Health Blog

Observing an appointment with Jane Cast Neuro Physiotherapist at Springbank Clinic 

A friend of mine had to undergo surgery in the Autumn to remove a tumour from his neck which was putting pressure on his spinal cord and impacting the use of his hands, legs and general balance.  Although benign it was growing and without surgery the deterioration was quite clear.

Following surgery, the effects of spinal shock simply working around the spinal cord were dramatic with almost total immobility for a few weeks; it was more than any of us had expected.  I was fortunate enough to be able to make regular visits to Kings to encourage, assist with advice and carry out some very simple passive joint movements.    After a further two months in a rehab unit he was just about able to walk (with crutches), managing about ten steps to the door. 

Once home I was able to help him twice a week to help with stiffness and to encourage new movements.   Having not been able to work – effectively closing his business and with no immediate prospect of a return – he was understandably wary of spending money unnecessarily, so we delayed visiting neuro-physiotherapists, Jane Cast or Elissa Benson.

The patient is very goal / target driven.   Throughout the process he has thrived on being able to do longer, further, faster, heavier etc.  This is something that we definitely share from our athletics background.    It is undoubtedly a good thing, but on reflection I can see that the desire to achieve targets leads to “cheating” techniques that will in fact limit the overall progress with resultant plateaus or developing different discomfort.

We reached a point a couple of weeks ago where I felt we really needed the help, advice and inspiration from Jane or Elissa to be able to achieve the target of unassisted walking.   With this type of condition I have learnt the importance of being patient and flexible/adaptable with targets,  but in this case I felt the time had come for the next step!

I was able to observe the appointment with Jane.   Jane is positively realistic and honest.   Appointments with Jane are full of smiles, laughter and firm encouragement   Her enthusiasm quickly had her pointing out some basic errors in posture and how to correct them, but also highlighting the positive aspects of the work the patient had done so far.  I was able to witness the thought process that my friend was going through as Jane encouraged correct movement.   “You can do it” and “that’s it” were aplenty along with the corrections.   I saw how, initially, he was clearly thinking “I can’t do that” but with repetition and encouragement, a smile appeared as he realised that he could!!  

He left exhausted yet with a boost of confidence as he walked back to the car, armed with a fresh set of exercises to repeat many times over the next two weeks.   On a follow up phone call today, he told me that simply sitting up straighter on his static bike and thinking about what he had learnt from Jane on how to use his core resulted in another PB!  This really showed that targets and correct technique can go together.    It also reinforced the importance of hearing advice in different forms to keep things fresh and diverse.

This patient is on a journey and with neuro trauma such as this the journey is always up and down.

I hope that by highlighting this case others may realise that although the support the NHS can offer for a case like this is very limited, there are other resources available and the importance of seeking the right advice at the right time to maximise the rate of recovery.    Read more about the Neurorehab department here