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The Jane Kaczmarek Interview (Page 2 of 3)
An Interview with Jane Kaczmarek
Jane Kaczmarek:
It’s actually the Movement
Experience Exhibit. People can walk
through the experience of getting up
out of a chair, getting in and out
of a car, walking upstairs, and look
at what’s involved in that process
of movement. It’s an exhibit that is
travelling around the country. One
of the things they have is a
30-foot-long part of a leg, from the
knee to the hip. People can actually
walk through it and understand a
little bit about how those joints
are connected to what muscles and
see how this whole thing holds
together and works, and where relief
from pain could come. If people go
to the Web site
www.anatomyofmovementexperience.com,
they can find out where this exhibit
is going next. There is a lot of
great information and doctors would
be available in their area who would
be able to talk to them about pain
they might be having. There is
a list of resources and symptoms
that they might be experiencing.
We are just trying to get the word
out and hopefully people won’t have
to suffer the way I did.
Gary Barg:
Well, this is a really big issue for
family caregivers; we lift our loved
ones, we move heavy equipment, we
struggle with wheelchairs, but the
first thing we don’t do is care for
ourselves.
Jane Kaczmarek:
Gary, you know, you really hit it on
the head. I just thought, I’m too
young, this can’t be happening to
me, I am too busy, I have got these
children, this job; I will just take
more ibuprofen. I would organize my
days so I could do as little as
possible. One of the things I
remember was driving to the mall and
I couldn’t even walk through the
length of it. I would park and get
what I needed, then I’d go back to
the car and drive to the other side
of the mall to get what I needed
there. Or when I was coming down the
steps in the morning from my second
floor bedroom, I would take down
absolutely everything I needed for
the day—books, change of clothes,
sunglasses, anything that I might
need because the idea of going
upstairs to get anything was such a
horrible idea. I didn’t want to
have that happen until it was
nighttime and I had to go to bed. I
think when people are busy, they
find a million excuses not to take
care of themselves.
Gary Barg:
I just actually spoke with a
gentleman who had a hip replacement
recently and he said that it seemed
like his life started over. He
didn’t have to make the walk arounds
and the work- arounds anymore.
Jane Kaczmarek:
I remember I would come into a room
and immediately assess where there
was a doorknob and where there was a
counter and plan how I would kind of
walk through. Go over
here and hang on for couple seconds,
then go over there and hang on. It’s
like being in a pinball machine.
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