First Day of Physical Therapy--and a New Problem!

Well, well, well. It never rains, but it pours...

I went to Physical Therapy for the first time today. The therapist was excellent. He put me through my paces, watched me walk, flexed my foot, had me push one way and try to stop him from pushing another, had me do heel raises, and on and on. I was working with him for almost 45 minutes.

At the end, he verified my doctor's diagnosis of Plantar Fasciitis...and added another.

I also am suffering from Posterior Tibialis Tendonitis--or Posterior Tibial Tendonitis, as most websites describe it.

As he told me, "You're lucky! You got a two-fer!" (lol)

So it turns out that I have "ridiculously tight calves". I told him I blamed my lack of running for a year, and ran through my history--the sinus infections, the MRSA infections, the packing and moving. He said that the calves could be super tight from any number of things, but that I am going to have that worked on.

I start Physical Therapy for real on Wednesday. Then I need to go again on Friday. Next week I'll go Monday or Tuesday, then Kent, the girls and I will be out of town for our 20th anniversary/Thanksgiving holiday. I'll start back when we return, and I will go to Physical Therapy about six weeks. Hopefully my insurance will cover it all (or, the 85% after copay).

When I explained about being out of town, and he warned me to take it easy on the walking. I explained that we'll be doing a lot of mass transit, and that when all else fails, I plan to bring the crutches to get myself off my feet. I told him, "I'm serious about getting this taken care of. I wanted it treated aggressively, that's why the shot and the physical therapy." He was actually quite pleased that I came in so early. I laughed because I was mad at myself for waiting for two weeks when I knew there was a problem! He said, however, that some people last as long as 7-10 months before calling. No way would I let this go for that long. It hurts too much when it flares up!

So he said the prognosis is good, because the shot seems to have helped a lot; the prognosis is good because I came in early. However, we'll see how the tendonitis and fasciitis respond to the therapies I have. He'll start with pretty aggressive stuff there, then start to transition me into stuff to do at home. I plan to be very serious about it; I'm not one of those to ignore what the doctor says if I have exercises or work to do at home.

Hopefully this is the first stage of healing, and that the lack of pain I've been feeling this weekend is the norm--not the exception.

It was interesting, by the way, that he poked and prodded and certain things really hurt--but only on the left. And it was interesting that after he poked and prodded, my foot started to feel quite tired and a little achy.

The new challenge, then--to find a way to exercise that is reasonable time-wise, that won't involve foot/heel impact, and then to also find a way to teach where I'm not constantly on my feet. We'll see how that goes.

Well it's nearly 11, and I'm tired, and I have school again tomorrow. Time to clear some email, then head to bed.

Best wishes,
Karina