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My Grandfather, My Inspiration – By Fleur Nelson
My interest in physiotherapy has stemmed from a number of experiences and people. I chose physiotherapy as a potential career after taking a high school anatomy class. I entered an undergraduate program in the science discipline to explore my career options.
Part way through my undergraduate degree I learned just how valuable and effective a form of healthcare such as physiotherapy can be. I developed chronic headaches that became so debilitating I was spending days in bed and missing school. This went on for almost two years. I was given CT scans, MRIs and X-rays and my physician had me on many different medications, with side effects like weight gain and vertigo, to try to get rid of the pain. Tired of experimenting with medications, I requested a referral to a physiotherapist. My physiotherapist did a quick assessment and determined I had TMJ from clenching my jaw constantly. After a few treatments my headaches had lessened dramatically and my life was getting back to normal. It was such a simple diagnosis, but it had evaded the other healthcare professionals I had seen.
My experiences with physiotherapy helped me make the decision to pursue the profession as a career.  In preparation, I volunteered at a nursing home and a hospital. I saw what a difference, not only the exercises, but the caring human contact made in the lives of the residents and patients.
Having made my decision to enter graduate studies in physiotherapy, I discovered the field I wanted to pursue was geriatrics. One of the most important and influential people in my life was my grandfather. He was able to live at home during his later years because my grandmother was capable of caring for him. The hardest thing I ever had to do was watch his health decline as he approached the end of his life. Living through that experience showed me how valuable physiotherapy could be to an elderly person in order to improve their quality of life and maintain their independence. I realised how physiotherapy could have helped my grandfather increase mobility and perhaps even to avoid the fall that landed him in the hospital – the fall from which he never came back. My faith in our overburdened healthcare system decreased once more as a result of the seeming lack of test results and lack concern for my grandfather’s rapidly decreasing health. I got my acceptance to the physical therapy program a week after my grandfather’s passing.
My experiences with our healthcare system have shown me how important it is to have interprofessional care and communication. By spreading out the types of care among professionals, people can get the best of every area or care. As a physiotherapist I hope that I can help people become stronger by maintaining their independence and quality of life for as long as possible. I want to create more awareness within our healthcare professions about interprofessional care and where different disciplines’ specialties lie. This way we can get more care to more people and every profession will be part of a whole.
Fleur Nelson
Physical Therapy Student, Queen’s University
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