Salisbury Shakers April meet-up
Salisbury support group organiser Sheelagh reflects on the Salisbury Shakers April meet-up
The group were joined by Marie Roberts, Physiotherapist and Clinic Manager
First of all, some good news. Jillian has, at last, had a treatment called Thalamotomy for her tremor. I understand that this is a treatment similar to Focussed Ultrasound, but not quite the same. She had the procedure last Thursday. Beforehand, she was unable to put pen to paper and, when she came out, she says she could draw a spiral! Jillian has been fighting for about 19 years to get treatment. She certainly wins the prize for perseverance. We look forward to seeing her at our next meeting.
Our next two meetings are as follows:
May 9th
June 13th (please note, this is not the June date originally planned, as the Playhouse could not accommodate us)
We welcomed two new members today, Jackie who has ET and her husband Andrew who took our photo.
Today’s meeting was most interesting. We had a visit from Marie Roberts, a Chartered Physiotherapist and Clinic Manager of the Salisbury and South Wilts Physiotherapy centre, who kindly gave up her Saturday morning to come and talk to the group.
Marie explained how physiotherapy can help so many conditions. She pointed out that, having a tremor, means that one’s muscles are using more energy than someone without tremor, and it is therefore important to exercise and strengthen those muscles. She explained how strengthening our shoulder blades can help to strengthen hands.
She talked about balance and core stability and gave lots of tips.
Marie pointed out that physiotherapy can be extremely useful in all sorts of conditions. She recognised that the NHS does not have sufficient resources, and people tend to be ‘fobbed off’ and told that physio cannot help this or that condition. She said that there is clearly a need for better understanding with regards to how physiotherapy can indeed help in many areas.
I wasn’t able to take many legible notes, but Marie has sent some links for us all which I think will be extremely useful. I will send these in a separate email.
Those present all found the morning very useful, interesting and productive. We learned a lot.
I have sent Marie some flowers from the group, as a thank you.
