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TEAMWorks China - Friday, November 13, 2015
- Nov 14, 2015
Friday was full of activity and adventure!
We started the day at the hospital, where they have a new OT/PT area. The new area is very spacious and has a large gym space, an office area, and 3 very large treatment rooms. The floors are pink, like bubblegum pink. #TIC (This Is China)
Today's teaching was all about sensory. Foundations of sensory, why we treat the way we do, what we're really doing. (We don't just do obstacle courses because they're fun, although they are...) Teaching was finalized with lots of entertaining which included a "sensory lab," where our Chinese friends learned how badly they need sensory treatment. They might decide to quit after the slightly challenging obstacle course and prone on platform swing 2-step task. Even the scooter board proved to be a challenge. Although how many of us have really tried these activities ourselves... Hahaha!
Treatment was crazy hectic! We saw the gamut of disabilities and age ranges. From little screaming ones, to an 11 year old with severe neck pain, to a 24 year old patient with TBI, to a 40 year old man with low back pain. Carmen also evaluated an Australian 3 year old for articulation.
Cassie and Shannon worked with a 21 year old guy with CP, who recently lost the ability to walk. They were able to get him standing with a new pair of AFO's, utilizing the parallel bars. He was able to walk between the parallel bars 7 to 8 times while playing tic-tac-toe with Cassie on a vertical surface. He also worked on weight shifting in static stance while reaching for darts to throw at a target. His mom seemed very pleased with his progress throughout the session.
Shannon has a new pen pal. One of her adult patients was insistent on getting Shannon's phone number. We highly recommended that she not call that number for fear of incredibly large phone bills.
Breaking for lunch on a Friday in China can be quite the adventure... We had an authentic Muslim lunch, after which Cassie joined the local Muslim ladies in creating their signature dumplings. Cassie might have struggled with this. Just a tad. In her own words, "the struggle is real, ladies."
While walking through the market after lunch, Carmen decided if she lived in China, she would definitely be a vegetarian. Watching chickens getting their heads blown off with a blow torch was all it took. Various other carcasses were hung all around. Not to mention, we had just eaten one of said chickens, complete with thick skin and neck. Luckily, Amanda took the neck for us. Whew!
After work, as if our jet lagged, wearisome bodies hadn't had enough, we went for more. #TIC We went to the homey apartment of an ex pat family to assess one of their entertaining children and have a scrumptious meal of chicken fajitas. Their little guy was so fun and cute. He was adopted by this family here in China. Shannon assessed the fit of his prosthetic leg and after much problem solving, determined that this little guy has grown since the beginning of August (when he received his leg). His leg was 1/4 of an inch too short. Easy fix by dad.
We're gonna sleep good tonight!
