A Minor Physical Improvement

Rather than worrying about the pain of physical therapy, in the last few days I've taken to embracing physical therapy--which starts tomorrow. If this injury is to be healed, if I'm to walk again, physical therapy is how that's going to happen.

One thing my doctor suggested was a hot tub so my leg muscles, and the injured tendon, could "relax". Earlier this week a former student finished cleaning out my tub, which had sat empty for months, and I filled it up. I've been in it a couple nights now. Very soothing. I actually enjoy the hot tub more in the summer than I do in the winter, in part because getting out of the tub is so harsh in the winter. But I digress.

I've been worried about my injured left leg. Yes, the injury was only to the kneecap tendon, but the entire leg has been next to useless. For example, if i sit in a chair and have my legs out in front of me, I can raise my right leg--I feel the thigh muscles tense up, and the leg rises. My left leg, though, I don't feel anything. I don't feel the thigh muscles tensing, the leg doesn't move. And when I stand, I can't move it forward more than, say, 2 inches. Like I said, useless.

But tonight in the hot tub, I learned that's not so. The buoyancy of the water would make my leg weigh less, so I set it in front of me and tried to raise it--and I could! Oh, it wasn't far, but it moved! And while I still couldn't feel the thigh muscles tensed up, they were doing something; placing my hand on them while my leg was elevated, it felt like they were rumbling or vibrating. They must be very weak, atrophied, after all those weeks in the immobilizer, but they're still there, wanting to work.

Physical therapy starts tomorrow!