They go deeper???

I had a late appointment at the physical therapists office yesterday and it was like the seventh circle of hell on many levels.  I do not deal well with traffic on the freeway.  That abrupt stopping just freaks me the heck out but more to the point, I don't trust the people behind me to stop in time.  Freeways were getting shut down and when I was sitting in traffic not moving, I texted the Mr to call the PT and tell them I was in traffic but on my way.  I got there 20 minutes late.  But I guess all of her patients had called to say they would be late so luckily I didn't screw anyone else up.

I told her about my legs locking up after the addition of the new exercise but I knew this would be an adjustment period so I had to skip those the night before but did all the other ones.  She said she was fine with that and to lay down so she could take a look.  Thankfully they did feel better than the day before but I attributed that to skipping that exercise the night before.  I did do that particular exercise before I left so if I did lock up, she could unlock me.  She's feeling around and says how it feels better and I said "mmm hmm."  She laughed and said she was able to feel more and put in the first 4 needles or so.  Then she's like "so, I think I'm able to go deeper now so we can really clean out some junk in there."

*record scratch*

Uh, what I was getting was not "deeper?"  There's another level of "deep??"  She politely informed me they were not only longer but wider so I would feel them go in and they would likely be "uncomfortable" because they would be going very deep into the muscle.  She got a few good ones in there and I just breathed out my mouth before she'd stick them in.  Two of them I gasped on and she asked if I was okay and I just whimpered a bit.

I asked how long they were, in a casual manner.  She said the ones she usually uses are 2" but these are 3" and I tried not to pass out.  They are thankfully the longest I'll ever have to deal with.  About 3 minutes in, I could already feel that familiar ache...the ache I usually get about 3-4 HOURS after a treatment.  She came over to check on me and asked if they were loosening up and I told her no that they were actually feeling achy already.  She asked if I would like to hold her puppy to which I eeked out a pathetic "yes, please."

Puppies make everything better.  Fact.  Actually playing with him made the 15 minutes fly by.  I flipped over so she could needle the front as well.  Thankfully no three inch stabs there so I continued to play with the pup and tell him stories about how mommy was turning me into a shish-kebab until he had to go wee.  When she took those out, she instructed me to stretch and when I stood up, I was kind of frozen for a second.  It was not fun.  It was instant hobble for me over to the stretch board where it did at least take the edge off.

Then she put me on the anti gravity treadmill and took off 25% of my body weight.  Man that felt amazing!  She had me walk and there was a camera on my feet to show me how I was walking.  About 5 minutes in, she pointed out how I was shuffling and I needed to learn how to walk properly with a heel to toe motion and to walk so that I saw more of the bottom of my shoes.  She said it was likely a protection mechanism from the injury but I might not need it anymore.  The day before with the lock up, it wouldn't have been possible.  But I took advantage of it while I was able to and did 15 minutes on it.  It got some good blood pumping through the muscles so it didn't hurt quite as bad at the time.  Then I got my calves grastoned and there were a few adhesions I could feel.  I told her that and the DPT said that was actually a good sign because instead of the entire area being one big adhesion, it was breaking down.  I also attribute that to the ultrasound I had done so I will pass that along to the chiro next week so he keeps that up.

Then it was back into traffic in the dark...without my glasses.  Derp.  I got home and made dinner since I was so late and made it in my CLEAN kitchen which the Mr took care of without asking while I was gone.  (Poor man is still up editing.  Now he's freaking out about how close Christmas is!)  After we ate dinner, we caught up on a few work things and then went down to exercise at 9:10pm even though I'd already done about 25 minutes between the bike and treadmill.  I wasn't going to skip strength.  Then I did PT while he came up and worked some more.  He wants a Lamborghini for his efforts.  :-)  I was proud of us for not skipping.  I'm also so thankful for that vibration board.  Sometimes it's the only thing that shakes enough crap off for me to walk a bit.  We're down to crunch time now with 3 1/2 weeks left before we leave.  It will be interesting to see how this goes!

Have you ever had an unpleasant medical treatment?

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