So, surgery went well! My knee hurts but it is going to get better. Two days after surgery, I saw with a physical therapist who specializes in neural-therapy. I was pointed in this direction – OBVIOUSLY because I have a neurological disorder. But, that didn’t work out. I went home feeling NOT GOOD so I called ATI. They could help me with my meniscus therapy and could see me on Friday which was the fifth.
I am STILL not weight-bearing (meaning that I cannot stand) so my brother Dave accompanied me and my Mom to both of these therapy appointments (to help pick me up). My Mom came back with me with the neural physical therapist. I wasn’t very comfortable in the facility, it was much different then a ATI or even Barwis. But, I think what made me most uncomfortable was the therapist (who was obviously a lot younger than me) but he kept saying, “I KNOW MS!” I talked to Luba today about that and I couldn’t figure out why that made me so uncomfortable but she agreed. Perhaps if he had said, “I know a lot about MS” or “I’ve studied a lot about MS” or “I’ve worked with a lot of people with MS” I may have been more comfortable but I was fighting the urge to tell him that I know more because it is raging inside my body and it has been for the past 16 years.
Friday, as soon as I got in to ATI I was greeted by a number of people and my brother said it had a more welcoming feeling then the first place. He didn’t know that everyone at ATI knows me. I worked with Brad on Friday and he bent my right leg to 48° the first time and 38° the second time. The previous therapist did not even really try that hard to bend my leg. He half-tried once and put his hands up and told me that he could not break my tone. I thought, “Brad never gives up, Luba never gives up.” And felt defeated.
Luba bent my right leg to 65° today. Her intern, Will, told me that he thought it was 66°. I’ll take it! After I told Luba and Will about my experience at the first physical therapist’s office, I told her that at ATI feels like home. She smiled and said, “Welcome home.” Brad gave me stim. and ice on Friday. Luba just rubbed my knee and bent it the whole time. She told me as she snapped my pants to keep doing what I’m doing.
Last night, as I was about to fall asleep in the recliner in my living room, I cried a bit because I know how LONG this road to recovery is going to be before I can even get back on my road to walking and it just seemed a bit overwhelming! I saw this earlier in the day on Facebook:
thought of that, stopped crying, and fell asleep. This is all I’ve been doing for the past 16 years.
Welcome back! I’m so glad that the surgery went well. Hopefully the aftercare improves as this all goes towards assisting with the recovery period. Take care, look after yourself and remember to be kind to yourself. Post-op recovery can take time but you will get there in the end! Sending you healing wishes, xx