Today, after almost 6 months of regular visits 2-3 times a week, every week, I graduated from PT! PT being physical therapy. It's one of the few things my health insurance pays for that actual seems to make me healthier. Usually things that help me long term, I have to pay for out of pocket. Drugs that eat your bones and cause fatal brain infections? sure, we'll pay for that. Radioactive dye injected into your veins? Let me get my wallet. Suck the marrow out of your bones? Who do a make out the check to? Massage, acupuncture, vitamins, herbs- are you kidding? You're on your own.
PT somehow made its way into the hearts of the "unsurance" companies, and for that I am grateful. I had tendinitis in my right arm that would flare up and cause other muscles to compensate, creating a chain reaction of misuse of posture, muscles, etc. I just chalked the whole thing up to fibromyalgia or lupus. But when it was just one shoulder over and over I started to think something weird was up, so I got an Xray, then an MRI, adn they found- wait a tumor?! So I was getting that tumor dealt with and the doctor off-handedly mentioned the tendinitis in my arm and I said HOLD THE PHONE! Now I know why my arm and shoulder hurt all the time.
Funny how when something like a tumor or kidney failure are in the picture, stuff like tendinitis gets pushed aside when it otherwise would have been treated immediately.
I actually asked my rheumatologist for a prescription for PT after talking to a neighbor who is a physical therapist. She recommended a really high caliber facility that also is only 10 minutes away by car.
so, here I am today, having "graduated," being completely out of pain and fully functional, no longer need to crawl up the stairs due to weak legs, no longer taking all kinds of pain pills and anti-inflammatories, no longer too uncomfortable to sleep. After cleaning up my diet, getting off all but one drug (the BP med, which has now been cut in half) and getting some regular acupuncture for a while, becoming pain-free was the last piece of the puzzle in getting back to feeling good.
I'm so inspired that I'm going to go back once a month- for personal training! to get in shape! Yes, I'm going from PT to... PT.
I even got a couple parting gifts from the facility. Though I'm tempted to say, "I did 6 months of PT, paid $1000 out of pocket, and all I got was this lousy tote bag and a t-shirt," well frankly being pain-free is such a huge gift I just can't make such a joke. And anyway, I like the tote bag.
