Saturday, November 19, 2011

Back to Basics - Part 2



Last week I went to the second and final session of "Six Efficient Movement Principles" with a physical therapist.  Once again, it was amazing.  She taught me how to:

- Get in and out of bed (Who would have thought there is an efficient way of getting in and out of bed. And who would have thought it would take me 20 tries before I got it right.)

- Sit at a desk (She would not be pleased if she saw me at this very moment.  I'm sitting "in neutral" on my exercise ball but my arms and shoulders are all wrong.  Laptops are not conducive to proper form that's for sure.)

- Vacuum (Yes, she actually wheeled a vacuum into the room. Who knew my form was all wrong.)

- Sway (Moms, you know what I'm talking about.  You know that sway we do when we're holding our babies.  And we continue to do standing in line at the market even when we're not holding our babies.  Yup, that's the sway.  Once again, all wrong.  Sway from the ankles, not the waist - bad for the sacroiliac joints.)

- Drive (Okay, well she didn't teach me how to drive but she did show me something that would help while I drive.  She walked me out to my car and had me try this back support made especially for driving.  HO.LEE.SMOKES.  I am a new woman!!  I could seriously drive all day.  It is heaven in a lumbar support.  I want to do commercials for them because it has seriously changed my life.  Okay, that might be a little dramatic, but still - it is fabulous!)

I hugged her when our session was over and told her that she gave me such an incredible gift.  I think it should be required for anyone going through chronic pain/illness to learn these skills. And really, I want to teach my girls how to do things right from the start.  Why create unnecessary damage if it can be avoided.

When I was diagnosed with AS back in June, my rheumatologist handed me a 4-page pamphlet and a prescription for a potent TNF blocker. After all, there is no known cause and therefore no cure.  All we can do is slow things down and treat the disease.  He is a wonderful doctor, kind and intelligent.  He did his job, but I needed more.  I needed to learn how to live with AS (maybe even how to fight it).  I didn't know what that meant at the time.  I'm still trying to figure it out.  But the last few weeks have taught me so much.  I needed to re-learn how to do everything:  sleep, stand, sit, clean, drive, type, you name it.  I needed to learn how to live in my new body.   Now, there is a sense of peace, a calm running through my joints and muscles because slowly, we're figuring each other out.

It's funny how much there is to learn when we go back to the basics.

Love and Healing,
Kim 

4 comments:

  1. Kim, if you can pass on any of that useful information I would appreciate it! I know I am sitting at my desk wrong because when I work for just a little while my body screams at me, "I want to lay down!" Of course that could be laziness, but I think I am treating my body poorly. Surprisingly, although I am not a mom, I sway with my girls and I sway from the ankles! haha. Learned it from watching my mom. What's that car support too? Share the secrets! So glad you had a great experience. Continuing to keep you in prayer.

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  2. I thought of you the ENTIRE time. I was picturing you correcting the way I lifted my bags, picked up the baby, etc. So good. PTs rock!!

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  3. I'll send you some info.

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