Thursday, March 22, 2007

Miracle Work

I just received an E Mail from Rhonda in the state of Washington. Her father has had a stroke and wondered if there was any hope for him? The doctors report was gloomy and filled with reality. It's all a part of the job to inform the family of the situation. What the family or Rhonda does with that information is entirely different.

Now the doctor indicated there was Little Hope, not No Hope. This caught my attention immediately. Some peoples reaction would be to assume the worst. It's easier to give up and call it a day. As you know that's just not me or I suspect Rhonda because she went looking for answers on the net and wrote to me.

If a door is closed and locked but I can see light around the edges coming from the other side there's a Little Hope not No Hope. Notice how I put an “a” in front of the “Little” and used it as a positive statement. All I need is a “Little Hope” keep the “No's” to yourself. My friend was told by the doctor I wouldn't live overnight. I had the rest of the night to change that outcome. Must have worked, I'm still here!

So what's the chance of recovery? Is there a possibility of a Miracle happening? Let's look at that. The way I look at things you're either recovering or you're passed away. Since you're not passed away you're definitely recovering. There's some good news! With this in mind what are you willing to do to recover? This is mainly up to the survivor to decide.

One little step at a time. Not the Miracle of suddenly being “back to normal” in the blink of an eye. We all hope for that but it mainly comes one little step at a time. Survivors need to realize this and plan in their minds what they'd like to work on today. An example would be talking. So you can't talk, can you slur? Can't slur? Can you make a single sound? What does it sound like in your mind? Does it sound like the beginning of a word you remember? How many different types of sounds can you make? So practice them because they're the beginnings of speech.

For the family caregiver you must be encouraging to the survivor. Tell them what a good job they're doing with each new thing they do. They're starting from scratch so everything is new again. Make sure you help them and don't do things for them that they could do themselves. You want them to keep trying not giving up. You don't want them to let those around them do everything for them.

You're both at the beginning. If you've asked the question, “do you want to get better?” and he nods yes or you can tell by the look in his eyes, the journey has begun. Miracles start with thoughts of hope and Work is what you both put into it. That's why it's called Miracle Work!

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