Jessie Wilkins: Great Stroke Adventure

From my experience in the great stroke adventure, being able to use only one half of my body

makes it really hard to move and get around! As a future PTA, it is good for me to be a little more

cognizant of the difficulty that comes with having deficits that come along with a stroke. Through this

activity, I am also more aware of the specific gait deviations that come with a stroke such as

circumduction of the affected LE due to abnormal extensor tone and foot drop.

It was hard enough for me being my age of 23 to propel a wheelchair through the hall with one

hand and one leg, so I think it would be harder for an elderly stroke victim. Although strokes can

happen at any age, a majority of stroke victims are elderly. I don’t think this is to say that stroke victims

cannot get stronger. I think that whatever demands we put on our patients are going to make them a

lot stronger, especially on their good side. From my experience, my good side leg was burning when

going up 3 flights of stairs because that side of my body was all I could use. I think this concept goes

along with what we’ve talked about in class before that some people that participate in PT get better

with their physical abilities than they have been before or in a long time. Not that a stroke patient will

necessarily be better after PT than they were before, but I believe they can get stronger as we put

demands on them.

When we take a patient to ambulate, I realized that we need to be really careful to watch where

a patient’s affected leg and foot are. When we were ambulating correctly as a stroke patient, my foot

would just drag behind me. This is where an AFO or an ace wrap strap to lift the toes up would be

particularly helpful for functional ambulation. I realized that impaired sensation is an issue with stroke

patients, especially during stairs because when I was going up the stairs the side of my affected foot

kept on hitting the vertical aspect of the stair as I had to drag the foot behind me taking each step. We

as PTA’s need to watch out for ways a stroke patient could be unknowingly causing themselves injury

Jessie Wilkins: Great Stroke Adventure

because their sensation is impaired compared to my sensation where I could feel pain and everything

happening with my foot.

I think people who have had a stroke can relearn how to be as functional as possible. As we

have talked about in class, the brain’s property of neuroplasticity will allow a stroke patient to relearn

how to use the affected part of their body. There are many different functional tasks to train and a lot

of work for PT to do. I think that by using the principles of motor learning, practice and feedback, I

would be able to increase my ability to wheel that wheel chair with one hand and one leg, and do other

functional tasks with using one side of my body. Although it may be slow for a stroke patient to regain

functional abilities, the same principles of motor learning apply to them as well.