PT, Sinus Issues, and Sunday Lunch
Apr. 14th, 2014 08:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
howeverbriefSo... I've complained about this elsewhere, but I'm going to get it out here too. Maybe you'll have some insight, internet friends. (Or not. Either way, it's fine.)
I had physical therapy on Friday. For the last few sessions, I was working with a therapist named Gary, who, while he did push my calf a little hard the last time I saw him, has been fairly nice to me otherwise. This time, the therapist was named Jessica. I had overheard the other employees of the place talking about Jessica before and hadn't made the connection, stuff about hummus and a different kind of attitude.
Anyway, while I was on the exercise bike, I heard her talking to another patient about how she's from Jersey. I finished on the bike and went to the bar where another man was doing his physical therapy. I started the leg lifts, and granted, I was doing them wrong because I was tired; it's hard; and I wasn't paying attention. Jessica came over and corrected me, which was fine.
She wandered off to help someone else, and I continued on. When she came back over, she asked (in a bit of an accusatory tone), "Why aren't you using your crutch?"
Did I mention this was the first day I had worn two shoes? No, I didn't. They had told me at the last session on Wednesday that I had to wean myself off the boot, so I made it my goal to wear shoes the next time I went. I wore both shoes that day, barely squeezing my foot into my tennis shoe. I spent the whole day hobbling around but felt quite proud that I had finally kicked the boot, even though my foot felt like a sausage in the shoe.
Back to our conversation. I answered (kind of defensively), "Because I'm stubborn?"
She continued, "Well, you need it. I can tell you're not walking properly. I saw you from the parking lot."
I said, "Actually, it's because no one told me I had to."
"Well, I'm telling you now. Use your crutch."
Now, I don't mind taking instructions because I'm obviously not a physical therapist, but the way she approached it really irritated me. Mo (the owner of the place who did my initial session and took my measurements) only told me that when I was in the boot, I should have my crutch with me in case I got tired at the end of the day. No one told me I should use the crutch after I got rid of the boot, not even the doctor who did my surgery. How was I supposed to know?
I ended up sucking it up by reminding myself that she was trying to help me and she was from Jersey (and that I've never understood the east coast attitudes I've encountered in my life), but I'm not looking forward to working with her again. I think she helped me in that she did some different things, and I am walking a little better (because I had her explain to me why she was telling me to use the crutch later, which she should have done in the first place), but I have another problem that might arise during the next session of PT.
See... I also went to the ENT on Friday for my sinus infection from hell. He ended up looking in my nose, taking cultures of the really gross mucus and saying my sinus was inflamed on top of my septum being slightly deviated. He ordered a CT scan (which I still need to go get), prescribed me yet another antibiotic (ugh), and gave me a separate script for steroids to try to help the inflammation in my nose.
And yes! The steroids have helped the inflammation in my nose! I can almost breathe normally again, and I seem to be a little better after almost five months of this nonsense.
But the steroids have another interesting side effect. At PT, the therapists had been harping on me to get the swelling in my foot down because getting rid of the swelling will help me walk normally again. They told me to soak it in Epsom salt baths then ice it, keep it elevated as much as possible, get compression socks, try to walk more (because the movement would supposedly help the fluid be drawn back up into my body), etc. Well, I work a desk job where it was really hard to keep a 10 pound boot elevated all the time and work at the same time. The Epsom salt baths were inconvenient at the end of long days at work (and gave me a rash on my arms when I tried to soak my whole body), and walking is hard with a swollen foot that barely moves. I'm full of excuses, all of which I take responsibility for.
Still... the one thing that did get rid of the swelling was the steroids, which I'm pretty sure isn't going to make my physical therapists happy, but I sure as hell need to get rid of my sinus infection. I also tried to call my doctor to see if it was okay, and his office was closed (great!), so I went ahead and started on the steroids. Hopefully this doesn't screw up my progress, but it is nice to be able to breathe better and not feel like a sausage in my shoe (though that's still the only pair of shoes I'm able to wear at this point).
Sigh. I hope Jessica isn't there on Wednesday. I could do with less of that.
Otherwise, things are okay. Poor Mike has been ill all weekend, and I'm not feeling great either. We did get to see my parents and brother yesterday to celebrate Mike's birthday. We went to Adele's (which is pretty fancy for these parts) for lunch, and my mom made cake. My poor sister Siobhan couldn't make it because she's also sick, but hopefully we'll see her at the end of the week since we're all supposed to go out for Good Friday sushi. I guess we'll see how it goes. Weird how close Easter is. I guess it's spring after all.
