Backed by decades of experience producing exceptional clinical outcomes, Kintinu Telerehab connects recovery to everyday life. In this podcast, we explore hot topics in rehabilitation, the keys to personal growth and recovery, and how to apply it all to the real-world.
What if navigating rehabilitation and care after a significant injury could be less daunting? In this episode of Kintinu’d Conversations, Brad Dexter, Steve Kerschke, and Claire Thelen sit down to respond to questions about navigating catastrophic injury care and rehabilitation to equip you with essential insights for making the challenging journey more manageable. We delve into how to identify a center of excellence, specializing in the specific kind of injury you or your loved one is dealing with, balancing realism and hope. We discuss assertive communication skills, the necessity of self-care, and setting boundaries to ease your journey. Finally, we discuss how to involve employers in the conversation when transitioning back to work post-injury.
Enjoy!
Listen to the episode on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, and Buzzsprout, or on your favorite podcast platform.
Backed by decades of experience producing exceptional clinical outcomes, Kintinu Telerehab connects recovery to everyday life. In this podcast, we explore hot topics in rehabilitation, the keys to personal growth and recovery, and how to apply it all to the real-world.
What if navigating rehabilitation and care after a significant injury could be less daunting? In this episode of Kintinu’d Conversations, Brad Dexter, Steve Kerschke, and Claire Thelen sit down to respond to questions about navigating catastrophic injury care and rehabilitation to equip you with essential insights for making the challenging journey more manageable. We delve into how to identify a center of excellence, specializing in the specific kind of injury you or your loved one is dealing with, balancing realism and hope. We discuss assertive communication skills, the necessity of self-care, and setting boundaries to ease your journey. Finally, we discuss how to involve employers in the conversation when transitioning back to work post-injury.
Enjoy!
Listen to the episode on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, and Buzzsprout, or on your favorite podcast platform.
Welcome to continued conversations where we explore hot topics and rehabilitation, the keys to personal growth and how to apply it all to the real world. Hey, welcome back to the conversation. This is Brad Dexter. I have Steve Kershke and Claire Thielen in studio today.
Speaker 1:This is a more of a unique podcast, I think, guys, and the first time that we've tried doing this too. But one of the things that, as we've been working in our tele-rehab program, one of the things that we've found is we're often in positions of helping to kind of guide people through the process of rehabilitation and even care, not just in the first six months after injury, but years down the line. And there are a lot of unique situations that we come across and, as you can imagine, it's not common to have a brain injury or a spinal cord injury or some of the other types of injuries that we interact with on a regular basis, and so it's hard to know where to turn, who to turn to, what advice to follow, and so, with that being said, we've kind of filtered a lot of questions that have come up over the years and that we've come across and wanted to take some time to just kind of sit and dialogue through those questions with some of the answers that we've been able to provide to people over the course of time. Now, slight disclaimer Every answer that we give may not be the perfect answer for your situation.
Speaker 1:It's really important to talk with your own physician, with your community of people, other therapists that you're around, your family members, to make some of these decisions. But we will try to just globally and at a high level, try to talk through good answers for you to start thinking and maybe dialoguing further on as you move forward. So, with that being said, steve and I have had the chance to give some presentations and dialogue quite a bit on kind of what does it look like to navigate through each step of the care process that you might get, and Claire is going to feed us the questions. So, claire, put on your best DJ voice and start hitting us with some questions.
Speaker 2:Okay, Okay, I'll do my best. We're going to start with a longer one. I don't think they'll all be this long, but this one's a little bit longer, so just hang on tight here. So, she says my parents were recently involved in a motorcycle accident and unfortunately, my dad passed away. However, my mom has a TBI. We are on day 17 after the accident. My mom is a feeding tube and trach. She can only open her eyes and look around and she withdraws to pain. She's not able to consistently track with her eyes just yet, but they are confident she's almost there.
Speaker 2:I have lots of different questions that I feel that I can't or don't get answers to. The first is how do I pick a rehab? We've been looking at Shirley Ryan in Chicago and Craig in Denver, and I hope to tour both facilities, but I have no idea how to make that final choice. Does it come down to how close it is to me? I've already made arrangements and I'll be temporarily moving to wherever she goes to rehab, as I am going to be her caregiver when she does go to rehab. They asked me to bring loose exercise clothing. Is there a place that makes and sells clothing that will be more easily accessible for her until she's hopefully able to dress herself. Any advice for me? I am 100% new to this. My mom is 41 and as healthy as could be prior to the accident. I have no idea what the next steps are or how to navigate all of this, but I'm absolutely determined to do everything I can for my mom.
