What does a day with Mark look like - In the Garden

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Marks favourite place is the garden, before brain injury apart from being a surf photographer he also had a Horticultural Degree,  he did landscaping in the UK in the surf off season and various other project in WA.  

Even after his Acquired Brain Injury, Mark still knows the Latin words for plants.  He might not remember everything to do with the functionality of tasks like planting the plants and where is best spot in the yard for the plant or making fences, chicken coups and garden beds, but that is where Marli comes in.  Marli is an amazing support worker that we found on Mable.  She has a lot of the same loves for gardening and plants.  She goes through step by step in what is required, asking him questions to see what he thinks.  

Marks day is not just garden there are many other things that his support workers will do with him but we will touch on those in other blog posts. 

Mark has always lived in this Gracetown property, the house didn't look like this before, he lived in a surf shack which we knocked down and built our dream home.  To get our amazing ocean views we built a house on stumps, old Queensland style with balcony's that wrap around.  So obviously we had a clean slate of dirt with the new house that requires a lot of work and design, the property is sloping so it is a task for Marli and Mark to accomplish all they do.

This kind of day to day in the garden building, is so similar to an expensive OT appointment, he is actually putting to use his memory of old skills, with the help of Marli prompting him and coaching him.  She is a fantastic support and has a lot of experience with working with Brain Injury. 
She gets Mark to actually do things where as in the past we have had supports just sit down and watch TV with him. He doesn't need a babysitter, he needs activity and stimulation. 

After Stroke Mark had to learn to walk, make a cup of tea etc.  In the 7 months he spent in hospital it became very apparent that Mark can chat and recall everything about his life, but he cant say "cup" when shown a cup by the Allied Health Professional, he also had no idea how to make a cup of tea, (just the order of everything and where to get everything from).  (We could write another blog post just on Rehabilitation and the first year out of hospital) 

Its 2023 and we are 3 years after initial hospital admission. Mark can make his own cups of tea, prepare small meals like toast.  He will initiate tasks and offer assistance if he sees me cooking the dinner.  
As you can see from the couple of photos, Mark has done amazing work on the outside of our new home.  This is the best therapy for Mark just out enjoying his land and learning to function again.  
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