How to Scare a Room Full of Physical Therapists!
This week was difficult for me to process. So, bare with me as I attempt to put it to words. There were many emotions that washed over me throughout the week. Fear, humiliation, anxiety, anger (at myself), doubt, confusion… I think you get the idea. It was my first full week of physical therapy for my Cerebral Palsy. Yes, I have been to physical therapy and rehab on and off over that past six years, but every time it was for a specific injury. Not since I was in single digit years have I been to therapy specifically for CP. I realize this may not be exactly for CP, but it is in my mind.
There are only two, 1 hour appointments each week, but I will include the “homework” I am doing daily here as well. The homework is self-imposed as my therapist has not given me any specific work or tasks to do on the five off days. I has a session on Tuesday and the other on Thursday, and both days I forgot to ask about “homework”. I have just repeated some of the tasks I was given during the session in addition to intuitive exercises.
The first session on Tuesday was comprised mainly of tests of my abilities to get a baseline. This was a humbling experience to say the least. The various tests were on a 1 through 5 scale with corresponding explanations associated with each level. The number One represented the task was completed with some version of normal, or “done with ease”, and Five being unable to do it at all or a severely limited version of the task. Example, retrieve a pen off the floor from a standing position. I remind you this is all to test my balance. Well, I aced picking up the pen. I play golf and I drop things all the time! One task I failed at miserably was putting one foot directly in front of the other, as if on a tight rope, and maintain that stance for 30 seconds without moving. I could not do it! I had to have my stance off center by about an inch in order to stay upright. The next was to do that but with my eyes closed, the therapist and I agreed I would get a 5 on that one! There were approximately twenty tasks on the evaluation sheet. I was below average on all but two, the pen, and the ability to stand up from a seated position without using my hands or arms.
This was not so much a hit to my ego as it was a sobering look at the tasks that were meant to be done with ease by the average 42 year old. At least that was my perception of the situation. Likely a flawed perception it may be, I still felt very defeated. I remember saying, “wait, let me try that again…”, the therapist indulged me a few times, but it was only an hour session.
The therapist then put me through some strength training exercises but without much direction. Good thing I’m a gym rat and would “suggest” the number of sets and reps. I found that odd. I chalk some of that up to the current state of the world dealing with Covid-19. While this is a new and different establishment than the PT franchise I had been to in the past, I doubt my experience is their normal operating procedures. I will just leave it at that.
After that session, I had the rest of the evening off. I took the time to note the tasks and some of the balance-centric exercises I had done to integrate as homework on my off days.
The following day I was showing my coworkers those tasks and in the process of demonstrating, you guessed it, I fell right on my ass! It was one of those good falls too, where you feel the impact radiate up your spine and settle right at the base of your skull. Yea, one of those! I got cocky and paid the price.
The next day I had a proper hour session. My therapist had me doing all sorts of exercises and challenges. I will not bore you with the details. I did discover the fastest way to scare the shit out of a room full of physical therapists though! Toward the end of the hour I had fatigued to the point where I literally fell to my knees. An apt conclusion to the session I suppose. I was emotionally, mentally, and physically defeated.
It is just week one, there are three more to go before my second evaluation. This is just an arbitrary time limit imposed by Insurance. Regardless, it is the time I will have to revisit those tasks to find out if my scores have improved. No doubt, going into that second evaluation I will know by the way I feel. That is the idea, anyway.
They were hinting at making me use the Jimmy Sticks, and by hinting I mean they tried chasing me with them. And right now, I am especially easy to catch! We came to a compromise, at least for that session. I had my clubs in the car and I went out and got my long shaft putter and convinced them to let me use that. Much like a Moses staff.