Speaker 3:There's a lot there, Claire A lot there.
Speaker 2:You can start at the first question. Is her just asking about how to pick a rehab?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean even before that, I think just to reassure. Maybe this isn't reassuring, but it's pretty common that right after an injury, there's just a lot to process, and depending on where or what facility you are in, the level of expertise varies drastically. And unfortunately, individuals like that are at the mercy of the hospital to provide a social worker, who may or may not have dealt with something like this, and so there's no fault there. But the fact of the matter is is these are really specialized and complex situations, and one of the things we've recognized is that it's nice to have an outside person sometimes who doesn't work for the hospital, who might just be a third party, and so that would be something I would start to think about, and it's even something that we've started to offer within our own program because we've seen the need for it. But when it comes to choosing a facility, first of all the two facilities that are mentioned great facilities there's lots of great facilities around the country, but first thing that we always recommend is looking for what's called the center of excellence, and that is in more layman's terms if we're going to go get a knee surgery, right. So, brad, if you're going to go get a knee scope or you have a meniscal tear, you're probably not going to go to a shoulder doctor, right? It's pretty common that we go and we look for the best knee surgeon in the area who does knee surgeries, hopefully, every single day, because we know we're going to get an expert. Well, that's the center of excellence model when it comes to treating individuals who suffered a brain injury or a spinal cord injury. There's even centers of excellence for limb loss and burns and that sort of thing. So I always think about I want to go to the place that deals with this all the time, and those two facilities that she mentioned are two really great ones around the country.
Speaker 3:The other thing that you and I talk a lot about is what is valuable to the person. So she mentioned distance and location. Sometimes that is at the top of someone's list and I always try to talk through well, is that really at the top of the list or is that what's convenient and is that what's safe? And sometimes it is at the top of the list and it matters greatly, and sometimes it clouds our judgment, and so I start to then dig in on what else is important.
Speaker 3:Are you really focused on long-term outcomes. Are you focused on getting somewhere that has expertise, and then the reality is these two places and many of the other centers of excellence have different cultures once you get in there. And so the fact that she's going to go visit I highly recommend that, and I think it's like interviewing for a job you show up and you can kind of get a feel for the place, and so I would recommend visiting and like which place do you feel at home at? Because they're all great, but they all have their areas of strength and they just feel different. Anything else to add?
Speaker 1:I think you covered a lot of that pretty well. The reality with this type of an injury too is it's a little bit like an onion, right, like there's different layers that you start peeling off over time. And so, steve, as you talked about, that like going through that process of getting to know the facilities and looking for a center of excellence is a really important step, because you want to have experts available to you for kind of each layer of that onion as it gets peeled away and progresses over time too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think you know not really mentioned in her question, but something that would be good to cover is she talks about being on day 17. They're picking rehabs. Talk a little bit about the timeline and when should these conversations start to happen.
Speaker 3:What's hard about that is they need to start sooner than most people are ready. When there's an injury like that, like the first week, pretty frequently these families are in complete shock and that's a normal thing. But within that first week usually they're in ICU, right. And the whole point of ICU is that these individuals are becoming medically stable. We have to keep them alive so that they can thrive after. So that is first and foremost we have to take care of their medical needs. But usually after about two, three, four days that facility or that hospital is going to be looking at where do they go next?
Speaker 3:Because ICU usually only lasts probably seven to 14 days, and 14 days is on the long end and if you don't start thinking about what's next sooner rather than later, you might miss out on an open bed. You might miss out on the opportunity to have some time to go visit these places and really make an informed decision. So hopefully we can manage the shock and the emotions around that. Those are by far normal, but we always try to get people towards like, hey, I know that this is a lot, but this is the next decision we have to make and talk to them about. You know, icu isn't forever. It's very short term. Here's where you're going to go next, and usually it's a specialized hospital of some sort, and we need to start investigating that and start talking through. You know, what do you value? Back to our other comments, right? So 17 days, you know that's getting on the tail end of when we need to start making some of those decisions.
