Horsey Gals Reunited

First Post of the Day

Just because I am heading to physical therapy (or anywhere else), that doesn't mean I don't let my horsey gal out. 

Horseshoe necklace, horse patterned shoes, and my new Whoa Nelly tee shirt (which may or may not match a tee that Belle bought, hah!) in place, I headed out to meet with Kayla early yesterday morning.

I've had physical therapy more times than I can count - one time I walked into the therapy room and I had worked with all six of the physical therapists who were there working with patients. (It was also a few days before Halloween and I had a six pack of Hershey Bars in the pouch of my walker so I broke it out and gave each one of them a Hershey Bar. Fun memory.)

Kayla is a fantastic therapist and is one of the best I've ever worked with. Natalie was another one (she helped me to finally get a diagnosis on those hemiplegic migraines; thank you, Natalie!) and then there was Dusti.

Also a horsey girl, I knew Dusti's family from my teenage years of horse showing and 4-H. They had one of those huge, six horse trailers with their name emblazoned on it - my 13 year old self dreamed of having the same some day.

To have Dusti as my PT was fantastic. Not only could we talk horses, but she was the best PT I have ever had. (I used to bike 8 - 10 miles a day; Dusti even fitted my bike to me so that healthy exercise would not cause more issues on my joints.) She was so good that a few years later she was made the head of the Physical Therapy department at the hospital.

Kayla had just given me a break and I was sitting in a chair when suddenly a woman came out of a door and approached me.

It was Dusti! 

"I saw your name on today's list of patients and since I am in the building this morning, wanted to come see you," she explained.

I cried, we hugged, we chatted, and had a lovely reunion. Kayla told us to not worry about time but I did need to finish my therapy, so we hugged one more time and then Dusti went back to her office and Kayla and I got back to work.

"I saw you start to cry when Dusti came over," she told me. "I could tell that Dusti means a lot to you and I wasn't about to interrupt that visit!"  (Thank you, Kayla!)

When my appointment ended, the receptionist told me that Dusti wanted to visit more with me in her office if I had time to stay. You bet I did, so Kayla walked me back to her office and Dusti and I spent a good half hour chatting and catching up. We exchanged contact info and plan to get together for lunch soon. (After the Feast, LOL.)

Two horsey gals reunited. What a wonderful, wonderful morning.

 

How Do You Laugh When a Fist is in Your Stomach?

It's not easy! But it can be done as I discovered this afternoon.

I went to see Dusti Chase for physical therapy today - Dusti has worked with me many times and has become a good friend in the process. This time around, I am seeing her because my tailbone has curved to the side and is out of place. (Makes sitting rather tough.)

Since she's seen me so many times in the past and knows my history, Dusti checked several other things and she discovered that:

~ My gait was off. I was taking much shorter strides with my right leg than with my left because my hip muscles were so tight.

~ My pelvis was out of alignment with one side pushed forward ahead of the other.

~ My back is full of bony growths and arthritis.

~ Muscles and tissues by the hip flexor were knotted and needed releasing.

And Dusti put her fist in my stomach to treat that by doing a myofascial release.

Myofascial releases are no picnic. The pressure alone hurts. But that's not the only painful aspect. When Dusti presses on the problematic muscle, heat and pain radiate up and down that tissue, in this case, my right thigh. And it lasts because she keeps pressing down, down, down without stopping in order to get the muscle and surrounding tissues to relax and release.

It is difficult to talk during the process as it literally takes my breath away, it is so intense.

At last there is a sense of the heat and pain "drawing back" to the point where she is pressing, and that means the muscle has relaxed and lengthened, and you feel better. (Even more so when Dusti removes her fist from your belly. Oof!!)

Since we've become friends over the years, we chat and laugh while she works. Even though it is tough to talk when she is doing a myofascial release, we were conversing today, with my side of the conversation mostly whispering as a result of the extreme discomfort.

And then Dusti said something funny and I got the giggles.

Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!

How do you laugh when someone has their fist in your stomach??

Not very easily! The more I tried to stifle the laughter, the more the laughter bubbled up. We must've made a bizarre picture had anyone been standing there - Dusti nearly up to her wrist in my tummy and me lying on the table whisper-laughing and gasping that I had to stop laughing.

An hour later, I left Dusti's office walking with a more normal gait and the loosest-feeling hip I've had in a long time. I also have a "tape wedgie" - since the tissues around my tailbone had also had a myofascial release (burn, baby, burn!) she's taped my backside up to give the tissues time to heal around the tailbone. And she taped me up REALLY well - let's just say there's some very firm support back there! I have to endure my tape wedgie for a couple of days before I can peel it off.

"You'll be sore tonight," were Dusti's parting words, and she was right. I am very tender and just want to chill out and not do anything that requires movement. But I also feel better than I have for weeks.

And that is worth having a fist in your belly and enduring a whole lot of discomfort.

Doin' the Twist

And that's NOT a good thing.

My tailbone has twisted to the side.

Again.

For the THIRD time since we moved to West Lafayette in 2006.

And it makes riding my bicycle hurt, so needless to say, I am out of the saddle again and very frustrated about that.

Last week as I rode, I started feeling some intermittent pain during rides. Thursday I rode nine miles, and when I got home, the pain was pretty bad. I took Friday and Saturday off from riding, hoping that by Monday morning I would feel better. (I don't ride on Sundays - horses or bicycles.)

I didn't take into account the hard, metal chairs at Church. I squirmed Sunday throughout Sacrament meeting, and ended up swiping a padded chair from the Relief Society room for Sunday School. (Shades of Leda Stevenson and the lawn chairs she used to bring to Church to alleviate her own back pain flashed through my mind!)

That metal chair seemed to be the last straw for my tailbone - for the rest of Sunday it hurt to sit on anything, padded or not, and although I am on Celebrex and took two extra strength Tylenol, nothing touched the discomfort.

I have called Dr. Morris, and he sent me directly to my favorite physical therapist, Dusti, who twice now has gotten my twisted tailbone back into place. She had no open appointments until August 6, but at least I can see her before school starts and my schedule gets crazy again.

(I also see Dr. Daluga this Thursday to have my hip prosthesis x-rayed and checked, so I may say something to him since he specializes in orthopedics.)

In the meantime, don't anyone DARE play Chubby Checkers' music around me, or mention the game of Twister!!