The Second Leg of my Journey

Being the type of patient I am, I agreed to the physical therapy.  I mean, who wouldn’t want a good massage, maybe some deep heat, even a little stretching to make me taller?  So off I go.  Keep in mind that by this time,  just sitting in a chair of any type could make me cry.  So I meet my therapist and she seemed knowledgeable about my issues,  so she does the deep heat and massage and gives me some exercises to do at home.  While at my first appointment she wanted to check the flexibility and such; so she told me to relax myself and she would do the work for me.  She kept telling me to relax,  I had to laugh and told her that was as relaxed as I could get, and this was all she was going to get.  This girl is a tense one.  You know, the type of girl who never sits up straight with perfect posture.  Nope, that’s not me; even now I’m hunched over the keyboard.  And the muscles in my neck feel like steel.  But I will give her stars because she kept trying,  then she suggested I see the doctor to get me a prescription that would relax me before my next appointment.  Oh, by the way, maybe I would need someone to drive me back and forth for my sessions since meds could make it dangerous to drive.  (RIGHT)

On a side note: my husband retired a few years ago from a major company and he works part-time and temporarily for some extra bucks.  {Really he works to get away from me and my sweet nature}  I could just hear myself saying “Honey, you need to start driving me to physical therapy so that I can take some drugs to relax me”.  Now wouldn’t that go over good.

I did get my massage and deep heat which was the best part of the visit.  She mentioned that I seemed out of align.  (I guess now I’m a car and my tires aren’t riding behind each other.)  I then had to tell her I had scoliosis and yep I am out of alignment and even 2 inches shorter on one side.  She did make a notation on the outside of my chart, and said that that could limit what could be done for my hip area.  So, off I go and made another appointment.

EXERCISES!  Yep, I did do them a few times, but they didn’t seem to help too much.  They even made me feel tighter and made my rear burn more.  Remind me to tell you more.

It’s the next appointment, and I am looking forward to the massage and deep heat.  She first starts me on new exercises and then comes my deep heat, but no massage.  She suggested if I liked it and it relaxed me then I could go to the one at the mall.  ME, put my head in one of those chairs with the hole in it and let some strange man rub my back and possible damage me more?  I think not!  Yuk!  Need I say more?  She then suggested that she do traction.  I agreed; now, remember that I had no clue that there was something growing along my spine.

She hooked me up and when I questioned that the machine was pulling everything down to my lower back she said that that was how it was done.  I told her that I had  traction years earlier and they did it the other direction.  No answer to that comment was forth coming.  She asked me during the session how I felt and I told her that my hips were burning.  She then cut the machine off and put more heat on my back.  She sent me home.  Wow! Boy, did I have a time getting out of the car.  Even before getting home I had to stop the car and cry.  My ride to these doctors and therapy was over 45 minutes, each way.  So, even just the ride and sitting was a trial for me.

The next visit my therapist was not there so another young man did my session.  He asked how the traction went and I said “never again”.  Mind you, by him asking on how the last visit went and knowing I had traction, I assumed that he read my chart.  Remember what they say about assuming… it makes an “ass” out of yo ”u” and “me”.  You can tell where this goes.  He started with more exercises and I was honest and said I did do them a couple of times and I could not get the result that they seemed to think I was going to get.  He said it was because I was too tense.  (Imagine that).  He had me stand and do some walking, I was use to the doctors asking me to do that when they were checking my scoliosis, so did not think a thing about it.  He then had me lay on his table on my belly.  Here we go, I’m going to get my massage!  I was so excited!  He puts his arm along my spine and his fist in my “butt crack” right on the tailbone.  I asked him what he was doing because it was really hurting.  His comment was “no pain, no gain” and laughed.  By this time I was crying.  He then proceeds to tell me all will feel better because my hips were out of align.  (I am not a car, please!)  I responded for him to get the ___  off me because I had scoliosis.  The main therapist told him to quit and get me on heat.  I then yelled, did you not read my chart?  The main therapist had him leave.  I had to have my husband meet me at my home to get me out of the car.  By this time I had a small SUV and getting in and out was a breeze, no pulling up or dropping down to get in and out.  I have never left a doctor’s office in tears that bad, usually I can let a few slip out then wait until I get home, but not that day.

After I get home I call my family doctor and told her office that they needed to send me to a neurosurgeon; that I was not the type of patient that will keep trying things and not get a result.  I think of it as owning a car.  My body is more important than a car, so if my tires are flat I buy new ones, if the engine is shot I get it repaired.  So, why not my body?  She sends me to one, yeah!

At home, my life has turned into no vacuuming, no dishes, no anything, just laying on one hip until it goes to sleep and turning to the other one.  And round and round I go.  The meds I have been taking are the naproxen and Xanax.  Without the Xanax I don’t think I would have made it.  My bed consisted of 5 pillows, one for between the legs, one for in front, so I do not roll on my belly, and one more for my back.  Also, the heating pad went to bed with me.  I also had to install Pandora on my tablet; I became a fan of old-time Christian music and music that had sea sounds and birds chirping.  Did I say I am a belly sleeper?  But not anymore, the few times since all this started and I found myself on my back  I would freeze up and I would not be able to roll myself over to get out of bed.  Going to bed had become a production.