Speaker 1:I think on the other side of that, to some of those places that you're looking to go, it's helpful for them to get information relatively quickly too, so they can start kind of scanning and following your loved one to really know, hey, what kind of progress are they making, what do we anticipate moving forward, and they can you know, ultimately they can help you make some of those decisions too.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and it's not always the case that they'll accept you right, and there's different reasons for that. It could be the level of care, it could be the type of injury, it could be funding. So we encourage people to start looking at what does your insurance look like? Are you on Medicaid? Are you on commercial insurance? How does that landscape look? Because it looks very different for different families and you know those types of facilities are very comfortable dealing with that.
Speaker 3:But, depending on what your funding looks like, it can impact decisions around admission, and admissions just take some time. There's some back and forth. Typically they're going to come to see you or see your loved one, which is really great and you get a chance to meet them. But, like that process can take a bit of time and the sooner you get to that, the better off that you get. I think the common thing you're going to hear us say is we want to help people make good decisions, and the sooner and the more proactive we are, even if it's really hard, the better the decision is. And so this avoidance is a theme that we see because of just the emotions around this and, again, all normal, but when you're working with experts who understand this. Hopefully they have a style that helps you work through that In a way that's hopefully a little more comfortable than what you want to.
Speaker 2:Totally. You talked a little bit about the hospital social worker and case manager and some folks do have, maybe, a case manager who knows a little bit more about what's available as far as centers of excellence and who to contact so they might come with some options for you. I guess maybe talk a little bit about options in general. And what if that doesn't happen? What if they just it's a hospital system and they want to send you to within the hospital system, to the next place, and you don't feel great about that decision? I guess maybe just answer the question of do people have options and if they do, how do they go about that? Do they go to the website? Who do they contact?
Speaker 3:Absolutely. People have options. This is your future, this is your care, and so if that social worker is only bringing you one option, the first question is where else could I go? And you can ask them. Luckily we live in a world of Google, so a simple search of brain injury or spinal cord injury centers of excellence that'll populate a handful of places. The other resource that I always tell people is on. Actually I know this for a fact for Craig and for Shepherd. I'm guessing or excuse me, shirley Ryan, but Shepherd Center would be another one, as I believe they have guides to decision making, things that you should be asking, things that you should consider when picking a hospital, so they have those resources there, as well as important information about their particular facility. So that's very accessible. But the first is to know you do have a choice, and just because it's not given to you doesn't mean you can't be assertive and ask more questions around that.
Speaker 1:I think the only thing I would add just remember, you are so kind of the consumer in that position and you have to do your research Because, as Steve mentioned, you have the choice. Ultimately, it's not you have to stay within this system. There's a lot that goes into that decision. Certainly, distance, region, location matters. Do you have family available in that area? Are you able to get there? Most of these centers of excellence will have some kind of family housing to stay in. Availability will kind of vary based off of the census in those places too. But yeah, ultimately you are the consumer and as long as you do your research and you ask the questions and you ask what else is out there, you should get available options.
Speaker 2:I think I want to talk a little bit about. You guys talked about decision making. She asked a good question just asking for advice for her. So we've talked a lot about the individual who suffered the TBI, but this is going to be the caregiver, so maybe just talk about some advice that you would give her, given where she's at in this journey right now. And I think, steve, you've alluded to this before, but kind of that decision making piece and you're going to make this decision once, and how to kind of mentally process some of that.
Speaker 3:The reality is people process that very differently. Some people are you know what, they buckle up and they get ready to go, and some people just shut down. And, as someone who has been able to be really in both scenarios, we have to really gauge where that person is at, what their decision making is like, what their emotional state is and the best way to bring that person along. So I think one of the first things I do is just ask a lot of questions and provide some comfort, right Saying things like hey, this is going to be OK, but we do have some really tough decisions that need to be made. Unfortunately, they need to be made sooner rather than later. And let's talk about what's most important to you. So I've said that a couple times. Right Understanding and helping them just say out loud what's most important to them provides clarity and in a way, I think it provides a starting point to adjust to this really tough situation. So just being able to open lines of communication and provide some level of comfort right out of the gate is important. And the other concept I always talk about is, once we make one decision, we have to start getting ready for the next one, and that, again, is a really hard concept, because making some of these decisions is really hard and they're big decisions and they seem bigger than what they are to the person at the time. And so just providing some comfort around that and then laying out look, here's the next decision you have to make, that's it. We're going to make one more decision and then, once we make that one, we're going to make the next one.
Speaker 3:And so I think breaking it up into smaller chunks, foreshadowing and planting seeds is another concept we talk about.
