Wordless

I am so glad that the Gabby Gifford special on ABC tonight shed light on the rehabilitative therapists and the functionality/goals that provide individuals with hope, independence, and life. Let me first start with my own personal experience. A lot of people ask what I do/what exactly a Speech-Language Pathologist does in which I simply reply with "I teach you talk and eat". Yes, that might seem easy enough or somewhat confusing but if anyone caught the Gabrielle Gifford special on ABC tonight, then you were able to see that answering simple questions as "Are you a girl?" to "What is the year?" are extremely difficult to comprehend and even answer correctly.

Let me tell you what I do: I am a speech teacher, speech-language pathologist, and someone who gives a person a voice...something we all take for granted every single day. To put it into perspective, imagine being 65 years old, had a full life of working, marriage, children, and memories to suddenly have your ability to express simple things, such as your name, knowing where you are, or unable to eat without food going into your lungs to ultimately cause pneumonia? Pretty devastating if you ask me. However, I have had the ultimate blessing to go to school and learn how to reteach all of those things to people who've had that independence stripped away from them.

Not only do I teach my patients how to say their name, I also have to reteach them how to ask questions, ask for basic needs/wants, and remember how to chew food so that they do not become malnourished. Just like in the Gabby Gifford special, I also sing songs and phrases to help teach my patients to compensate with the right side of the brain while the left side (where language is housed) is no longer as strong as it once used to be. I am not bragging about myself rather I am so proud to be apart of a monument in each of my patient's lives. Personally, the one thing I expect out of every single one of my patients is a smile. Reason being? Happiness, hope, courage, and laughter are the best medicine to drive you to become stronger and in better health. Like Gabby Gifford, I use singing to teach a certain patient, in particular, basic activities within their environment as well as releasing frustrations encountered while that blonde girl is singing :)

To be completely honest, I've been struggling with the thought of losing function of my left hand after surgery on Friday. However, I realize that all of the grief and pity I place on myself is ultimately silenced with the simple phrase "thank you" through broken speech or with a hard earned smile. Here goes my 'bragging" statement: I am whole heartedly in love with my career, know that I can go home and sleep at night believing that I helped someone, and look forward to going to work every morning.

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