| Never wanting to be pushy I asked Dawn, a | | | | He's currently on 5 liters of O2/minute via nasal |
| cash-paying PT client of mine, "Would you like me to | | | | cannula, has been put on hospice, and wears a |
| continue coming to see you?" Her face lit up as I | | | | hospital gown. Currently I am finishing a series of |
| asked her that important question. It was OBVIOUS | | | | therapy to improve his wife's stability so I saw to |
| (confirmed by her private caregiver and her power | | | | them both today. Cy's wife Jo also loves dancing |
| of attorney niece) that she had been really enjoying | | | | exercise too. "Mind if I dance with your wife?", I |
| our therapy sessions even though she speaks with | | | | questioned Cy as he gazed back at me from his lift |
| difficulty. Dawn also grins when we do our "balance, | | | | chair. "Sure. Go ahead" he allowed. I then FIRMLY |
| endurance, and gait training" via "dancing" around the | | | | grasped both of Jo's forearms, and began a waltz. |
| halls of her high-rise assisted living facility in | | | | "You've got the steps right but the counting wrong", |
| downtown Mesa, AZ. Dawn also does quadriceps | | | | Cy piped. He was right! Cy pressed on, "Now open |
| strength training with ankle weights I bring with me. | | | | that right hand door down below that desktop and |
| How I Got Paid to Learn to Dance | | | | hand me one of those boxes". I reached down and |
| A few weeks ago I treated a non-cash "standard" | | | | handed him a few of the boxes that were about the |
| home health client named Cy, who lived on the 11th | | | | size of a pen set. I grasped Jo firmly again and |
| floor of the same complex. Cy had once been a | | | | counting aloud resumed the steps. Moments later |
| dance instructor for Fred Astaire (TM) and had said | | | | over the roar of the O2 concentrator streaming |
| he wished he could "shut off the switch" on life. | | | | from just below the hiss of the nasal cannula a |
| Realizing that learning dancing could boost my career | | | | 3-beat melody from Cy on his harmonica put a smile |
| and give him purpose I looked in his eye and told him | | | | on MY face. |
| I really wanted him to teach me some steps. This | | | | Now what about that $799? That is what Dawn's |
| really seemed to work. Pretty soon I truly told him | | | | loved ones invested in her health with me today. A |
| that his influence had spread throughout Mesa as | | | | few clicks of the credit card terminal's keys and she |
| more than one of my frail elderly female clients had | | | | had paid me for 8 more sessions to be performed in |
| really enjoyed doing some of his dance steps with | | | | her assisted living facility. |
| me. | | | | Keep learning new therapy and movement skills. It |
| Cy recently has had a turn for the worse and has | | | | can be fun. Frequently those new skills can be turned |
| had to move into a small group home with his wife. | | | | into cash. |