A Physical Therapy Reject

My body and physical therapy simply don’t get along. You would think that by now I would have learned that every part of my body rebels if put through physical therapy (PT). Be it deep knee bends or relearning how to walk, my body either won’t comply or will take revenge if forced to do things like that. And yet I keep hoping and trying…

My first time with PT was in 2004 when my knee doctor wanted me to try it before considering knee surgery. I tried to tell everyone that it wouldn’t work but no one listened to me. So I went to a Rehab center where a nice therapist put me through a serious of knee exercises. My knee tried to comply until he asked me to do deep knee bends. Yeah right. Although deep knee bends and I had parted company years ago I nonetheless tried. That was on a Monday. When I returned on Wednesday I was using crutches because my knee had totally rebelled and no longer supported me at all. The therapist still was optimistic and had me do some easy stretching exercises. No surprise that it didn’t work. By Friday the therapist admitted defeat and sent me back to my surgeon who then immediately scheduled surgery. So that is Body 1 - Physical Therapy 0.

The next battle was in 2005 after I had extreme pain in my legs due to lower back problems. Again a surgeon had suggested PT as a possible way to avoid surgery. As this time I really didn’t want that risky back surgery I agreed that PT was important. Unfortunately my body didn’t get the message. Sure, the first week was good as I was able to do all the exercises and reps on the machines. But the second week I found that instead of being able to do more reps I couldn’t even do what I had done the week before. Then things got really scary when my legs started to collapse underneath me. After a few days of my legs getting weaker and weaker, my therapist ordered me back to my doctor where we realized that surgery was necessary as I was losing the ability to walk.    Body 2 - Physical Therapy 0.

Three months later in 2006 I returned to the same rehab facility and therapist. This time PT was to help me regain strength after having had the back surgery and months of bed rest. Ironically, I now had greater pain in my lower back than before the surgery when the pain had been in my legs. For three months I went to the PT facility 2-3 times each week and worked on their machines and did exercises on the mats. Before starting they measured the mobility in my back and after the three months measured me again. After all that sweat and pain and work there was no measurable change. A year later I was declared permanently disabled because of the constant pain in my lower back. {sigh} Body 3 -Physical Therapy 0.

In 2007 my left knee went out on me. This time my knee doc didn’t even bother sending me to a therapist and went straight to surgery. However, he did have me go to PT to strengthen my knee after the surgery. I went to a different facility but upon going in for the first time I heard a familiar voice call my name. Turns out the therapist I had a year ago now worked at this new place. Great. My claim to fame is being known at all the rehab centers. As for the therapy it neither hurt nor helped my knee. So I’d call it a truce and would keep it at Body 3 - Physical Therapy 0.

Last month I underwent a 10 hour surgery on my right leg because of blood clots. The wonderful surgeon saved my leg but I still am hooked up to medical equipment and the muscles and tendons in my leg and foot were badly damaged. So once again I need Physical Therapy this time to help me relearn how to walk and to be able to move my foot properly. As I couldn’t drive, the therapist comes to my house and after the first week I noticed an improvement in my ability to walk and move my foot. But my leg and foot have experienced so much drama that they aren’t happy with me at all. After that first week of PT my foot began to swell up. It was just a little bit at first but over the next few days my foot got bigger and bigger and bigger and then my ankle and leg began to swell. I started to have flashbacks to that scene where Harry Potter made his nasty Aunt swell up like a big balloon.

To stop the swelling, my doctor now wants me to be flat on my back with my foot propped up way over my heart. So here I am lying down on my bed, lap top next to me and with my foot raised up on five pillows. Not exactly the most comfortable position but the swelling has gone down. As for the therapist, she still comes but instead of painful exercises she now is spending her time slowly stretching my foot and massaging my leg and foot tendons and muscles that had been affected by the surgery. That feels wonderful and my body is now getting exactly what it wanted. So I can’t help but wonder if PT has ever won out over what the body demands. Obviously for me that answer is no. Body 4 - Physical Therapy - 0