Physical Therapy

Hi Everybody,I just came from my first visit with my physical therapist.  I saw her about a year ago after my car accident and she was so helpful that I wanted to see her again because I knew things were different.It was like a breath of fresh air to have a knowlable woman talk to me.  First she told me that since I had my lymph nodes out I had to be careful not to get cut or sunburn on my legs or I could get some type of edema-swelling, and it would be a major problem.  Doctor never mentioned that!  She said the lymph nodes keep fluid from building up.  Now I know why my mom's stomach is causing her so much trouble.  I think she has that.  Her stomach has increased in size!  She told me that my left ankle has sort of collapsed, and I need exercises and shoe inserts to work on that.  My entire left side is almost helpless, and my hips are extremely locked up.  I was in surgery for six hours, so now I understand what a toll it took on my body.  I knew I was having a lot of muscle spasms everytime I tried to do much of anything, but didn't realize that this was all still from the surgery.  I also understand why my back was in so much pain when I woke up.  Things had been realigned!Now a lot of this is from the Fibromyalgia, but I am passing this on to you all immediately because maybe some of you are experiencing things like this.  She told me I have no muscle in my pelvic area or stomach area, which is why I can't lift my legs or balance hardly.  She said she was not going to touch me today because I looked "Hyper".  She knows my history of depression and post traumatic stress disorder, and she said I have been through a major event, and radiation also affects me in ways that I don't realize.  She reminded me to slow down and breathe, especially when doing the simple exercises she had me do.   I will be going twice a week starting next week.If anyone wants to know more, they can write me personally, but I wanted to share this with you in hopes that it helps someone else!Tomorrow is my brother's horse sale so we are going up to Merrill, WI to help out tonight and all day tomorrow.  I have to be careful not to wear myself out.  My mom is going to be there, so I will get to tell her these things then.Have a great weekend friends!Love ya!Theresa