Physical Therapy

I've shared with some of you the fact that since the first week of May I've been seeing a physical therapist twice a week. Long and the short of it is in December of 2009, I narrowly avoided a car accident by swerving into someone's yard during a snow storm. I wrenched my shoulder and neck (right side).

My friend Keri brought muscle rub to my office and pain killers and saved my life because I was seriously struggling staying at work being in such pain. So thankful to her still for that, to this day.

Throughout 2010 my arm hurt if I sat in the wrong position for too long, or if I slept wrong on it. In December of 2010 Doug and I moved 2 cords of wood into storage, and I was incredibly uncomfortable after that, and it just never got better. At the end of February, I was not able to sleep through the night because of the pain. I went to an orthopaedist, he gave me a cortisone shot and told me I had tendonitis. He told me to do exercises, and I did, but it wasn't getting better at all, so he sent me to PT.

I go the next town over from me to a nice little place. The staff is really good, and when they evaluated me, I couldn't lift my arm over shoulder level.

Fast forward five weeks, and I am doing much better -- my range of motion is great... but there is one problem

I cannot put my hand behind my back, I can't get it past my butt cheek. Now, mind you, I do have a big butt, but... I should be able to reach back and scratch my own back or pull my bra down to unbuckle it.

This makes for a comedic situation sometimes, but it is mostly just a pain.

I have stretches I am supposed to do, and I do them. I have an evil green band that I'm using to pull on my arm and try and get it behind my back. There is a feeling of "catching" at times, almost like a snag. It happens when I move quickly to maybe pull my pants down to go to the bathroom, or when I accidentally hit my arm on something while I turn. It is a debilitating pain -- I almost black out. I see stars. So ... I try not to use my arm in that manner.

I'm glad that the PT has helped, because in February I honestly had no idea what I was going to do. I'll be sad when the PT stops -- and I'm honestly afraid that my arm will go back to worse by having the PT end.

We shall see.