my experiences with PT and other stuff :)

From: Mary Wade (acbcsrt@kansas.net)
Wed Oct 25 21:54:59 2000


This old girl has tried it all. Check it out!

"You just need to get out and get moving" I walked I walked faster I jogged (looked silly) I felt more fit....but I still hurt

"Get shoe inserts..that will take care of it. You hurt because you toe out a bit" OK! I want the best...sure $300 You are right...my foot doesn't rock as much. Sure, it feels better than just plain shoes. Happy feet....but I still hurt.

"OHhhhh....there's a hernia. See you in surgery." Gee....love these after surgery pain meds! I am GOOD! Ooops...out of meds. Ut oh...why is it...that now that my "problem is fixed"...that I still hurt?

"This guy is a GREAT acupuncturist. Straight from China." Interesting. The needles don't hurt. Nice incense. $60 a session. I think my shoulder feels better....but I still hurt.

"Chiropractors can help things that medical doctors can't." Great! That's me. Got my checkbook right here. Pop, crack, thump, homeopathic meds. He says I am not getting better because I am not coming in often enough. Phooey! I still hurt.

"It's your weak abs. Do crunches" I really really hate to do crunches but I guess I have to. Day after day after day during crunches All sorts of crunches. People say "Have you lost weight?" "Looking good!" But I still hurt.

"There is this lady at the health food store......." Hey...food...health...those things both sound good to me Protein powders, vitamins I never heard of before Compounds, Soy-everything Seaweed? Nope...I have my limits. OK...my tummy is full and I am all vitaminized. By the way, I am still hurting.

"I want to send you to a special physical therapist. She specializes in pelvic floor rehabilitation." Now THIS is some strange PT! I go to the ob/gyn clinic. Kegals, "stretching the adhesions" via vaginal manipulation More ab work, stretches, ultrasound on the old old episiotomy scar. Umpteen pages of exercise to do each day Exercises plus walking takes 2 hours each day. I feel healthier. I feel more limber. I feel better. So why am I still hurting?

"I removed all your adhesions. If you have pain, it's myofascial pain. Go to the pain clinic." A darned nice pain doc. Looks like Robin Williams. I think he really knows about pain because...I think I see pain on his face. I wonder what his story is. Adjust the meds. Learn about how pain can be there even when the source of the pain is gone. Learn about how my body has been trained to "tell" me it needs the pain to feel alive. Well, well. That's good news, I guess??? Oh..by the way, I still hurt.

"I want you to try a different kind of PT. You will like Kathy!" And I DID like Kathy. And Kathy liked me. Kathy has fibromyalgia herself and knows about feeling bad. We go slowly. I am the perfect patient, she says. She does myofascial release. It feels good. I think it helps. I feel healthier. I feel more fit. I can laugh with a bit more abandon. I am exhausted from working, family and this regime. It takes me two hours a day to maintain this level. And "this level"? Well, even at this level....I still hurt, but just not as much.

Kathy says, "I am ready to release you from therapy now. Find a massage therapist who can do myofascial release every week." OOOOOK! Does insurance pay? No? Didn't think so. Weekly massages with a therapist trained in myofascial release. My head is sooo relaxed. Oh, my shoulders are mush. Hands, fingers, toes, calves....they are all sleepy. Oh this is the most bitter/sweet experience of all When almost all of me is calm and relaxed When no other body tension is there to mask the hurt and distract me from it. A huge puddle of pain in my middle screams and beats at me like an toddler having a temper tantrum. I learn...really learn....just how much, I still hurt.

So, finally....I start listening to myself. I ask, "Am I weak?" Well, no I ask, "Do I want to be sick?" No, I want to soar. I look around. "Are my same-aged peers as crippled up as I am?" Not at all. "Am I nuts?" Hell, no. I'm one of the sanest people I know :) So now what? Read, learn, read, learn, read. Talk to others with this problem. Decide that I will do whatever I can to get well. Gather up all the records. Contact the best of the best docs. Finally, I talk to a doctor who, before I can tell him where and how I hurt.....tells ME where, how, and why I hurt.

Now I have hope. Hope feels really good. "Lub you, Gramma" the little one says. "And I love you, Honey." Thank you God, that my heart doesn't hurt.


Enter keywords:
Returns per screen: Require all keywords: