Corner Brook woman learns the value of occupational therapy CORNER BROOK GARY KEAN The Western Star

Violet Lockyer, left, had to practise little things like reaching into her cupboard with occupational therapy support worker Debbie Ellsworth before she regained enough mobility to leave the hospital after an eight-month stay. — Star photo by Geraldine Brophy

There is a perception out there that occupational therapists only deal with rehabilitating people in the workplace.

Violet Lockyer knows the difference and it didn’t take October being Occupational Therapy Month to find out.

The Corner Brook woman woke up one morning last March and was literally unable to get up out of bed. She could not even lift her head.

Initially, her doctor thought she may have developed graft versus host disease, a condition which can arise from the stem cell transplant Lockyer had undergone, and which can cause such functional disability. That was eventually ruled out and the condition which overtook her body eight months ago has never been diagnosed.

Still, she needed to regain her mobility and strength in order to return home and start taking back the independence Lockyer had enjoyed in her life.

That’s where occupational therapy came in. In this discipline of the health-care system, occupational refers to anything which a person does in their daily life, whether it’s getting up out of bed, dressing themselves, bathing, cooking or doing the laundry.

It took her nearly eight months to leave the hospital and finally return to her own home and Lockyer has Western Health’s occupational service to thank.

“What happened to me was frustrating, especially when you go from being so used to going as much as you can to, all of a sudden, not being able to do anything and just laying there,” Lockyer told The Western Star. “I couldn’t feed myself. I couldn’t even lift my head.
“I had no idea before this what an occupational therapist did, but thank God for them. If it wasn’t for them, I’d still be on the third floor (of Western Memorial Regional Hospital).”

There was a time when Lockyer didn’t think she would ever leave the hospital. It took weeks of effort for her, her occupational therapist Vivian Doody, support worker Debbie Ellsworth and physiotherapy support worker Ernest Green just to be able to get out of bed and then stand for any length of time.

Once she got to that point, she could begin working on tasks like getting dressed, bathing and reaching into the cupboard. Western Memorial has a kitchen setting in its occupational therapy department where these kinds of activities can be worked on.

As she progressed towards being able to leave the acute care of the hospital, Lockyer needed to have her home assessed to determine what modifications might be needed to make it livable again for her, like grab bars and a tub transfer bench in her bathroom.

Making adaptations to live at home and continuing her strength and mobility exercises are now the focus of Lockyer, and the community branch of Western Health’s occupational therapy service which regularly visits her in her home. For instance, although she can physically do laundry again now, her downstairs laundry room is still off-limits.

“We have been in contact with Violet and following up with her to see if the other services have been put in place,” said Doody. “Fortunately, we do have that continuity of service so we can pass on any information we have to the community occupational therapists who works with her now.”

While her short-term objective is to regain more and more of her life, Lockyer’s long-term plan is rooted in the motivation and inspiration fostered by the work the occupational therapy service has done, and continues to do, with her.

“My dream came true — I got back home,” she said. “My brother passed away while I was in the hospital and that was hard to deal with. I almost wanted to give up sometimes, but then I had these people helping me. I’m here walking and able to move today because of the work they did with me.

“My inspiration now is to be able to stay home and not have to go back to the hospital.”