Epilepsy and Occupational Therapy-Quality of Life

Re: Epilepsy and Occupational Therapy-Quality of Life

Submitted by 3Hours2Live on Tue, 2013-05-21 - 02:01

Hi AlliLeigh, I guess that many of the social professionals I've encountered might be placed under the banner of occupational therapists. In my decades ago graduate studies, I've might have been also easily placed under the banner. The journey is a rough trip; the challenging peak isn't the highest altitude, and "because it's there", easily becomes just another insurmountable obstacle finally stuck with a lasting acceptance label. "The Business" part tends to roughly prune the loftier goals. Though it focuses on the more specialized services, the book "The Business of Neuropsychology" has been on my saved for later to buy reading list for 3 years (just a search in the book for the word "Medicaid" reveals such as "no revenue generated" and hints on how to deflect the non-profitables). The Book Description is rather blunt: "The result can be a cataclysmic 'crash' when altruistic ideals meet capitalistic needs. The concepts of 'cash is king' and 'no margin, no mission' are foreign to most neuropsychologists until our own fiscal bottom line is affected. " http://books.google.com/books?id=-o4_UQl6pycC&pg=PR7&lpg=PR7&dq=%22cash+is+king%22++ceu+aacn&source=bl&ots=od1Cojhny1&sig=P5gDuvP0RbrMX1ca3fETvOg5rXw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=W0yZUcLCGMzFiwKXgIH4Cg&sqi=2&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22cash%20is%20king%22%20%20ceu%20aacn&f=false Medicaid is changing here, but I rather doubt that the umpteenth set of the every two years of new experimental programs of word games are going to be conducive to any actual improvements beyond revitalized slogans masking further degradation. Reducing the extent of my first guess, to say, listings like: http://www.aota.org/Consumers.aspx the holistic "big picture" versus the To keep my posting short, and maybe direct, I'll cite an old issue, and a recent issue (avoiding the innumerable additional issues): About 26 years ago, my Rehabilitation Counselor told me to choose a different impairment than epilepsy, as epilepsy was too expensive. A couple months ago (once again), one practitioner advised me to increase my consumption of safe to prepare foods, so epileptic seizures and malnutrition would pose minimal threats, with the citation of additional expenses being covered by "new" readily available programs, such as "Restaurant Meals Allowance" (the "new" was just the official form finally being delivered, and the further source of technicalities: https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0501415032 ) The opposing practitioner cited "presence of any facility access" was the key, not any safety or other issues (sounds like if any car is available to drive, who needs a driver's license, ownership, insurance, permissions, ability, or anything else!!!). The one practitioner was reportedly paid approx. $80,000 a year to tell people how to sufficiently eat on $5 a day (both eat & drink, since the minimal water bill is $70/month), so, Capitalism will win in $$$$ at least over a nutritious Humanity in California. Tadzio

Re: Epilepsy and Occupational Therapy-Quality of Life

Submitted by GodivaGirl on Tue, 2013-05-21 - 22:30

Hi There,

I myself had neurosurgery back in July 2011 and have been seizure free since then.  Went back to work way too early (was given a note for a medical leave for 6 months min., got tired of daytime TV and went back after 4 months).  The main things that are tough are memory - especially short term.  I go to transfer people at work & forget the number I'm sending them to, or totally forget what I was doing mid-call.  The other tough one is vision.  It took awhile to get in, but as of earlier this year I do see an occupational therapist twice a week - basically she gives me memory strategies, then we work though other exercises related to attention to detail.  Most recently she gave me a list of about 50 random words that I had to put in alphabetical order.  Was almost impossible.  She's helping me out with 3 goals in mind - I want to get a driver's license when it is safe and makes sense to do so, I'm hoping to go back to school to get a better job and don't want that to be a struggle...and well, doctors took 10cms out of my brain & so I want to be aware of challenges that I may face and how to manage them at work and in day to day life....second opinion never hurts, and knowledge is a great thing.
Although it's only been a couple months, they've been helpful.  While the exercises and the homework are a struggle, it has been very benficial and I'll keep going back to gain more insight.
Sorry if this message is scattered - long day...anything you want to know about my experience just ask & I'll see how I can help out

GG / Erin