Month: February 2016

I got to ATI and I entered through the Barwis doors as is my habit.  I miss going there where I can feel like I am actively working toward walking.  I didn’t anticipate it being such a long road filled with setbacks in the form of torn muscles but  I just have to deal with what comes and going to Barwis gives me hope.  Mike Barwis is surrounded by good people (Dr. Frush) who led me to ATI.  I appreciate going there because Luba knows that I work at Barwis and knowing that she knows that makes me feel comfortable.

I laid on the table and she rubbed my leg for a long time with some cold goop.  She was able to get a further stretch out of my leg.  She was able to get it over her shoulder.   She pulled my leg outward and back in methodically and asked if Mike Barwis had given me a prognosis for walking.  I shook my head and recounted the first evaluation I had with him over two and a half years ago.  He told me that all of my muscle groups were firing and I took that to mean something positive.

She hooked me up for some stim and I thought about my first weeks at Barwis and how EVERYONE had faith that I would walk again.  Jesse’s response was an adamant, “No question!”  I remember I asked Jon and Adam and they both said that I would.  I also thought about Dr. Frush telling me that my muscles look good and that I am an excellent candidate for the work that Mike does with the First Step Foundation.  It’s been a LONG road and not an easy one and one that is far from over but I have to believe in ME too; torn muscles and all.  As Luba took the patches off of my leg, she told me that next time we would work on getting some activation as she patted my “poop leg” that has torn muscles.

i had to cancel/reschedule my Monday ATI appointment but I was able to get an appointment on Tuesday.  Luba opened the door or us as my Mom pushed me into ATI.  I noticed Luba’s hair immediately!  She is a brunette now!  I told her that I liked her hair and she laughed and said, “[She] is a brunette now.”  We both are Brunettes.  She used to be blonde.  I told her the we (Brunettes) REALLY have more fun!  Luba’s late days are Tuesday’s and Thursday’s so I made appointments with her until March 8th.  I see Dr. Frush again on March 24th and he told me to lay off Barwis for a while.  I probably won’t go back until after I see Dr. Frush agin.

He said that I would be bruised for 3-4 more weeks and sore for another 6-8.  I am a bit sore.  When I took my sweatpants off to work with Luba in my shorts, she immediately noticed that my right leg was bigger and discolored in my groin.  She had me lay on the table and measured my legs.  My right leg’s circumference was 6 cm. bigger than my left.  STILL!  Then she measured my range of motion with her protractor thing.  She took a lot of measurements.

Filling out the paperwork before we begin is a little tricky because I am wheelchair-bound so it is tough to say how my injury interferes with my normal daily activity.  It’s nice that Luba understands what I do at Barwis because they share space.  That is why I went to ATI.  That and coming in, I got to see Nick, Deeds, and Mike Morphitt.  I was going through withdrawal and I’m NOT ashamed to say it!  Luba stretched me out and I got stim on my leg before I left and that felt SO good!  It’s like last time I hurt my leg, I guess healing is going to take longer than I expected.  Dr. Frush does not lie so unfortunately I think I will be sore for 6-8 weeks.

I’d been texting with Mike Barwis since I felt the “wonky”ness.  He told me that if the wonky-ness persisted; I should see Dr. Frush.  My appointment was last Thursday.  Dr. Frush has changed offices but the new office still has the “super-sized” chairs for basketball players

and that still made me laugh and it was somehow comforting.  I was called back and me and my Mom were ushered into an exam room.  I answered a few questions and was taken to another room for an x-ray.  I immediately was faced with the task of transferring from my chair onto the table for the.  Enter my Mom to help.  It’s ALWAYS a humbling experience to be faced with a task that I physically can no longer do.  I used to be able to but currently cannot.  As I laid on the x-ray table, I noticed that both of my legs we straight.  This fact was different from the last time I laid on the x-ray table with an injured leg.  Even though I needed help physically to get on the table, I saw that I’m progressing with my straight legs.

My Mom helped me into my chair and we headed back to the exam room to wait for Dr. Frush. Jennifer came in first to ask some questions about my injury.  She remembered me from last time and she commented that I was back.  I told her that I have another leg.  I had previously torn my left hamstring and it was my right groin that hurt now. I showed her the discolorization on my leg.  (I wore my tear-away pants that I haven’t worn in years just so I could show them my leg and still stay kind of warm).  She told me the doctor would be in shortly.

Dr. Frush came in and told me that my x-rays were negative but he sat in a chair close to mine to check my leg out.  It was still a bit bruised and he pressed various places on my leg and asked if it hurt.  Most places didn’t but some did.  He checked my range of motion and then he asked if I remembered when I had my ACL surgery (it was on my right knee).  I told him quickly that it was January 10, 2000.  Then he asked if I remembered who did it and I laughed.  OF COURSE I DID!!!  I told him, “Yeah, Kyle Anderson!” I continued to laugh and added, “Because I was in love with him!”  It was his and Jennifer’s turn to laugh.  They KNEW him!  Dr. Frush told me that he (Dr. Anderson) had just finished being the Lions’ Doctor this past season.  To save myself a little embarrassment, I told Dr. Frush that I was 17.  But, I really wasn’t that embarrassed.  In my 17-year-old brain, he was HOTT!!!  He told me that I needed an ultrasound and said I should layoff Barwis for a bit.

My Mom and I went to breakfast and were set to return for my ultrasound in the afternoon.  Upon our return, we were ushered into a different room.  The Radiologist came into the room with an intern and I didn’t catch either one of their names.  The ultrasound started and the Radiologist began speaking a different language, a medical one.  The other Doctor completely understood this language and they got Dr. Frush in the room to see the ultrasound.  Once Dr. Frush was in the room, the different language continued.  The ultrasound was extensive and I didn’t completely understand this medical language.

Dr. Frush summed everything up for me though:  I have 2 hematoma in my leg.  One in my groin and one in my hamstring.  I will be bruised for 3-4 more weeks and my soreness will last 6-8 more weeks.  He had already given me a new script for new compression socks and physical therapy.  (I go back to ATI on Monday).  I see Dr. Frush in 6 weeks.  Once the doctors left and I got dressed, I asked my Mom if there was a picture of my leg still on the monitor and if it looked like a hematoma.  She said that there was a picture and as she turned the monitor so I could see, she said, “It looks like the ocean.”  She was right.  I didn’t understand the picture and it DID look like the ocean.