4 days in behavioral health

I've spent 4 days in the last two weeks at a small behavioral health hospital learning more about occupational therapy in that setting. Since my only exposure to psychiatric hospitals has come through books, TV and movies my rather vague expectations involved people who may be  unpredictable, a danger to themselves, possibly a violent towards others, or, at the very least, strange. In other words, they would be anything but normal and I didn't expect to be real comfortable. Reality turned out to be quite different from my expectations.

This hospital has 16 beds and at least 14 of them were full while I was there. The length of stay ranged from 7 months to new arrivals. It seems most people stay somewhere between 2 weeks and 2 months. Almost all of them are there by court order. It's not the kind of place one would want to spend a lot of time. Every half hour all night long someone is checking to see if you are sleeping. The only way to go outside is when a staff member unlocks the door to the patio, which is called the "dog kennel" by most of the residents. There are activities and groups during the day but pretty much there isn't a whole lot of structure to the day beyond meal times with food that comes from a local nursing home. There definitely isn't much opportunity to be productive. The most hated rule seems to be "no smoking." And often, the way out depends upon an opening in another setting and/or the funding to pay for it.

By the end of my time there I was thinking of the patients there as normal. That may sound rather odd. After all, one man said he was from Mars. A woman desperately needed the big handful of pens and pencils in her room for her CIA work and she needed extra linens for biopsies. Another woman was convinced the purpose of the medication she was taking was to drive all the Bible verses she knew out of her head. In reality that very low dose (2 mg when the doctor could go up to 100 mg) had calmed down the mania enough that she no longer needed to move furniture around or talk incessantly so you could actually have a conversation with her. None of that sounds very normal. But though these particular people weren't very connected to reality sometimes, they were nice people with a pleasant demeanor. The woman doing the CIA work was a sweet grandma who could tell you how to do canning and make sauerkraut. She could get a little intense/upset with those who checked her room and removed things that were "hers" and she "needed." But most of the time her blue eyes were gentle and she smiled readily. While there was one woman who made me uncomfortable because of her odd unpredictable behavior, I would have no problem sitting down and eating a meal with any of the others. They are all just normal people who happen to be dealing with a chronic illness that affects the brain rather than other organs of the body.

Joy and saddness

Over the last few months my family has been rejoicing. This week one of my cousins welcomed their 2nd child into the world. When I saw the announcement on facebook and the name they gave their precious little girl I cried. Suzanne Beth is named after her grandma and was born just a few days after what would have been Grandma-Suzanne's 53rd birthday. She would have loved spoiling little Suzie, her first grand-daughter, dressing her up in style and later on teaching her to cook.

My family is also rejoicing over the upcoming wedding of my brother, Andrew and his bride, Vicky. It's still two months away but the waiting for Vicky's visa is over and plans are far more concrete. A few weeks ago I called Andrew to coordinate travel plans and he informed me I would be part of the wedding party. "You'll be standing next to me." I'm greatly honored and more than happy to break tradition. But I've also shed some tears. That place next to Andrew belongs to our brother John. He would so have enjoyed celebrating with Andrew and Vicky and probably teased Andrew more than necessary.

John and Suzanne have gone on to heaven. We miss them in the midst of daily life. But, at least for me, I miss John most in the special moments, the big events and celebrations. The tears do not diminish the rejoicing; but they do remind me of the wonderful promise of a time when Jesus will set everything right again and will reign as King in a world where it is impossible for celebrations and joy to be tainted by sorrow and tears.

Highland Friendship Club

As part of my OT program I need to do some volunteering. The idea is to broaden my horizons and expose me to ages, conditions or ethnic groups with which I have little experience. This summer I wanted to do something that would allow me to be outside and/or be active. My search led me to Highland Friendship Club. This club was started by two moms who each had a son with disabilities. The older their sons became, the less activities were suited for their abilities. So they decided to create their own activities for teens and young adults. In the last 10 years it has grown and includes all sorts of activities from fitness to gardening to cooking to art to movie making and a monthly birthday bash.

I help with a fitness class on Monday evening and a water aerobics class on Saturday afternoon. I'm being active and I'm also enjoying getting to know the club members and the staff. Each member is unique. Some have cognitive disabilities; others have physical problems and some have both. Three of those who come to swimming come with a PCA (personal care attendant). They are not very verbal but enjoy the water. One of these young men was particularly cooperative on Saturday and he did some things I'd never seen him do before. His face glowed with pleasure at the praise and fist bumps he received from his PCA and some of the staff.

The woman who runs the water aerobics class is an OT so I've been observing how she meets each of the members at their level. For example, one of the young men has tight muscles since his arms and legs are almost never straight. It doesn't help that he spends most of his time in a wheelchair. The warm water in the therapeutic pool helps release the tightness but it still takes some work to completely straighten his limbs.  One of the neat things about this group is that each member is greeted by name and is accepted for who they are with their unique abilities.