Names
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I make up names for everything I encounter in physical therapy. There are names, of course, for the exercises and treatments... Like "ultrasound hurty-thing" and "flying saucer" (a device that's a disk mounted on half a sphere)Today I got a new one. The pillow. Um, ouch. The pillow looks at first like a blue, textured freeweight, minus the hole in the middle. But it's squishy and filled with air. It stretches the whole bottom of my foot and I have to work all kinds of small muscles to keep my balance. I tried to do the pillow one-footed. I really, really tried. And I'm not quite there yet. (sigh)

Anyway, I really wanted to talk about the other patients I meet at PT. I have names for them, too. There's Muscular Stretchy Guy. He's an athlete recovering from a shoulder injury. He does a lot of stretches. The Pink Lady does a lot of leg exercises. Some days she's the Yellow Lady. She has 2 identical sets of workout clothes. Identical except for the color. So her name changes according to which outfit she wears.
One day, I shared space with a woman who had a 2 foot scar running from her thigh to her shin. I dubbed her Major Surgery, but there's a new Major Surgery now. I met him today. He's had 2 back surgeries and has lost a lot of sensation in his extremities. It's weird to see a physically fit man struggle to lift a 3 lb. weight. For you Canadians, that's about 1 and a half kilograms.
I also met Coma Boy today, AKA I've Been Shot, "The doctor says I'm lucky I didn't lose my leg", and Mr. I Can't. I think I'm going to stick with Coma Boy. It seems nicer than Mr. I Can't. He was a little bit miffed about having to share his PT with me and Major Surgery. I didn't mind. It gave us all a chance to talk. Coma Boy wishes he could see more progress. I'm thinking that if you're missing half your calf, there are certain things you just won't be able to do. You have to learn new ways to do them, and that takes a lot of time. Our PT got on him for not doing his exercises frequently enough. Believe me, it's easy to let those exercises slide. However, the PT always knows when you've been slacking. She busted me on it last visit. She knew just the right button to push, too. She noted that my calf muscle was smaller. Grrrr.
So today I was proud to say, "I've been a good girl this weekend. I did my "lifts" several times a day." Jodie (my PT) said, "Hear that?" to Coma Boy, "SEVERAL TIMES a DAY. Not several times a month." Apparently that was the thing that might push his button. I didn't mind.