Marathon Monday

Patriots day in Boston has always been about much more then the anniversary of The Battle of Lexington and Concord. It is of course Marathon Monday as well. As a child, my family and I would often go into Boston to cheer on the runners. For a few years, a close family friend ran the marathon in my honor of me as part of the Joints In Motion training program for the Arthritis Foundation. We often brought my wheelchair as a portable "chair" and to decrease my fatigue, so I could watch and cheer the runners for hours without getting tired. I remember one year, when our friend provided me with his medal and I wore it proudly as we walked through the crowds.

Later on, I attended college on the Marathon Route and for many college students, Marathon Monday is the greatest excuse to party. It always falls on a long weekend, is the start of spring and is towards the end of the semester. We would make t-shirts and signs to cheer on the runners, wake up early and start cheering! This tradition often involved many alcoholic beverages, which would only lead to cheering louder.I remember one year counting how many high fives I received from runners, I think it was over a 100 before I lost count.

Most recently "grown up" life obligations have gotten in the way of me attending Marathon Monday traditionally as I have in the past. However, during the year of the bombing I had just returned early from work and was about to turn on the television coverage when I received a call from my parents. They were near the finish line and wanted to know what the news was saying about the explosions. I feel very fortunate that no one I knew was injured by the bombings, but I will never forget that day and the events of the week that followed. Boston will never be the same as a result.

I feel that even before the Marathon bombings, this day always had a way to inspire people, bring strangers together and make the tight knit community of Boston feel that much closer. I always love watching the television footage, not just to see the elite runners race, but to learn about the many personal obstacles and triumphs people overcome to meet their goal and run the marathon.

This year I was touched by the woman's wheelchair race winner, Tatyana McFadden. Born with Spina Bifida, she lived in a Russian orphanage too poor to afford a wheelchair until she was 6 years old and was adopted by a state worker. Since then, she has become a world class paralympic athlete. This year she rode in honor of the Martin Richard Foundation, honoring the youngest victim of the bombings. During the award ceremony she gave her winners gold crown to the Richard Family.

Tatyana's is just one of the many stories of people running the Boston Marathon that inspires me and everyone else to not give up on their dreams. Boston will always be my home. Being a Bostonian is about more than the geographical location of where you live, it's about the spirit and passion of the people in this city. A fiercely passionate, close community of forever loyal people that will make me always proud to be a Bostonian.

Boston Strong.

Running through Springtime

Spring has finally sprung! After breaking the record for the snowiest winter ever, I was pretty sure it would never happen. With the warmer weather, longer days and the melting of all the snow, it instills a positive, hopeful energy in all Bostonians. We made it through the winter and came out on the other side. The grass may not actually be greener yet...but it will be soon! There are people every where running along the Charles River, biking through the city and enjoying the start of Spring.

There have been times in my life where I have felt well enough to join those enthusiastic runners along the Charles River. My type of "running" typically involves jogging for about a minute and then walking for five minutes. During my best feeling days, I could keep this up for 3 miles and generally not feel any different the next day. Unfortunately, as I deal with a medication change, this is not one of those periods. I recently went for brief walk along a hilly road way in New Hampshire and felt the after effects for 3 days. My knees were achy, swollen and painful and I spent the following day icing them in my office inbetween patients. Now, every time I see one of these runners, it reminds me of the limitations my JRA puts on my daily activities and sometimes that is harder to deal with then the physical pain.

I have tried many fitness routines in my life besides jogging such as yoga, personal training, TRX, skiing, water aerobics and home DVD workouts. I have always struggled with finding something that fits into my schedule, is safe and healthy for my body and that I am motivated to stick with. I have yet to find my perfect exercise routine and will continue to try new avenues until I do. However, although I am excited and optimistic to embrace Spring and all that it has to offer, I can't help feel a twinge of jealousy when I see the newly energetic runners sprint by...

What Is Occupational Therapy?

April is National Occupational Therapy Month! I have been an Occupational Therapist for about 4 years, working mostly with pediatric populations in a variety of settings. Even before I choose a career as an Occupational Therapist, I had worked with many in my life as a result of my JRA. I had early intervention up to I was three years old to work on my overall development and hand strength. Early Intervention is a program where therapists visit families in their own homes to work together with the family until the child is age 3 to provide support, education and therapy. I then received frequent out patient occupational therapy to increase my hand strength, work on my fine motor skills and create splints to increase range of motion and decrease pain. I received occasional OT in the schools as well as accommodations to allow me to access the curriculum more effectively. In my adult life, I still occasionally visit OT's when my needs are outside of what I can provide myself.

But what does an Occupational Therapist do? OT's help people across the lifespan participate in the things they want and need to do through the therapeutic use of everyday activities or occupations. As an adult, occupations can include daily life skills such as dressing, feeding, caring for children and daily life activities. As a child occupations include playing, learning, developing, socially engaging with peers and participating in school. OT's can work in hospitals, homes, schools, private clinics or community settings.

I have always enjoyed working with children in their homes, schools, clinic, and community settings. I work with children with Autism to help them maintain focus better to increase their learning, to increase their tolerance of sensory input to help them participate more at birthday parties and community outings. I work with children to improve their hand strength to help them dress themselves more independently and improve their handwriting. I help children improve their core strength so they can sit at tables without slouching or fidgeting. The best part of what I do is almost all of my treatment with children is centered around play. It is what makes my job challenging, fun and rewarding.

I am creating a new page on this blog with some occupational therapy tips and resources for children. My hope is to update this page and occasionally write blog posts regarding OT as well.

Happy OT Month!