Meeting my massage therapist Jenny

Before moving to Skypointe, I knew I was only able to receive limited therapy due to staffing. I am fortunate to have my occupational therapists Nina and Terilyn to do my range of motion exercises twice a week, but knew something was missing. Around my admission to Skypointe, my swelling of my legs came back. I knew I needed to find a massage therapist as it would help reduce the swelling but it would help with the circulation in my limbs too. My coworker Chris asked her daughter for help as she is a massage therapist. So following Ashley’s advice I went on the MTA website (massage therapy of Alberta) where it gave me a list of mobile massage therapists in Calgary. So I called up the first name on the list - Jenny. 

On September 13, 2018 - enters a bubbly and energetic gal from Venezuela. She was excited to work with me and had already done some research to learn more about GBS. The first day was doing an assessment, my goals and what I was hoping to gain from massaging. Then she did some relaxing, soft massaging of my limbs. On September 19, Jenny joined my 6 week admission family assessment meeting. It was a great meeting - Jenny, Dr. Bhatia along with my therapists (OT, recreational therapy, social worker), my primary LPN plus 4 friends came to. My friend Amanda mentioned what a great team I have - I quickly thought a thought about - I am blessed to have a great professional team and a great personal team. I couldn’t ask for a better support system to have with me as I moved forward. We discussed what has occurred since arriving to Skypointe, questions or concerns as well as my treatment plan and my future goals. Ever since that meeting, I made the decision to have Jenny come three days a week and she incorporated doing my range of motion exercises along with massage. So now I get to do those exercises 5 days a week, Monday to Friday.

My days with Jenny includes the range of motion exercises plus hot/cold therapy (hot stones and ice packs), using coconut oil when she is massaging as it’s good for your skin and helps with swelling and she does tapping from head to toe. The tapping is a cool sensation especially when you put on meditation music - you feel the stress leaving your body. In the 3 months I have been working with Jenny, my swelling in my hands and lower legs have decreased and I have been able to see increased in my limb movements. We are on the right road in my recovery.



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