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Thursday, May 14, 2009

Physical Therapy Update

I finished home PT today and will start outpatient PT at the UW on Monday. I'll know more next week regarding how often/how long they'll have me coming in for. Jared is planning to go back to work soon, and Lynda will be taking me in for appointments once he does that.

Today I had a great conversation with my home physical therapist. She typically sees the most return in people 3-6 months after the injury. I'll be at 2 months next week on the 20th. She thinks it's a great sign that I've already had some return (control of the abs/back muscles) and she expects me to regain much more. She said that she does not tell that to everyone because a lot of the people she sees will not regain function and she doesn't want to give them false hope. The inflammation from the surgery won't go down until 6 months after the injury, so it will take awhile for my body to fully heal. Function/sensation will return slowly most of the time so you barely notice it's happening. The PT also said that my window for healing is probably longer than most patient's because of the way the injury occurred, gradually over a long period of time. She also noticed today (which I had been noticing for a few days) that the swelling in my ankles has decreased, a sign that my circulation is improving. My PT thinks I will be walking again, and thinks that my attitude and motivation will have a lot to do with it. It was a very encouraging conversation and helps to motivate me to continue on this long road knowing that there will be an end, and I will be running around again before you know it. Until then I will keep praying and believing.

2 comments:

Robert Salnick said...

That is tremendous news Beka! Your positive mental attitude is working - Keep it coming. And know that we are pulling for you and praying for you (and for Jared and Anthony too!)

Bob & Jane

The Ames Family said...

FINALLY!!! Someone is giving you some positive reinforcement!! YAY! We KNOW you'll walk again too. Keeping you guys all in our prayers for a continued recovery and no stress as Jared goes back to work.