Step It Up

Life around Randi would not be easy at first glance... especially for her patients. With nothing much left to pretend at her age,  she was as fierce as an arrow,  conveying her feelings straightforward with no sugar coating. . She was slender with upright stance and dark piercing eyes.  With such an athletic built,  it would be clear that this woman must spend lot of hours in the gym ... Well, not bad for a 62 year old.. right? She was toned from head to toe and had an agility as a kid, maneuvering herself  easily in Rehab Department. Her biological age would emerge occasionally when  she would rub her knees and we knew that she was due for knee replacement. But for Randi, talking about her aches and pains was practically wasting her time. Besides, her age  had no co-relation with the strength that she portrayed.  Randi,  physical therapist and my colleague, had been part of  therapy world for more than 40 years. Athlete at heart, she believed that everyone should just move their bottom little more. When I started working with her few years back it was a bit shocking to find the way she interacted with her patients. She was frankly honest to a little extreme degree. Once she built friendly rapport with patient, she won't hesitate to tell him/her to loose those pounds  or stop being lazy in not so politically correct way.  She would demand action from them.  More I worked with Randi, I recognized that Randi just step things up. She would make ninety year olds stand on blue foam with and without assisting device to work on their  balance. She would put 3-4 lbs around patient's ankles and make them walk 300 feet to increase their functional muscle strength.... mind you, all of these patients were geriatric patients. She would challenge patients endurance with “I think you can do a little more”as her go to statement.  Well, she would always follow safety precautions and back off if pt is not medically feeling well. But laziness should not be an  excuse as far as Randi was considered. Patients would call her "Drill Sergent" but at the same time they would enjoy working with her. There was someone who was expecting a little more from them at their age which they used to find very inviting. Working with Randi for more than two years made me little more adventures with my patients too. Slowly but surely I understood power of stepping things up.. Randi taught me one important lesson. Old age is just a number. She herself being 62 years old, did lifted  free weights and had a robust aerobic routine... Her sore knees and occasional back  pain were her mere challengers. Those musculoskeletal problems  encouraged her to find different healing strategies like stretching and massage. But giving up on exercise was never an option.  She wanted to make sure that her patients thrive doing exercises as well. Randi would say that you have to challenge patients in all possible ways  and you will see nice growth in their daily functional mobility. You don't want them to be dependent on someone else. Being independent in day to day  activities is such a vital thing to be alive.. Don't do things for elderly instead teach them to do it for themselves. Give them correct tools and they will thrive. Give them some purpose to live for. May be its just walking 100 feet to dining room, folding their own laundry or cleaning up their own room... whatever it is - big or small- its very satisfactory and engaging for them. As a therapist- we  need to challenge status quo. We need to help patients build those muscles.  You work that muscle and it will work for you. You make it rest and you may have to rest in peace( RIP) . Ouch ... what a ruthless fact. That's why  -Step It Up.- praj101