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She's always getting them organised for outings to the seaside,
old country houses and castles. She once organised them on
a demo march about poor street lighting. Another thing she
goes on about is young people. "All those grown up people
– parents, teachers, people in Parliament – they
don't listen to young people enough. Young people have a lot
to say and a lot of it's right. We'd be a lot better off if
we took notice of them".
One day, Annie has a stroke; this is when the brain goes
wrong. Although she gets better in hospital, she finds she
can't easily move her right arm and leg, her speech has gone
slurred, too. Because her mouth and throat aren't working
properly, she can't eat easily. "Well," she says,
"I've had my time. I'm just going to lie here."
Annie can still live an active life and a team of people
help her to get better.
A Radiographer
takes images (pictures) of Annie's brain. This helps the doctors
and nurses see how much of her brain has been damaged. They
see that her stroke was quite small. They also need to see
whether her eyes have been affected. She sees an Orthoptist
who says that her eyes are still working properly.
A Speech
and Language Therapist helps Annie with two things. One
is helping her overcome her difficulties with speaking. The
other is to help Annie manage swallowing her food and drink
safely. A Dietitian
will help with the right kind of food early on.
Annie will need help with walking again. And with simple
things like dressing, washing, generally getting around her
house. She will find she can use her arm and leg better as
time goes on. A Physiotherapist
will help her walking, an Orthotist
will fit a splint to support her foot and Occupational
Therapist will help her with things around her home –
helping her to live on her own again. "I want my own
place back," she tells them all the time.
Annie has always had a
lot of friends – including some of the young people
in her area. A Drama
Therapist works with her to help get over the feeling
she can't do anything.
Any ideas what the dramatherapist might do?
 Which
AHPs help Annie?
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