Speaker 3:So I would be saying to this person hey, once we make the decision about where your loved ones are going to go for acute rehab whether you choose Shirley, ryan or Craig we're going to get there. And just so you know, it's going to be a little chaotic for a week and that's normal, right, we're adjusting and you're going to be moving and there's a lot of adjustment that's going to happen. We're going to get through that. And then, once we get through that, we're going to talk about the next decisions that need to be made. So I'm already telling her hey, this is going to feel a certain way, we'll get through that too. And here's the next thing that we have to do so that it provides this level of clarity and a little bit of a roadmap. But I'm not giving her the whole map. We don't want the whole map, we just want little, bite-sized chunks, and so those are the things that I start to think about for that person in that particular period of time.
Speaker 1:Something else. I would just add to that, obviously, there's a lot of upheaval in life in a time like this, and it can be really challenging. You're out of your normal routines, you're out of the normal place that you're in. Someone that you love and really care about has had something really traumatic happen and you're in a position where you're making a lot of tough decisions regularly. Take a little bit of time to yourself. Find ways to focus in on some of the self-care that you need to focus in on in whatever way that's valuable to you. Get the people that care about you most around you to help process through some of those decisions. Make sure you're talking and not just stuffing things under the rug. There's there's a long journey ahead and there's a lot of value in not just kind of Like Steve was talking about planting seeds and foreshadowing what's going to happen and making you know decisions, one at a time, but but again, make sure that you're finding ways to take care of yourself too.
Speaker 3:In a weird way, I think you see the dynamics of a family very quickly and you understand who's going to be the decision-maker, who's going to be the person who's providing support, and so, if your family dynamics can can handle that, being open about who's going to do what and almost triaging things. Claire, you and I have talked a lot about, right, who's going to be the primary communicator right, but if you're the primary communicator, that is a lot of work, and so how do you find a way, almost like a communication tree, so that you're not having to communicate 75 times? You can communicate maybe five times and you know, triage that a little bit. Accepting help is something that is really hard for people, and if you can get yourself to the point where you can accept help For certain things and tell the people exactly what you need, right, people are going to bring you food. If you don't need food, tell me don't need food and say like, hey, this would be actually really helpful because people really just want to help and a lot of times people are trying to help and they don't know what to do and they appreciate that direction. So don't be afraid to be assertive.
Speaker 3:The other thing we talk a lot about is setting boundaries. People are going to want to come visit you. They're going to want to come visit your loved one. It is okay to be like you know what, we're not ready for that, we don't have time for that and be assertive. People are not going to have their feelings hurt, and if they are, that's really not your problem. Right, you're going through something that's really hard and you deserve a lot of grace for that.
Speaker 3:And so making sure that you are comfortable setting boundaries and being clear about how that looks for you Because, really quickly, you can get into. You're trying to take care of your loved one and you're trying to appease your family and your friends and all of that, and that is not what this is about. This is about making sure that you can, you know, use your energy where it needs to be used, and that's a really hard thing. But I think we talk a lot, of a lot, about that with people and we, you know, hopefully advise them like, hey, you know who could be the communicator and who is going to be the main decision maker or decision makers, right, and how do those decisions happen to provide some structure to it? It's almost like building a team and figuring out whose strengths are what and starting to play to those strengths and sometimes you just need a coordinator for that To like just give some structure to that and I think that's not necessarily Common, you know, after this, because there's so much chaos, yeah, I wish it was more common.
Speaker 2:Okay, I think you guys hit pretty much everything on that question, so we will kind of move on to a different one. This one's a little bit different. This person is asking how do you talk about the accident and the road ahead With your loved one when they are just emerging to consciousness? So this is something you guys maybe can't answer From like a medical or psych standpoint, but I guess, just given your experience with this, what would you, what would your like recommendations be on this one?
Speaker 1:I Mean there's probably a couple different levels on this and in some ways I feel totally like unequipped to talk about this, but I'm what I am going to say is based off of what I've had family members and even some of our own psychologists Talk about around here, and there's there's a couple different levels, I think. On one level there's an element of healing and being able to talk about what you've experienced as a caregiver, as a loved one, and on a second level there's there's an element of orientation and helping your loved one to understand what's gone on and why they are, why are they are at where they're at currently. You know this is this conversation is kind of timely.
