I started working with my, “Fuddy Putty” (it’s really called Therapy Putty) when it arrived to my house on August 2nd. Another member in one of my MS groups suggested it. She told me to work with one color until it gets easy. I started off with extra, extra soft which was extremely difficult!
It burned in my wrists every time I squeezed it because my hand strength wasn’t very good at the time. I continued absentmindedly squeezing it from hand to hand as I watched TV. Ashley told me it would get easier and I didn’t believe her, that is until it actually DID get easier!
It took 10 days of working with it but on August 12, it actually got easier and I leveled up to the extra soft.
It didn’t burn my wrists like a hot poker but I felt my forearm muscles working. I’ve worked with that one until August 24th. The next level was just soft.
Well, yesterday, I texted Sean in the morning. I texted him this:
In a little over a month, I have moved up to medium. It is SO difficult! It’s going to be a while before it gets soft but I continue to work with it knowing that it will get easier eventually.
I can certainly squeeze it multiple times all day long and shift it from hand to hand. Sean says that I will be, “Tearing phonebooks in half in no time!“ The whole reason I started doing this was because it was getting increasingly difficult to brush my teeth and I was wearing my toothbrush out way too fast! Now, after all this constant work, it’s WAY easier to brush my teeth!
It’s all about simple pleasures because I can’t seem to stay awake during the day but when I am awake, I squeeze my, ”Fuddy Putty” and train for my phonebook tearing. It’s going to be a while before I finish with all six levels of Therapy Putty but, “Little by little, a little becomes A LOT.” I constantly told myself that Tanzanian proverb as encouragement while I was working out on “Walking Wednesdays” at Barwis. MAN, I miss that place so much and all of the WONDERFUL people I met there!