I had physical therapy on Friday. For the last few sessions, I was working with a therapist named Gary, who, while he did push my calf a little hard the last time I saw him, has been fairly nice to me otherwise. This time, the therapist was named Jessica. I had overheard the other employees of the place talking about Jessica before and hadn't made the connection, stuff about hummus and a different kind of attitude.
Anyway, while I was on the exercise bike, I heard her talking to another patient about how she's from Jersey. I finished on the bike and went to the bar where another man was doing his physical therapy. I started the leg lifts, and granted, I was doing them wrong because I was tired; it's hard; and I wasn't paying attention. Jessica came over and corrected me, which was fine.
She wandered off to help someone else, and I continued on. When she came back over, she asked (in a bit of an accusatory tone), "Why aren't you using your crutch?"
Did I mention this was the first day I had worn two shoes? No, I didn't. They had told me at the last session on Wednesday that I had to wean myself off the boot, so I made it my goal to wear shoes the next time I went. I wore both shoes that day, barely squeezing my foot into my tennis shoe. I spent the whole day hobbling around but felt quite proud that I had finally kicked the boot, even though my foot felt like a sausage in the shoe.
Back to our conversation. I answered (kind of defensively), "Because I'm stubborn?"
She continued, "Well, you need it. I can tell you're not walking properly. I saw you from the parking lot."
I said, "Actually, it's because no one told me I had to."
"Well, I'm telling you now. Use your crutch."
Now, I don't mind taking instructions because I'm obviously not a physical therapist, but the way she approached it really irritated me. Mo (the owner of the place who did my initial session and took my measurements) only told me that when I was in the boot, I should have my crutch with me in case I got tired at the end of the day. No one told me I should use the crutch after I got rid of the boot, not even the doctor who did my surgery. How was I supposed to know?
I ended up sucking it up by reminding myself that she was trying to help me and she was from Jersey (and that I've never understood the east coast attitudes I've encountered in my life), but I'm not looking forward to working with her again. I think she helped me in that she did some different things, and I am walking a little better (because I had her explain to me why she was telling me to use the crutch later, which she should have done in the first place), but I have another problem that might arise during the next session of PT.
See... I also went to the ENT on Friday for my sinus infection from hell. He ended up looking in my nose, taking cultures of the really gross mucus and saying my sinus was inflamed on top of my septum being slightly deviated. He ordered a CT scan (which I still need to go get), prescribed me yet another antibiotic (ugh), and gave me a separate script for steroids to try to help the inflammation in my nose.
And yes! The steroids have helped the inflammation in my nose! I can almost breathe normally again, and I seem to be a little better after almost five months of this nonsense.
But the steroids have another interesting side effect. At PT, the therapists had been harping on me to get the swelling in my foot down because getting rid of the swelling will help me walk normally again. They told me to soak it in Epsom salt baths then ice it, keep it elevated as much as possible, get compression socks, try to walk more (because the movement would supposedly help the fluid be drawn back up into my body), etc. Well, I work a desk job where it was really hard to keep a 10 pound boot elevated all the time and work at the same time. The Epsom salt baths were inconvenient at the end of long days at work (and gave me a rash on my arms when I tried to soak my whole body), and walking is hard with a swollen foot that barely moves. I'm full of excuses, all of which I take responsibility for.
Still... the one thing that did get rid of the swelling was the steroids, which I'm pretty sure isn't going to make my physical therapists happy, but I sure as hell need to get rid of my sinus infection. I also tried to call my doctor to see if it was okay, and his office was closed (great!), so I went ahead and started on the steroids. Hopefully this doesn't screw up my progress, but it is nice to be able to breathe better and not feel like a sausage in my shoe (though that's still the only pair of shoes I'm able to wear at this point).
Sigh. I hope Jessica isn't there on Wednesday. I could do with less of that.
Otherwise, things are okay. Poor Mike has been ill all weekend, and I'm not feeling great either. We did get to see my parents and brother yesterday to celebrate Mike's birthday. We went to Adele's (which is pretty fancy for these parts) for lunch, and my mom made cake. My poor sister Siobhan couldn't make it because she's also sick, but hopefully we'll see her at the end of the week since we're all supposed to go out for Good Friday sushi. I guess we'll see how it goes. Weird how close Easter is. I guess it's spring after all.
