Deb
Stroke Survivor
PRESENTER
Transcript
It was three years ago that it happened.
I was actually in my sleep. And so I really don’t know how many hours had gone by before I woke up and I could not move my arm to get out of the bed.
What has happened? What is going on?
It was a day I’ll never forget. I took her to the emergency room. They ran all the scans. The doctor looks at both of us and says she had a stroke. And the world froze.
I’ve been working with Deb for three years, since her stroke.
The rehabilitation process saved me as a human being. I did do physical therapy without the REAL® System and it’s just like night and day.
When you’re in the REAL System, you’re just thrust into something so wonderful that I think the mind forgets, “I had a stroke.”
Deb didn’t like to exercise, but when she put on the REAL System, she was a different person.
The REAL System was made to address the specific deficits that patients have. It can be used with neurologic diagnosis, even debility. Anybody who needs to work on those same core activities can benefit from the REAL System.
One of my favorite activities is the Bird [Forest] exercise. You’re having a bird get into your hand, and then you’re taking them to the appropriate nest. Just a simple, continual use of your hands, your arms, and shoulders. You're actually transported to another world, where anything is possible.
When Deb puts on the headset, she becomes so competitive, and wanting to know what it was she did last time and how she can beat her score, her accomplishment, and her points. And having gone through the therapy, there’s parts of it that may take six months or nine months before you see progress. This, every time you put on the headset, you see an accomplishment, and you’re able to look back and review what you’ve achieved and set the next set of goals.
I’m very excited to use the data that the REAL System can provide in a therapy clinic. There’s no way, even with a trained eye, that I can remember every motion that a person did in a whole treatment session. This information will help my documentation go faster; the faster I document the more I can be treating patients.
I think that it’s going to change the way patients see therapy because all of a sudden, you’re doing things you’ve never done before, and it is so positive to your mind and your soul. When the therapist comes in, you’re gonna get so motivated, but when they leave, it’s gonna be like I wanna do more the next time. It has given me a whole new level of courage.