ChanomiTalk

At three weeks old, Kaika was a birthday present to me three years ago from a friend of a friend. I had wanted a dog for years and was suddenly surprised on my birthday with this cute black and white Border Coli-Rottweiler mix that is truly a wonderful dog. He’s a big, strong dog, a protector. Whenever I take him, or should I say, he takes me for a walk, people turn and walk the other way. Though he is intimidating he is the sweetest pup when he gets to know you. They say a dog is man’s best friend. I believe that to be true.

Sometimes in life things don’t always turn out the way you want. Even though we try our best, sometimes it is out of our control and just not meant to be. What we can control though is how we deal with the situation. We can either give up when we have challenges or look at them as new opportunities. I choose to look at them as new opportunities for growth and a way of self-improvement. Here’s to new beginnings.

脳梗塞（のうこうそく）や脳出血（のうしゅっけつ）などは後遺症（こういしょう）がでやすい病気です。
こうした病気によって生じた心身の機能改善（きのうかいぜん）を図ることは、
病院で行うリハビリの重要な役割です。

しかし、病院でのリハビリで機能がすべて改善するわけではなく、
後遺症が残ってしまうことも少なくありません。

そのため、後遺症が残った状態でも快適に生活できるように
生活環境を工夫することが重要になります。

私が働く病院では
「家屋評価（かおくひょうか）＝home evaluation」というものがあります。

家屋評価では、後遺症が残った患者が
自宅で安全で快適に生活できるかを評価します。
リハビリスタッフが直接自宅に出向き、患者や家族と共に家屋環境を確認します。

その結果、
自宅に手すりを設置する、
トイレを改修（かいしゅう）する、
玄関や部屋の段差をなくす、といった工夫を行います。

環境を設定した後には、患者自身に実際の動きを確認してもらいます。
こうした手続きをふむことで、
患者は自宅に戻った後の具体的な動作を学習し、
少しずつ自宅での生活を再構築（さいこうちく）していくのです。

このように環境面の評価やアプローチを行うことも、まさに「Rehabilitation」なのです。

Yesterday morning we awoke to a long strong shake. It registered 6.7 on the richter scale. We ran outside to our balcony until it subsided. While at work, we were surprised by another strong shake. This one was much shorter. It registered at 5.0. Since January, we have been experiencing mild earthquakes, but they are strengthening in force and the intervals between quakes is shortening. As a result, we packed our emergency bags last night, just in case.

On Tuesday, I cared for a patient in his home. He seemed fine, but after taking he and his wife out for lunch he took a turn for the worst. He ate a grilled cheese sandwich and washed it down with an icy coke.For dessert, his wife gave him two scoops of ice-cream.

She and I decided on smoothies at a local Jamba Juice. But as we walked to the car, my patient began to breathe rapidly and gurgling sounds rumbled from his chest. Suddenly he couldn’t stand and collapsed into our arms. Of course his wife became very anxious and asked if I could take them to a nearby hospital. I was reluctant because I knew that, that hospital wasn’t a good one. On the way, I tried to get fluids in my patient to get the mucus to break up enough so that he could breathe easier. He was now frightened and having significant trouble breathing. After a couple of attempts and weaving in and out of traffic, I got him to swallow a few gulps of water. He began to look and sound fine. So his wife decided, “Why not get the smoothies?”

We went to a different parlor where my patients wife bought him another drink. It didn’t have any milk in it, but it was cold. He walked around until it began to rain and then we went home. He also walked around the yard at home for about twenty minutes before it was time for his dinner.

After sitting him down in his chair for dinner he began to shake violently and his face showed us he was in a great deal of pain. He also had trouble breathing again. Well, we got him to a hospital near his house where we found that he had a slight pneumonia. So an eight hour visit turned into a twelve hour thriller and I was scheduled to work that night at a restaurant starting at 10:00pm. My patient is still in the hospital, but rapidly recovering.

I spent about three and a half hours at the restaurant scrubbing and cleaning floors. I was really tired. After work there, a gentleman that I worked with let me know that he didn’t have a ride home. I thought to myself, “Self, you have worked all day. You’re tired and need to go home and sleep.” But instead, I spent another hour and a half taking my co-worker where he needed to go. I had gotten up at 4:30 the day before and went to bed at 4:00 that morning. My roommate woke me up cleaning at 8:00 and I had to get ready for a fitness training shortly after which was scheduled before my next patient an hour and a half away who I had to see from 4:00pm until midnight. Well, I did what I had to do.

Still tired today, my body wants to rest, but hasn’t had much of a chance yet. Maybe I should find a park like Yukiyo and her friend did and get some rest:)