Sunday, May 29, 2011

p t or how i drop $30 per week

Back in October or November I pulled a muscle or something in my chest and back under my right arm. It was very painful but I kept working through it month after month. Rolling over in bed at night would wake me up and reaching towards the floor caused distress. Still I kept working out. When it got to the point where I felt like I was starting to lose range of motion I mentioned it to my doctor. He sent me to physical therapy where Dr Laura took a bunch of measurements and told me that my small stabilizer muscles in my back were very weak and causing my shoulder blades to flare out. I started a course of physical therapy twice a week. I've been going for about 8 weeks now and have seen vast improvement. I go at 7:00 am on Wednesdays and Fridays. When I first started to go I noticed that there was a lot of standing around time waiting for instruction on what to do next. There was also a lot of chatter between the doctor and the patients and among the patients. I've discovered that when you go several times a week at the same time you see the same faces over and over again and start to make friends. Eventually I got into a routine and no longer need instruction. I show up, get a little heat on my shoulder and do my rounds. It takes me about 45 minutes to an hour. On Friday the guy who appears to be the head honcho and who had never spoken to me before, asked me how I was doing. I told him that my shoulder was getting much better. He said that he had seen me working hard every time that I was there. I said that I try to work hard. That's why I go. He said - Yes I've seen that.

So that made me feel really good because I had noticed that not everyone works so hard there. At $15 co-pay per pop I want to get better so I can stop going. For one thing these early mornings are killing me.

I see a lot of the same faces everytime that I'm there. I've seen older people who seem to have suffered strokes relearning to walk, young athletes with knee and leg injuries, and lots of people with shoulder injuries similar to mine.
Some of my most distinct memories of this time will be that has rained nearly the whole two months I've been going and the lady who comes in sexy tight jeans and stilettos. I can't wait to see what she will show up in next and wonder how she can possibly be comfortable performing her exercises dressed the way she does.

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