •having too much stress in your daily life JACKS DAY: After four hours of therapy, which started at 8 a.m. with breaks of an hour or so in-between they sessions ended at 2 p.m. - Jack was wiped out! Jack met with a new neuro speech pathologist, David (who we have known for over 7 years and is wonderful at helping/coping and educating), who showed Jack the Praying for Jack Fletcher FB page. David also spent some time personally with John and Kelly to help them with some tools to interact with Jack. There is a lot of cognitive re-directing and healing. Sequencing, attention, problem-solving, appropriate conversations, etc. are all normal tasks during this time. All his therapists indicated Jack responded appropriately for where they felt he should be for today. John and Kelly are not involved in the therapies, yet, as they are more of a distraction since Jack is wanting to tell them how much he loves them (very sweet)! This evening he was visited by two neighbors/friends - Cole and Andre and Jack picked up a guitar (one that the music therapist left for Jack) and he started playing for his visitors. He also played a game of chess. Jack professes to Kelly all-day that he loves her like crazy and that she is the best mom in the entire world. TONIGHT: Friend who is an RN, Shelly, will stay with Jack tonight. TOMORROW: Jack has another big day of therapy! The Fletchers feel very blessed to have so many people caring for their son and them.
Posted on: Sat, 30 Aug 2014 05:16:52 +0000
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