Congresswoman Gabby Giffords; Body/Brain Injury and Strong Spirit

 Hey Mardy.........Great article on Gabby Giffords.  I too watched the coverage on TV and thought Diane Sawyer did a great job.  I had trouble keeping a dry eye through the entire show.  It brought back so many memories of patients that I had worked with in my life as an occupational therapist and the deep gratitude that the patients and their families expressed.

Petie - it's GRATE to get your feedback and input.  Thank you for taking the time to write a comment on this.  I like your Point A to B description.  Part of the difficulty with defining OT is that it HAS changed over the years; as you said it used to be basically all OTRs that became CHTs.  (Certified Hand Therapist)  Now it's a mix.  PTs used to do wheelchair positioning until it wasn't reimbursed well, then it was shifted off to OTs, who hadn't had training in it in school since PTs used to do it!  

I remember being in OT school in 1994-5-6, studying physiology, and seeing the similarities of the legs and the arms and thinking 'why don't PTs just 'do' all to do with upper extremities as its the same 'stuff' as what they are doing with the feet, ankles and hands, and leave the FUNCTION to us? That entails much to do with figuring out compensatory strategies and equipment.  And I think that's the way things have evolved and will continue to evolve.  

NEAT that you're also a fan of EK, which is also known as Brain Gym.  There are other similar varieties of the same type of thing .. same as with different types of Yoga or meditation -- if you 'invent something' that is enough different than other 'brands' you can create something you own the legal rights to.  And perhaps they were doing something like that with her, but my overall impression was she was getting REALLY good therapist with things that were cutting edge long ago and are now very proven; I'd like to see her get things that are 'cutting edge' today.  

Lynn Hellerstein, OD, who has written See it. Say it. DO it! had ALSO seen the show and was appreciative of my encouragement of getting the book to her 'people'; I suggested the speech therapist, who has a doctorate and is on the faculty of a school would be my suggestion, in addition to her Congressional office, naturally.  So we'll see, maybe something will come of that and we'll get an update from Lynn someday that 'we got through to her'.  Having vision therapy is going to be instrumental to her brain getting better with EVERYTHING.   

And as I said, getting her in an automobile in a safe place and infusing her brain/body with all the inputs that need to be calculated with car control would just really 'bring things together'.  That's a good thing for people who are aging or have medical impairments that have a neurological or brain component.   

AND finally, the power of prayer -- by the person and others; SO True.  Body/mind/spirit is what we're about here at Lumigrate and you're RIGHT ON with that, Petie! Again, thanks for the awesome comment! ~~ Mardy

Here is a link to the piece Lynn Hellerstein put at Lumigrate about the free webinar she offers at her website, and it also has a link to my review/summary of the book I refer to.  I REALLY encourage people to purchase the book for older people, for anyone who wants better performance.  Her staff will gift wrap it if it's a gift too! Having my family of origin be public school teachers and knowing well-meaning parents and children give gifts, this is one I can about guarantee the teacher would REALY like and which would then help them be better teachers to the community YOU are involved in.  OR donate it to the public or school library in the name of the teacher in their honor so EVERYONE can have access and SHARE it.  JUST a suggestion! (OR to your therapist or other medical provider as a Thank You)  www.lumigrate.com/forum/see-it-say-it-do-it-free-webinar-teachers-parents-and-related-medical-professionals

 "She reminds me ever day to deny the acceptance of 'failure'", were the words her husband Mark spoke on the afternoon show "Ellen", which I was tuning into after hearing he and his daughters were going to be on.  They'd had the 'usual stepfamily stuff' and when the young women thought they weren't going to have a second chance to make things right, they had regrets.  Given the second chance , they have taken advantage of it.  Much to learn in that, when you think about it.  And also in his quote, which I wanted to share here, since there were almost 500 reads of this in a week.  

Perhaps the book he wrote, Gabby, would make a good gift for yourself or others!  ~~ Mardy

Note after she stepped down from Congress in early 2012: I'm so pleased to see her set the example of how to do that so beautifully!  She's focusing on her health and has set such a marvelous example with how she has worked at her recovery, and stepping aside related to other priorities from before is part of the process. 

Due to the interest in this topic, and referrals being requested of me related to people who had brain injuries 10-20 years ago who are having issues today, I've been out there beating the bushes for information about "brain injury and nutrition and hormone supplemention".  Since it has to do with the brain and things in the head, please look for that forum.  I suggest you plug around FORUMS that are titled "supplementing nutrition", things related to the brain and mind (which are really two different things and so the different forums have different focus areas),  as well as the hormone forum.  REALLY interesting and exciting stuff, which is fueled by the increased publicity caused by the concerns brought forth by former NFL players (and their wives), leading to changes for current NFL players, schools, etc.!  It's cumulative and synergistic when information like this starts getting out there with well-publicized cases, including Ms. Giffords'.  

Again, I suggest people look into it and, as with all things, decide for yourself what you're going to do or do not, as Yoda would say.  Everyone is individual but there are a lot of concepts we present at Lumigrate to get a foundation for people and link out to go from there, effectively increasing your odds of getting quality, valid, progressive information to help you in your pursuits for education and solutions.  

Live and learn. Learn and Live Better!  ~~ Mardy