Speaker 1:We just had an opportunity to sit down with some families that are staying in the family housing at QLI and have dinner with them last night and you know a few of them were just telling stories of how confusing it was for their loved ones when they were in the hospital.
Speaker 1:One one thought they were on an airplane, which kind of made sense because they heard the, the ventilation of the, the, the trach, right, they heard all of that noise and they're on like the 18th floor of a hospital and so all they could see was like the tops of buildings in sky right, and so there's an element there of hey, if there was a brain injury. I want to make sure that I'm orienting you to where you're actually at how many details you go into within the accident. Right away you probably don't need to go into a ton of details, but over time there will be an element of healing likely for your loved one to where they need to To cope and understand what happened to them, what they went through and, if they have memories of what went on, being able to Deal with some of those memories too.
Speaker 3:I think what becomes hard is is we all want answers and I think as providers, we've all been in a scenario where Someone says will I walk again, or what's my loved one going to look like or or act like or be able to do, and? And the reality is is we don't always know. But I think it's a big trap as a provider to fall into, to try to have answers that you don't have at the same time, like, how do you tow this line of giving some clarity and Talking about maybe the different things that could happen and not placing more or less weight on any of them? And that is a really hard thing. You know John Pearson, who is our director of creativity. He was giving a presentation.
Speaker 3:You remember this. We was talking about hope. You haven't. Nope, right, hope you on is this idea that you Cast, this big vision. That might be unrealistic and that is just as damaging as saying hey, you're never going to be the same again and we want to find this middle ground that is transparent and honest and and realistic but doesn't smash hope and like.
Speaker 3:That is a little bit of a dance and I agree like without more context it's hard to answer that, but I do think that a guiding principle is try to be as open and honest as you can. Probably don't need to give a ton of details, but give the relevant ones and Don't be too far towards opium and don't be too far towards nope, because that middle ground is really valuable, like this balance of realism and hope keeps you going and Also just kind of manages your expectations as best we can, and that's a. I think these conversations aren't just like a one conversation, either making sure that that you're revisiting those or that your providers are Revisiting those, because everything we know is dynamic. Things are changing sometimes every minute, our day, especially early on. Back to our other conversation 17 days in, there's a lot going on and there's we would expect to see a lot of change More quickly than you know 17 months in. Right, the further on you get, the less change you're going to see.
Speaker 2:Okay, next question Looking for guidance. We might get discharged from rehab to home in the next few weeks. My husband has left-sided weakness and needs help from ability. I will not have help at home. Any tips for bed, bathroom and transfers for exercise will be helpful. I have a left shoulder ligament issue and cannot do any weight-bearing. I'm going to add a few things to this. Sounds like they're leaving rehab and she doesn't mention any outpatient that's being recommended, but maybe you could throw in To this question as well. What if they don't recommend home health? What if they don't recommend outpatient therapy? What as a caregiver, as a family member, what kind of questions should we be asking and what types of things Do we kind of need to be prepared for as we're entering to this new, this next phase?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that again, that's not a. This is not going to be a straightforward answer by any means, but just given that situation, I think there's a couple of things to play. One I hear from a caregiver side of things. I don't know how much help I can be to my husband. I have an injury myself and I'm just not sure how much I can do. And so I think communicating with the therapist that he's currently working with and trying to understand ways that your husband can do the physical part of those transfers as independently as possible is a great place to start. And so, while he may not be able to stand up from a wheelchair or take steps on his own at this point, are there devices like grab bars that can be strategically placed that he can grab onto and more safely transfer himself and more independently transfer himself? There are devices that go from the floor to the ceiling, called transfer poles, that oftentimes people can become a little bit more independent and safe doing some of those transfers on and off of the toilet or in and out of bed, or even into the shower or tub on a bench.
Speaker 1:And so I think, making sure that you're kind of leveraging your resources and understanding, hey what equipment is available to really help him do this. So maybe I can just provide some safety support and not the physical support at home, and then make sure again in terms of equipment needed. Make sure that you're talking with your therapist, making sure that they've done a home assessment. I think that's a really important part of it. If they're unable to get to your home to do a home assessment, can you take photos or video to show to them so they have a clear understanding of what that setup is going to look like? Do your best to envision what that's going to look like at home and don't just think that you're going to figure it out once you get home. I think waiting to figure it out when you get home is probably the worst thing you can do in this situation.
