Today I was asked to take a young boy in the hydro pool for his weekly session. From what I can gather, he is what you might call a typical rocky bay paeds patient (actually they're all called 'clients'...) - a 10 year old boy with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). Although he's a long-time client he doesn't actually have a hydro programme written up - the instructions given to me were just "Oh he does his own thing, just play with him, he'll let you know what to do..." I was on my own except for the bloke who runs the pool- there was no physio with me.
Although at the time I didn't really feel like I'd been thrown in the deep end, I guess in hindsight I really have no idea if what I did with him was right, approproate to his level of function/disease stage, or even if it was beneficial. I read his notes on the computer beforehand but they didn't give any indication as to his abilities or difficulties. His physio was unavailable at the time. We mucked around for an hour, did some balancing, diving, throwing and catching, and cycling on the noodle... He was really happy and loved a chat, and said he was looking forward to seeing me next week. But at the same time, I think a little more direction would have benefitted both of us.
If I'm presented with the same situation next week I will definitely talk to his physio beforehand. A strategy I've been using from day one with all the patients is simply asking them what they do normally, or what is 'normal' for them. They're all very knowledgeable about their own bodies, which you've got to respect, they've taught me a lot already. Overall, today was another great day at the bay... and I've pretty much been told not to wear my uniform again!!
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