Cherry Pie

Prior to my acceptance into the program I spent many hours in nursing homes and outpatient clinics observing occupational therapists and learning what it was all about. One session that stood out to me was observing an older lady in the nursing home who was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, bake a pie. We had a lot of fun during this session and I could tell she was enjoying it and motivated, but truly had no idea how this session related to her illness. Now that I have learned more about this field it all makes sense. This lady obviously wanted to be well enough to be able to bake again, but with her illness, she was too weak to stand for long periods of time. My OT would observe her everyday in the kitchen while she went through the steps of baking, time how long she was able to stand and would teach her precautions to take when she got too weak and tried to find ways to adapt. I learned how to make a cherry pie that day, but looking back I learned a lot more than I thought I did!