Saturday, July 10, 2010

Physical Therapy?

Yesterday I had my first session of PT. Why you ask? Because they took out 14 lymph nodes from underneath my left arm and I need to re- train my body to drain lymphatic fluid to other lymph node. Because of that part of the surgery I also have limited mobility in my left arm.

The first 45 minutes were dedicated to teaching me how to do at home exercised to increase mobility and blood flow. Paaahhhllllleeeaaaasssseeee! Like I don't know how to do exercises - I was thinking to myself this is just going to be stupid. I was gravely mistaken. I was taken from tough chick who knows everything to whining, whimpering baby who doesn't have a clue. She kept saying "just a little more.." AHHHHHH!!!! It felt like my arm was made of wood and was going to snap at any moment.

The next hour and 20 minutes were dedicated to something completely different. I laid down and she turned the lights off and I proceeded to get the most wonderful gentle massage. She was manipulating the fluid in my body and directing it to new places but it just felt like heaven to me.

I left the building with more energy and feeling better than I had since before surgery. I guess the nasty painful part was well worth the massage at the end. I asked her if I really only needed 3 weeks of therapy - wouldn't 6 months be more beneficial? She humored me and said she would re-evaluate after 3 weeks.

1 comment:

Theres just life said...

I've been in therapy and been the therapist. So I've know what your talking about. When you have to retrain your muscles it is a whole new ball game. And the lymph drainage does feel good, as well as the massage to keep the muscles loose. Don't forget to do the exercises at home. They will help you get back to normal faster.