OGDENSBURG – After
falling off of a truck at a car show in Florida, Barbara Judware injured her
left wrist and needed surgery to help make her hand right again.
“They put a plate and four pins in there,” Ms. Judware said.
Ms. Judware resides in Florida, but spends her summers in
Waddington. She said she’s glad that the injury didn’t prevent her from
traveling to St. Lawrence this year.
“I live in Florida, but I wanted to come up here for the
summer like we always do,” she said. “So they released me to come here for
occupational therapy.”
Initially, Ms. Judware said she wasn’t sure what to expect
with the therapy, which was performed at United Helpers RiverLedge Campus by
Occupational Therapist Alycia Dezell.
“My intentions, like everybody’s, were to go a couple of
times and get the exercises, but once I got here and got started, I really
enjoyed it,” she said. “Every time I come she does something different with me
and it’s energizing.”
“When Barb first came in she had limited range of motion and
couldn’t actively move her fingers or make a fist,” Ms. Dezell said.
After a few weeks of therapy though, Ms. Dezell said that has
changed and Ms. Judware’s hand is now beginning to return to normal.
“She can actually now move her wrist actively and do things
she couldn’t do before. She said the other day she started gardening again and
doing dishes.”
The progress her hand has made isn’t lost on Ms. Judware
either.
“I’ve noticed a lot of progress,” she said. “This morning
when I was in the truck I was able to put my hand in the back and pull a tissue
out of the box. I couldn’t do that before.”
Ms. Dezell, who works with patients of all ages, said working
as an occupational therapist is a truly rewarding career.
“I love working with people and I like being able to help
make a difference in someone’s life,” she said.
And that’s exactly what she’s done for Ms. Judware.
“I would recommend United Helpers to anyone,” Ms. Judware
said.
For more of Ms. Judware's story, check out the video below.
No comments:
Post a Comment