Neuro Note 5: Alison Piepmeier's Story

          "My Story" is a collection of blog posts that discuss Alison Piepmeier's personal experience before and after her surgery at Duke to remove a cancerous brain tumor. Alison's tumor is in the language area of her brain. She is a writer and professor, and she uses her ability of language not only to connect with others, but as an integral part of her career, so the placement of her tumor is inopportune to say the least. Alison gives a vivid account of the days leading up to her surgery and speaks in depth about her main concerns of surviving in order to be with her daughter and retaining her ability of language. Her story is real and honest in a way that makes the reader feel as though they are part of her experience. Not only does she speak about how she is feeling leading up to her surgery, but she also writes post-surgery, which provides an extremely interesting insight into how exactly her surgery impacted her language and ability to communicate through written words.
          I chose to write about Alison's experience for my final neuro note because I had not previously written about a personal account with a neurological condition. I truly did gain a lot from reading Alison's story. For me personally, I get so much out of hearing the stories of the real life people that have experience with the diagnoses that we learn about in school. Connecting a diagnosis to a name and face makes its impacts seem much more real and dynamic than just hearing the general implications that a particular condition or disease has on a person. One of my favorite parts of Alison's blog posts is that she writes during the time immediately after her surgery. From these posts, the reader is able to see exactly how her brain is working to process language and put the words she is able to find down on paper. I think that as occupational therapists, this is a great example of being able to see how exactly a tumor in a certain area of the brain can impact a person's abilities that are controlled by that particular part of the brain. Alison's story really relates to our course by giving an account of how brain tumors can change a person's abilities that are controlled by a specific area of the brain, but because of the brain's plasticity and ability to change, a person can still learn and heal their brain in a seemingly short amount of time. I would certainly recommend Alison's story to all people, especially healthcare professionals that work with people who undergo brain surgery because of the powerful way she uses words to convey her experience.

Link to Alison's Story: https://m.charlestoncitypaper.com/charleston/my-story/Content?oid=4985574

Piepmeier, A. (2014, September 3). My story. Retrieved June 13, 2017, from https://m.charlestoncitypaper.com/charleston/my-story/Content?oid=4985574

Case Study Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's after he was president, though he did start experiencing symptoms such as forgetfulness in the later part of his term. He relied a lot on his wife, Nancy, when he was in the throes of his illness in order to help him get through his days. One thing I found to be interesting about Reagan's case is that he was thrown off of a horse in 1989, which led to the development of a blood clot in his brain. Nancy said that his symptoms began shortly after this allowing her to think that this might have brought on his diagnosis, though this was never proved with concrete evidence. His main challenges included his sleep schedule and his memory lapses that caused communication troubles. One way that an OT could assist him when it comes to his challenges is by teaching him to reduce the number of naps he takes by filling his days with activities. This will allow him to keep to a more normalized sleep pattern. To assist with the communication issues, he and Nancy will use a reminder board so that they are both on the same page and can communicate more efficiently. The story of Ronald and Nancy is a very heartwarming one in which Nancy is able to provide the support that Ronald needed to live his life as best as he could despite what challenges he encountered along the way.

Neuro Note 4: Rollin' Grizzlies

Photo retrieved from http://www.rollingrizzlies.org/

Last month, I attended a practice for the Memphis Rollin' Grizzlies, Memphis' nationally ranked wheelchair basketball team. During this experience, we had the opportunity to watch a team of men, some who always use wheelchairs and others who do not use a wheelchair other than when they play on the team, practice different basketball drills and scrimmage each other during their off season.  I really loved getting to sit in on one of these practices because I have never experienced anything like this before. The amount of athleticism, strength, endurance, and strategy necessary to play on this team was so impressive and awe-inspiring. I chose to write about this experience because it impacted me in a way that changed how I viewed those who use a wheelchair and how their use of a wheelchair impacts their leisure occupations. These men put their all into playing and didn't hold back in the least bit, which was so fun to watch. This experience tied really well into our neuro course. For example, we were able to see how the level of their spinal cord injury played into their ability on the court. All of these men used wheelchairs with lower backs so that they could be more mobile with their upper bodies. I think this experience was a wonderful example of how traces of occupational therapy can be seen outside of OT services. These men were using their occupation of playing basketball to enhance many areas of their lives including their physicality, social connections, and mental health. I would absolutely recommend this experience to anyone because it is truly an inspiring game to watch, and will certainly make anyone recognize that a person in a wheelchair is just as capable at living life to the fullest as someone who happens to not be in a wheelchair.


Home. (n.d.). Retrieved May 24, 2017, from http://www.rollingrizzlies.org/

Case Study: Muscular Dystrophy

Trevor Conklin was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy when he was 3 years old. He is completely dependent on his caregiver, Ben, to help him do all of his ADLs. Trevor's goals with OT were to increase independence in his ADLs with the use of adaptive equipment and to increase social participation in the community. I think that both of these goals are great for someone like Trevor who really seems to want to break out of his shell more, and these goals will certainly help him to be more independent and confident in his interactions with other people. One thing that surprised me about muscular dystrophy is that there are 9 different types and men are more impacted than women.

Case Study Huntington's Disease

Charles Sabine found out that he had the gene for Huntington's when he was in his late 30s and is now in the early stages where he is experiencing symptoms such as difficulty with speech and swallowing, motivation to begin and complete basic tasks, and depressive symptoms. His father passed away from Huntington's and his brother also has it, but his brother was further along with the disease than where he is currently. One thing that I found interesting about his case is the extreme toll that the disease took on his ability to make decisions and stay motivated when doing tasks. He was a former journalist and reporter, which is a great occupation to tie into his treatments in OT. Currently, Charles is a huge advocate for the disease and spends much of his time spreading awareness.

Main Takeaway from Foundations Course

There were a lot of things about the Foundations course that really supplemented my learning. The more and more I learned about all of the ins and outs of what OT is, what OTs do, and how they go about doing it, I realized that my initial thoughts about occupational therapy as a field were so narrow compared to what I now know. I truly feel like learning about what OT is and what it stands for as a profession really helped me further solidify my feelings about occupational therapy truly being more of a calling than just a job. Aside from learning so much about the more intangible aspects that go into the philosophy and purpose of occupational therapy, I also got a lot out of learning about the more concrete components that will be integral parts of our days once we are full time practitioners. Doing things such as the occupational profile, activity analysis, and working through the OTPF, really helped to give me a better idea of what it is OTs do day in and out. In the end, this class really got me pumped about starting a career in one of the greatest professions out there!

Case Study: Andy Griffith

Andy Griffith was 57 years old when he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Being a very busy actor, he took this hard at first. He suffered from debilitating pain, muscular weakness, and bouts of paralysis in his feet and legs. He also experienced secondary problems such as depression due to his being diagnosed and the change in lifestyle that occurred because of the great deal of pain that he was in. It is thought that his diagnosis was triggered by an intense case of the flu that he had in his late 50s. This shocked me when I read this, because I was not aware that this is thought to be a main cause of Guillain-Barre syndrome. After many painful months, Griffith was able to mostly recover from GBS and return back to his fulfilling and thriving acting career.