A day in the life of Physical Therapy

So, when you go undergo rehab with Steadman Hawkins. You get to be treated to top end physical therapists at the Howard Head Clinic. Each of the joint teams have developed rehabilitation protocols for each of the specialized surgeries the doctors' perform. They work with all walks of life and levels of rehabilitation, from ordinary folk to elite athletes. I am always amazed, and motivated when working the staff. I have had the fortunate position to work with some of their top PTs, and I attribute a lot of my recovery, good humor, and subsequent ability to move through the surgeries to the Physical Therapy team.

Going to PT is an everyday job. For the first 3 weeks, I went everyday, including Saturdays and Sundays, two times a day. That was exhausting. Now, I go 4 days a week, for a couple hours a day. I am expected to do other structured strengthening exercises in the later part of the day, along with some activities on weekend. It is still exhausting and rehabilitation is an everyday job. Talking about nose to the grindstone.

6 days Post OP -- Ok so now it is 7 days -- now it is 14

Well, this has been a long haul. It is hard to believe that just over 6 weeks ago, I/we were put in the position to make the decision to come back Vail for and unplanned surgery. This was quite a surprise for someone who nearly schedules their life around surgery. Sad but true. On the left is what the livingroom looks like in the morning after I "scrabble" out of bed to head to PT. It has turned into central recuperation station.

In synopsis, the shit hit the fan July 18th. 

So since then, we (Larry and I) have been grappling and scrambling with many complicated issues from setting up the house to be taken care of, along with Enzo, addressing changes in the kids visitation weekend, getting a house sitter, fixing the frigging leak in the pond, blah, blah blah, getting a gardener so that I don't loose the garden I started.  It was like being squeeze through a tiny hole that neither of us were small of enough to go through. But, thankfully, despite multiple hiccups we made it through and I am here 6+ days post op and doing fairly well.  

We literally left California, on August 18th, 1- not knowing if my disability payments would continue and 2- whether the surgery would be covered. (That was stressful). Thankfully point 1 was resolved, only because I was having surgery. Apparently one of my many doctors actually submitted a report stating I was capable of sitting continuously for 6 hours a day. And, to top it off, he charged me an arm and a leg ($800) for one office visit, of which he will not write off any amount. That is insult to injury. The insurance battle is one left for me to address once I am a bit more clear headed.  

We arrived in Vail nearly 2 weeks ago, Monday. I had four days to get the condo -- 2 + multiple loft bedroom and 2 bathroom condo together so that it was functional and less cluttered. One of the challenges of moving into a fairly high turnover unit is that there is chaos in the kitchen and furniture is packed in. Additionally, there were many other mechanical issues we needed to address so that we could have a dining table and chairs that would hold together -- for that we worked with Ellen Eaton, one of the owners of  Smith Eaton Real Estate who is on the ball and responsive. I would recommend her. And, since I am particular and need a certain feel to the environment I could not rest until things were workable, down to setting up a makeshift office space. We went to the Thrift shop, Walmart, and local consignment shops to setup house just so. And, we made it under the wire, when I got on my bike Friday morning to get to the hospital for surgery.  

Now, ten plus days later, any many physical therapy sessions later (2xs a day seven days a week). I am beginning to be more clear headed and able to do something other than be attached to machines all day long, which is currently mostly the case. 

Back in Vail Again

It has been a while since I posted. I have had so many topics I have wanted to cover, but alas, life took over. So, I am writing this as I am sitting in the waiting room at the Steadman Hawkins Clinic waiting to see the doctors -- Dr Steadman and Dr Millet today. The doctors and physical therapists here are the best I have ever met. There is a level of consistency in the quality of treatment in all the different joint areas that I find unparalleled (and I have been searching, desperately to create that closer to home).

I have tried so hard to break the Steadman Hawkins clinic habit, but, I cannot seem to find doctors that 1- are willing to dialogue with me about the problems 2- are willing to think outside of the box, and 3- are willing to tread into non-standard treatment waters. (This is especially important when I am consistently challenged with perpetual joint issues -- first it was hips and knees, now we have added a problem shoulder and bilateral elbow problems. Christ, for a relatively healthy, strong, athletic person it seems very odd to be having all these joint problems. An additional component to the Vail cocktail (and sometimes the most important one) are the physical therapists that I have worked with. They are some of the most dedicated staff I have ever met. These are the staff of the Howard Head clinic in Vail. They focus on the patient, not on the clock. Sometimes I have had PT last for 5 hours and other times much less. Sometimes you have to wait, but I would rather wait for someone that is proactively trying to solve my physcial problem, rather than have an ontime appointment with someone who goes through a standard routine.

In the one session I had here today, they discovered a couple things about my knee mechanics, that no one ever thought of looking at. With scribbles on my knees, I stepped up and down on a platform while two therapists looked, measured, and tracked how I was mechanically functioning. In that process they were able to make modifications to my physical therapy program that have already made some differences in how I walk. I was once again duly impressed. (This is why I keep coming back).