Physical Therapy begins!

I had a few options for physical therapy:
1. Go to any physical therapist I want, which requires leaving the house
2. Bring back the home care physical therapist

Hmmmmmm, yeah, sure I'll go with the one who said there was NOTHING to be done until I had weight bearing status on my leg....or I could choose the one I have seen off and on for years and just make some trips to the outside world.

Much to no one's (maybe Elaine's) surprise, I opted for my trusty physical therapist. I emailed the office manager and heard back that the soonest I could get in was 3 weeks away. I took what I could and was put on the cancellation list. Luckily, a few days later, they called with two cancellations for the next week.

The day of the first appointment seemed monumental in my mind. First time leaving without Harborview as my destination, first time going down the stairs without my brother, first time riding in a regular sedan style car, first time riding in the front passenger seat of a car, first time being in public and first time going to physical therapy with a broken pelvis AND a "recovering" dislocated knee cap.

I started with paperwork. Always my favorite part. I don't quite honestly know if my paternal grandfather had any heart problems or if my maternal grandmother had liver problems. I feel like someone should create a system for us to be able to pull this up because every time I go to the doctor, I sit there and ponder what I know about my family's medical history. I bet if you compared all of my forms over the years, it would be pretty comical what I thought I might know about that.

Getting anywhere with a walker is time consuming and exhausting. And even old people look at me weird when I am using it. The thing about my main injury, is that no one can see it. I wouldn't know the severity of it, if it weren't for my X-rays. It hurts, and that's about what I would be able to tell you. And bone pain is different, period. I'm not talking about breaking your toe.

Using a walker is way harder than it looks. Way harder. I enjoy working out. I miss it like crazy. Physical therapy is the closest thing I have to working out for a long time, which is what makes me like it. I get to accomplish something, even if it is wiggling my toe.

Fast forward to now (first week of May) and I have been in PT for 3 weeks. While leaving is still hard as hell, I look forward to getting out, especially when we have had great weather. Getting out also tires me out. My former busy bee personality has been replaced with someone else, for the time being. I need to build up my stamina slowly. Slowly. Another 2 weeks and I should start get to start doing even more.

If you haven't been to PT, it is a lot of small stuff. If you haven't been injured and had stiffness and soreness from not moving a joint for weeks or months, it is a weird thing. Your brain says bend and your leg says whatever. It's frustrating. Especially when you have come from a place of doing box jumps, burpees and running. But I know this is what I need to do to be able to do all of those things again. Flex and extend your ankles. Kegals. Rolling a tennis ball under my arches (harder than one would think). Fun stuff.

Keep on walkering, that's all I can do. One day at a time!