Young and Living with Myasthenia Gravis

 I chose to complete our final neuro note on Myasthenia Gravis (MG). I decided to utilize the Youtube video that was shown in class title, "Sheryl and Myasthenia Gravis: How I Cope!". This young girl is only 17 and was 16 when she was diagnosed with MG. Its honestly so sad how her life went from being this happy teenage girl who loved the game of softball, to being bedridden and battling this disease every day. Sheryl is truly a superhero and you can tell that she will not let MG defeat her. I had never heard of Myasthenia Gravis. I find that I have a better time understanding the disease when I am able to watch personal videos and tie that person to the condition. 

Myasthenia Gravis is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects your voluntary muscles and is due to the inadequate uptake of acetylcholine. Some initial symptoms you see with MG are ptosis, weak face and throat muscles, and then progressing downward. The first sign Sheryl had were her droopy eyes and she had other vision problems leading her to go to the eye doctor to get it checked out. The doctor then performed the Ice Test, an informal screening for Myasthenia Gravis. She also began to have difficulty swallowing. She describes MG as not being able to charge your own battery like individuals who do not have this disease. She does a really great job at breaking down the symptoms and the various treatments one can receive to aid in the relief of the symptoms. She receives plasmapheresis where you have a catheter inserted, with hers being in her neck, and abnormal antibodies are removed from the blood and put back into the body.You can tell that she has done a lot to understand her diagnosis and I think it helps her in coping with it. She figures out ways to continuously engage in activities she once did with a few modifications. 

I truly appreciate Sheryl for being so brave and sharing her story with the world. These are the things that we need to spread awareness about conditions people don't hear much about such as Myasthenia Gravis. It makes me value the life I have, because your life can quickly change in the blink of an eye. Take heed to symptoms and signs you deem not normal that way you can catch whatever it may be early on. Sheryl mentions how she uses humor with her disease, and just makes the best out of her days. A little laughter can take you a long way.    

Bryan Carter. (2014, October 23). Sheryl and Myasthenia Gravis: How I Cope! YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZU2nTf6_cc

Media Project- The Zip Chain Bracelet

I truly enjoyed doing this media project. Initially, I had no clue of what I would do with a zip tie. The most meaningful part out of this entire thing for me is when my clinical reasoning kicked in. I have struggled with thinking like an OT, so when the idea came into my mind I was like, "YESSSSS!" One thing that I learned from this assignment is that it is okay to read between the lines. I came to the decision to use the zip tie and beads one because Ms. Barbara enjoys arts and crafts, but it was also mentioned that she needs minimal assistance for feeding which led me to believe that her fine motor skills were decent. This would help to work on it that way she can continue to remain at that level and not lose function. I believe that this assignment will help me in the future by always knowing that you can create a therapeutic activity pretty much out of anything. It has reminded me to be resourceful and useful. It has made me tap into a creative side that I didn't think I had. I am so ready to see what other things I create and how I continue to develop my OT perspective of things. Thank you to Dr. Lancaster for providing us with the opportunity to put the books down and have a little fun while also learning through this process.

I had a hard time trying to add the video directly to the blog. I have attached a link to the video uploaded on Youtube.

https://youtu.be/wOJ9X3q4m24

Living with Multiple Sclerosis

Today, I will be discussing Multiple Sclerosis (MS). More importantly, I will be sharing what I learned from a teenage girl named, Breea, and her journey of recovery with MS. I watched her short documentary on Youtube titled, "Multiple Sclerosis-Breea's Story.wmv". I chose this because, it was recommended as great documentary to watch, but also because I have never met or seen anything about a teenager battling with MS. I wanted to see how her life changed and how she dealt with that to overcome obstacles. We are also discuss Multiple Sclerosis in my Neuro Aspects course this week, so I wanted to tie what I learned in class with this documentary. 

The video begins with showing a video of her cheering before her diagnosis. It then proceeds to people of her life saying who Breea is to them. Her diagnosis happened after her suddenly falling and becoming paralyzed on her left side, leaving her with Severe Onset of Multiple Sclerosis. She then became blind her left eye and could not talk or swallow. Her family was there for her every step of the way. They continuously pushed her to keep going and trying things she lost the ability to do. Breea began to gain enough strength to begin learning how to walk again. She knew that she needed to keep a positive mindset, in order to keep her condition from defeating her. After a few months, she began to regain some control of her left extremities, by doing various fine motor activities with her left hand. What really amazed me is watching her mom assist her in a back handspring 8 months after her injury, and seeing her walk away when they finished with barely any difficulties. This story truly is inspiring and I am happy that it was shared with the world.

Some of the symptoms that I saw with Breaa from what was discussed in class were intention tremor when she would reach for the spoon or placing the clothes pins on the strings, dysmetria when we she was tossing the bags, weakness, speech problems, and balance problems. But she honestly made a comeback from all of these things by the end of the video. I believe that Breea had relapsing-remitting MS due to the fact that her symptoms got worse in the first few days, and after that she slowly began to improve in her function. She also utilized a mobile arm support for her left arm when seated in her wheelchair. Overall, Breea made an amazing recovery with her intrinsic motivation, support from her family and friends, and her amazing therapy staff. I look up to people like her that show me never give up regardless of the circumstances. #GoBreea !!

breeareneebeatsms. (2012, September 8). Multiple Sclerosis-Breea’s Story.wmv. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfD9s1_TN0s

Life as a Quadraplegic

I chose to do this Neuro Note on Sophia Malthus. I chose to focus on this after my classmate completed her case study and shared this story with me. I was honestly moved by it and wanted to learn more I watched her short documentary on Youtube titled, "Life as a Quadriplegic: Sophia Malthus". Sophia is a young woman who acquired a spinal cord injury, resulting in her becoming a quadriplegic. She dreamed of becoming a jockey, and absolutely loved her horse. Sadly, one day as she was riding, her horse became spooked causing her to fall of and break her neck. Her spinal cord injury drastically changed her life within a blink of an eye. She went from a happy and outgoing girl, to being wheelchair bound. She has a a C4/C5 injury. She no longer has function from her collar bone down. She deals with high tone in her legs, resulting in decreased ability for functional mobility. She requires assistance for her personal and daily care. 

Relating her injury to what I have learned in my Neuro course, she is capable of operating a manual wheelchair, has no use of a ventilator, and she is able to feed herself. Spinal cord injuries look different for every single person, and the impact it leaves on you is unpredictable. You can have a complete or incomplete injury to a traumatic or non-traumatic injury. But, I really love how she continues to defy the odds that people have once thought she was never able to overcome. She figures out ways to manipulate objects and tasks to be independent. Sophia has so much motivation to become the best version of herself, and she is always wanting to do more. She wants to get as much therapy as she can. I watched another video that showed her auditioning for model calls. She wanted to show other girls battling with the same thing that they can do whatever it is that they want to do. It makes me feel as though I should not take things for granted. It is so crazy how fast your life can change. One of her goals is to be able to drive again that way she can be able to go see her friends again. I hope that one day I am able to create adaptive devices appropriate for individuals who want to be independent for individuals like Sophia. I hate that she was not able to live out her dream of becoming a jockey, but she is inspiring so many people with her journey each and every day. I hope that this makes others want to go out and learn how spinal cord injuries affects people's lives. Always remember, one person's recovery and progress from a spinal cord injury will not look like the next.

Attitude. (2018, May 28). Life as a Quadriplegic: Sophia Malthus. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voPlqTOdVU8