Hope again

On Monday morning, I went to meet my new physical therapist, feeling blue.  I can't even count the number of physical therapists I have worked with (more than ten) since May 2021, and the last thing I wanted to do was to start all over again. 

Knee surgery in May, then sciatica, then this valve in the vein thing--it's been a year of traipsing to expert after expert trying to put the puzzle together.  I've done miles of tread mills, earnest stretches with straps, and hours of homework, twenty of this, twenty of that, ten pages. 

Joe's style of therapy is unlike any other I've known.  "You have to retrain your muscles," he said.  "You've been overcompensating for so long, before and after surgery,  that your quads have forgotten how to do what they are designed to do.  You're going to be fine so soon!"  I had tears in my eyes, relief and gratitude.  A glimmer of hope. 

He had me tighten my thigh muscles without engaging my butt--almost impossible.  The only exercise he gave me were standing, lying down, and seated versions of the same thing: Tighten these muscles right here, don't let the others help out."

When I returned today after doing those exercises, I felt so much better. Both Joe and his assistant were complimentary about my progress. ("I thought it would take two weeks to get here," he said.)  Along with the compression stockings (prepping for a procedure for the veins later this month)--I'm optimistic. 

Physical pain shuts down energy.  Working around it makes it hard to plan ahead.   I can work or run errands for about two hours in the morning, then have to lie down for an hour or two to buy another couple of hours in the afternoon.  Late afternoon, the pain is back and I call it a day.  

After today's therapy (massage, heat, and exercises) I didn't want to go home and go to bed as I always do. With no pain, I had enough energy to shop at thrift stores, go to Target, and do some painting. I felt like my old self again!

 "We're not about zapping pain here," Joe said.  "We're teaching your body how to get strong again;  When you use your muscles correctly, the pain will go away on its own."

This is what makes for excellent teaching of any new thing: connect the dots.  Explain the why.