Speaker 3:Along those lines. I think, historically, the treatment for this is typically done out of context, meaning training might happen, right, the clinician, at whatever facility you're at or program you're at, is likely going to do some training or want to do some training. You'll go down to the gym or you'll be in your hospital room and they'll talk to you about doing transfers to and from the toilet or the bed or whatever the surface is, and that seems great and sometimes that's the best option. But the reality is that environment is very different than the environment that you're going to land in when you get home, and we underestimate I've done this as a clinician, I've underestimated the challenges that come with that.
Speaker 3:Right, maybe that bathroom doesn't have the same space, or maybe that bed that you are going home to doesn't adjust, or it's softer or harder than the other one that you did, and there's just a lot of factors that you can't appreciate when you do that training out of context and not in the actual environment.
Speaker 3:So one of the reasons we started our tele-rehab program is because we can actually be in the environment, albeit we are not hands-on, but we can do a lot of training and we can do a lot of advising around. Hey, here's some things to think about, and we can make those adjustments based on what we actually see and are experiencing, rather than making assumptions. And I think that's another big concept is get as close to the environment and the entire scenario as you can, looking from how the space is set up, the dimensions of the space, the noise and the distractions of the space. The hustle and bustle of the real world can definitely take over, and we have to make sure that we train around that too. So just a little bit to add to your ideas too.
Speaker 2:This one is a great question and people with a traumatic brain injury probably won't like the answer you guys are going to give. After a severe TBI, how long did you do PT and OT?
Speaker 3:There's a reason these people are asking these questions, because there's never a clear answer. So I'm going to answer this with a general concept that I think about, and I always try to relate things to my own life. When I think about learning and growth, I don't think about it in a finite period of time. I'm 42 and I believe that up until now, I've learned a lot and I believe that, moving forward, I'm going to continue to learn a lot about pretty much every aspect of my life, and so when I think of that in terms of rehab, I believe that there's progress to be made and habits to be shaped and routines to be formed, regardless of how long you've had therapy. Now I'm definitely not advocating for PT and OT indefinitely, for the end of time. I don't think that that makes sense. But I think we fall into this trap that I have my injury. You'll hear two years, a lot. Right, I have my injury and I'm going to get therapy up until this two-year point, because that's when the most progress is made and then, at that two-year point, everything shuts off. I think on the other end we talk about the two ends of the spectrum. I think that's way on the other end of the spectrum and a little bit of a short-term thought process, in that you're going to get as far as you're going to get within two years and then it's done from there.
Speaker 3:I think that there's this concept of do what makes sense. We know that life is dynamic and we know that progress is going to be made and it's going to slow and sometimes it's going to be fast and it's going to be dependent on the environment and the challenges you face in your life. So I think we need to match our therapy to that right. So if you're pretty early on in your recovery, yeah, I think the therapy should be relatively intense, but that's also based on the degree of your injury, where you're going, what support you have.
Speaker 3:We have a nice little diagram that we've been talking about and there's probably nine variables that I think about right, and so we have to appreciate all those. But generally, the earlier on, the more intense and the further on down the road, we can probably expect that the progress is going to be a little bit more gradual, maybe not as significant, and our therapy should probably match that. And we should expect that the onus goes from the clinician to the person and or their provider, team, family, friends, whatever that might maybe and then the clinician becomes more like a consultant and there's this idea of boot camps or just like how do we maintain stability and be more proactive and jump in when needed, rather than shutting it off and only getting pulled in when something's going poorly? Brad, I know you talk a little bit about this like dental model and the idea around that. Maybe have a little bit more to add.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean that dental model is like hey, most insurance plans cover two teeth cleanings during the year right, and the reason for that is very similar to the same reason that you probably take your car into the shop at least once a year. If you neglect your vehicle and you don't do any maintenance on it, you don't take care of fluids and have oil changed and tires rotated, you're going to end up having bigger issues with your vehicle down the line. Same thing with that dental model, right, if you skip going into the dentist once a year, twice a year, things can kind of creep up a little bit more easily. There's a there's a reason that those things are covered for us under insurance plans. Right, and in the same regards, if You've had an injury like this, I agree totally and completely with everything that Steve said.
