5- Weeks Post Op
So, I went to my first PT session yesterday afternoon with a beaming smile on my face. I was expecting to get a nice plan laid out for me which would make my road to final recovery a bit clearer. What I got instead wasn’t much at all.
I walked in, filled out the usual forms, and anxiously awaited in the lobby. I couldn’t help to notice the place had about 5 workers (It was later determined that 3 were PTs and 2 were “aides”) but had 7 or 8 patients. For the most part, patients were hustling and bustling on their own while the PTs and aides ran back and forth setting timers and handing off dumbbells. Not a good sign.
I got called back a few minutes later by a lady who introduced herself as the Manager there. I popped off my shoe and she asked a few questions about the injury. She also told me that she sees way more ACL injuries than achilles injuries while playing soccer on turf. Next, she broke out a plastic protractor type thing to check my ROM. ”Okay…Good…Mmmm Hmmm….Alright. Your range of motion is pretty good.”
She told me to flip over on my stomach with my foot hanging off the table. I complied and before I could ask whats next she grabbed my heel and pulled it down putting me into a nice stretch. She then ran her fingers down the sides of the tendon while squeezing. I don’t know if you guys ever got a good sports massage on your hammies or calves before but they hurt sooooo good. This was no exception. Just as I thought “This is what I was waiting for.” She stopped.
She jumped up, said the scar looks good and told me to put some vitamin E on it . She then told me that we’ll be dropping PT from twice a week to once a week until I can walk in 2 shoes. Huh? Really? After that, she left. What the? About 5 minutes later an aide came in with a print out of home exercises that had the exact same images that are referenced in the Rehab section of this blog. Like, exactly the same. The aide walked me through the highly complicated exercises one by one and the told me to put my boot on and go home.
I spent a grand total of 5 minutes with the PT. I know this was an evaluation period of sorts but I was expecting more. More massage. More instruction. More attention. Instead, I feel like I just got a real life version of an intructional email.
Before leaving I tracked down the PT and asked if there was anything else we’d be doing today or in the near future. “Massage? E-Stim?” Her replies were they’d work in massage in future sessions and she doesn’t believe in stim. “Strength test?” Answer was that there was no need since I have no strength. A little frustrated I politely said thank you and left.
I was a bit steamed but have decided I’ll give it another week to see if the lack of intimacy and information was solely because it was the first visit. In the meantime I’ve talked to a friend who is a PT and who’s husband does PT for a MLB team. She said massage is a must and I should be getting it 2 or 3 times a week. She also said it may be worth it to check into other rehab facilities which are more focused on athletes and will have full sessions with PTs instead of aides. We are paying for an hours of a PTs time afterall.
On a side note. I set my boot to 10 degrees dorsi this morning after I got work. I’m limiting the plantar flexion to 0 degrees while i sit in my office chair and stretch for a while. I found the boot is the best stretching aid I have since i can tell exactly how far I am going. I’ll lock it back into 0 degrees before walking until i know i can get to 10 with no problem.
Cheers everyone.
Categories:
- Uncategorized
