Noah's first therapy visit

We had our first official therapy visit today at a local senior assisted living facility. We are helping out in the physical therapy department. Most of the patients doing PT are there until they are well enough to go home. The residents were very excited to see Noah, but I think the staff was even more excited! The receptionist said that Noah looked like a little man in a furry suit lol.

Noah was able to assist the physical therapists and patients in many ways. There were about 8 patients doing PT. Most of the PT patients are verging on immobile. A few are better off than the rest though. They span the spectrum in mental capacity as well. None of them have a learning impairment, but are at various stages in mental health due to older age. Here are a few of the memorable moments from today's visit:

Noah assisted the patients who had balancing problems by retrieving after a ball that the patients threw. Of course there were so many smells and activities going on that Noah really didn't care about his squeaky tennis ball (even though it's one of his favorite toys), but the patients got a kick out of throwing the ball for him. One woman is recovering from a stroke, with the better part of her left side paralyzed. Even though there were two physical therapists holding her so she could stand up, she was afraid to let go of the railing on the wall because she thought she would fall. However, having the task of throwing the ball for Noah gave her the courage to let go of the rail and throw the ball. Amazingly, she had a really good throw and she launched the ball and it rolled all the way into someone else's room!

Another woman was doing leg lifts in her wheelchair. They brought her up to the PT room because she liked dogs. She was thrilled to see Noah and would not have gone to PT today without him there. She was doing her leg lifts and counting the number and all of a sudden, she closes her eyes and stops lifting her legs. The physical therapists asked her what she was doing and she replied that she was taking her nap. That gave all of us a good laugh and they decided she did enough PT for the day and were glad that they were even able to get her to come.

One man had PT this morning, but came back for round 2 this afternoon because he heard there was a dog coming in this afternoon. The fact that Noah was able to motivate him to do more PT is amazing because the PT is very hard for the patients and having had to do a lot of PT in the past, I know it's not a very pleasant thing to do.

We had a great visit and I'm so thrilled that the facility is so welcoming of us. They even made a sign for the PT room announcing that we were coming! I am so proud of Noah because he loves everyone equally and is not at all phased by wheelchairs, walkers, strange noises or smells. He is just so happy to receive so much attention. After he greets a patient and gets all of his tail wags and licks out of the way, he likes to lay down right by their feet and put his chin on their shoes. I hope that Noah can motivate these patients to recover faster and gain strength. A few of them have beloved pets of their own that are waiting at home for them and I think seeing Noah helps remind them of their own pets and what they have to look forward to in the future.

Noah turned 14 months old today! His arrival day was on Sunday so I have had him for a total of 367 days now :-)