Speaker 1:But You've got to create some habits in your life to kind of focus on those maintenance aspects and maybe you set aside a few visits on your therapy plan just to go consult with a PT and OT and to To Ultimately just ask the questions of hey, what do I need to be thinking about moving forward? I think there's a higher level of ownership in that where, whether it's family or the individual themselves, just recognizing hey, here, here, just the exercises that we're doing to maintain a Certain lifestyle, to maintain a certain level of health. But we're gonna check in with some experts just to see, hey, is there anything else that we should be doing, review the exercise plan that that we've been keeping up with, and is there anything that you Would progress for us? Is there anything that you would change moving forward, what do we need to be thinking about three months, six months, nine months from now?
Speaker 2:last question. It's been a little over three years since my husband's accident and he's progressed tremendously. Obviously, obviously, we all know that this is a work in progress, but I do feel like he's ready to maybe get into the work field again. He used to own his own business in car sales and his dad has been helping him, but it's too intricate for him to do it alone. So I just wanted to get some feedback and see what job field Other survivors have been in. My husband has always done sales. Not sure if he's able to fully do that, as sometimes he says things like either take it or leave it and stuff that are not appropriate.
Speaker 3:First of all, I love the mindset around that question. We talk a lot about this idea that, even for our last Question and answer that we had, is this idea that growth in progress is, you know, continuing to happen three years down the road and we would expect that, in the right environment, assuming that the injury is not like extremely severe, that you're going to continue to see that. So I love the thought process. I love the thought process of getting someone back to something purposeful in their life, whether it's work or anything else, and so I absolutely think that this person's on the right track. And I think one thing to think about is if sales or that concept or industry is motivating to the person, we should start there right and doesn't mean you're going to go back to selling cars, but there's lots of ways and opportunities to sell right. It could be something as basic as starting an eBay store that doesn't require the person to talk to anyone if that's a challenge, but it still requires some of the skills of pricing and Maybe negotiating in a more asynchronous way with an eBay buyer, or even Craigslist or something like that. So I would start to think about okay, my loved one really is engaged by sales. This like end goal is too hard for him right now.
Speaker 3:What are some steps, maybe backwards, that are still in the sales field, that are in line with his abilities and Allowing him a chance to kind of play around with that and learn? And we have to give him something that's engaging Right. We don't want to give him an opportunity that's too easy, because what we know is he'll kind of stay. We need to, like, challenge him and and let him have some opportunities to Tackle something that's a little bit outside of his comfort zone. So you know, don't be too safe with it, but really be thoughtful around. What's the best scenario for him? What do we think he can be successful with? Evaluate it. You might even tweak it a little bit right. You might back it off or you might be like, wow, he did way better than we thought. Let's try something a little bit more different, a little bit more volume or Customers, all looking towards that end goal of getting back to, you know, the, the straight-up sales roll that he's at and look at the skills with that. That often points us in the right direction.
Speaker 1:Yeah, two thoughts. One, don't don't do too much too fast. So one of the things that we think about when we're getting people back to work is just even evaluating hey, what job roles will you get back into and for how long during the day? Right, is that two hours? Is that four hours to start out? And gradually, you know, in a stair stepping type of manner, progress that over time. And then the other piece of that is maybe Taking time to just step back and think through Is it sales that you really love or is what?
Speaker 1:What is it about sales and that job specifically that you enjoyed doing? Right, because maybe it was just the people that you were around, or maybe it was the the rush of getting that sale, or, yeah, maybe it was the location. So take time to just understand from from your loved one, what was it specifically about that job that you enjoyed doing? Because perhaps, as Steve was talking about, it's not that specific job, but there's something else that could look similar to that, that fills some of the things that were really kind of meaningful and motivating to your loved one too.
Speaker 2:Great.
Speaker 2:I think the only thing I'd add to that is Involve the employer in this conversation, if possible that is an important step making sure to, yeah, pull them in if it's, if that's it seems like a safe space to have these conversations, to make sure that you know they might. I'd have to bet they're probably gonna be on board with that slow build back to work. They want you to be successful and so work with them to set that up. So maybe there are some modified things that you can do to begin with and naturally kind of grow into the position that is gonna make you the happiest and the most successful. So, sweet, good job.
Speaker 1:Beautiful. Well, thanks for joining us for our first question and answer session. That was great. Yeah, thanks for thanks for moderating that too, claire. Hopefully this was helpful to you guys as an audience and continue to join us as we sit down for these conversations.
Speaker 2:Thanks for joining the conversation with us today. If you found it helpful, please share with your family and friends. You can learn more about us on our website at continue tellarehabcom, or check us out on YouTube, instagram and Facebook.