Monday, December 13, 2010

Do you know sign language???

These last couple months, the hospital has had several deaf patients come through our doors. I've now had this conversation (or a conversation VERY similiar) with two nurses and another physical therapist.

I am either walking down the hall minding my own business or writing notes as this nurse (or PT) comes running up to me in a frenzy.
Nurse: "Hey Sarah do you know sign language??" with a very hopeful look on their face
Me: "Nope sorry"
Nurse: "DAMMIT" and they turn around to run off in another direction
I'm sitting there thinking "what the hell, just because I'm deaf, I'm supposed to know sign??"
I just shrugged it off...until this week.....

I'm working with a hispanic patient that doesn't know a word of english and I had a very important question to ask that couldn't wait for a spanish interpreter....
I see a dark-skinned janitor cleaning a room down the hall, so I run down the hall and say:
Me: "Hey, do you know Spanish, can you interpret something real quick for me"
Janitor: *rolls her eyes* "no, I am NOT spanish nor do I know spanish"
I apologized profusely....

A taste of my own medicine

So over the weekend I had a deaf patient, and by deaf, I mean totally, 100% deaf, signing and is not oral at all. She had an interpreter with her 24/7. I was a little apprehensive about working with this patient because my experiences with other deaf folks, especially the signing deaf folks, have not been positive experiences. But there were limited therapists and she was on my list. So, I got to work with her and really got to taste my own medicine.

When I was growing up, and even now, when I take my ears out due to a headache, dead battery, wet hair or I just don't want to listen to another voice, my family/friends would always get pissed off. I used to think they were very selfish and didn't want to deal with a deaf person. What I wouldn't know (or just not realize) that whoever would be trying to get my attention at the time would start off by saying my name, followed by yelling my name several times, to be followed by waving of the arms, stomping on the floor or finally, having to march across the room just to tap me on the arm. At this point, they're pretty frustrated. So as I look up at them and say "what's up?" they usually have a pissed off look on their face and their response typically is "PUT ON YOUR EARS!!".

So as I enter this patient's room, I started by knocking on the door, quickly followed by the thought "duh Sarah, she can't hear the knock". I walk across the room to tap her or nudge the bed to get her attention. As I'm talking, the interpreter starts to sign. Throughout the treatment, I would give advice/tips on how to improve her walking, etc and when she doesn't respond to me, I start to say it louder, once again followed by the thought "duh Sarah, she can't hear you talking to her". One day, she was in the bathroom and I was trying to ask while respecting her privacy at the same time if she was done. I said her name...no response. I yelled her name....no response. I started to wave my arms and stomp the floor...once again, no response. So I march across the room into the bathroom to tap her arm. Only this time I couldn't yell at her "PUT ON YOUR EARS".

She was a sweet lady and I enjoyed working with her and watching her and the interpreter sign to each other, even though I couldn't understand a word of it. But it definitely made me appreciate my ears and I couldn't help but chuckle and now understand why my family/friends have this pissed off look when they're trying to get my attention.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

An eventful day at work....

Here's a few more that have happened in the last couple weeks. One of them doesn't refer to my deafness but it's pretty funny...

For several days, I worked with this young man who was pretty sick and I even wondered if he'd remember me. Well one day, another therapist, Sonya, had to take him since I was too busy. Sonya found me after seeing this young man and told me that he was asking where I was. I guess he finally became alert enough to ask and surprisingly, actually remembered enough of me to ask Sonya. He specifically asked "where's that blonde therapist...the special talking one?" The other therapist got a kick out of that. I'm "special" alright, ha!

You remember back in my first post with the patient asking if I was deaf, mute or both? Refer to my first post if you don't. Well I saw him again, about a month later. This is how it goes...
Me: "Hey, you remember me?"
Patient: "Yep, I do, you're a PT"
Me: "Yep" I start talking to him about how he's doing and what we're going to do
Patient: "Before we start, I have a question"
Me: "what's that?" (knowing once again it's going to be about my ears)
Patient: "was it that you can't speak or that you can't hear?"
Me: "Well I've just been speaking to you for the last 10 minutes"
Patient: *Thinks about it for several minutes* "That was a stupid question wasn't it?"
Me: "yes sir, it was"
Seriously?!?! Idiot....

And this one is my favorite...
Myself and one of our aides, Pam, was in a patient's room trying to get her to participate with PT but she wanted nothing to do with us. While we're not allowed to force people to do what they don't want too, sometimes by sitting a patient at the edge of the bed, they actually feel better and then are more willing to work with us. So I just tell Pam, alright let's move her to the edge of the bed.
Upon sitting at the edge of the bed, she has this pissed off look on her face and looks at me very seriously, and with a very serious tone says:
"I can fight you....and I'm 99 years old"
I laid that patient back down and left her alone the rest of the day.