When I started getting physical therapy I didn’t realize there were two kinds of therapy.
- Physical Therapy
- Occupational Therapy
Physical Therapy when they first started as I explained was very difficult. When you are trying to do something so simply as sitting up in bed can be debilitating. At first, I could not do it. I was actually screaming and grunting so badly I was embarrassed and mortified. I wasn’t until now I realized that the reason I had to have the ambulance called was because I fell and could not get up off the floor. That amazes me when I think about it now.
This therapy session was conducted with two people with straps attached to my waist when I was doing the simplest of tasks as sitting up. After a few sessions I was able to stand with some assistance and then take some steps. After a week or two I was walking down the hallway, rest and walk back. This was a tremendous feat, and I was very excited to tell Carrie about it. After a while the catheter was removed and was not physically connected to the monitors so I could move around as I needed, going to the bathroom etcetera. I liked this freedom, but I still had a fear.
Occupational Therapy was completely different. When the Occupational Therapist came in, I thought she was another physical therapist, a very pretty on at that. She explained that occupational therapists are there to help you adjust to regular home life. Going to the bathroom, taking a shower, getting in and out of the bathtub, all the everyday things you do in your life at home. She came in a few days to help with that and gave me some stretch bands to do some seated exercises, walking me through them a few times. I wish she had come earlier so I could have got used to some of that exercise, but she only came three times that I remember and only had me get in and out of the tub one time. That one time I actually did not get all the way in the tub because it was freezing cold, and my butt was hanging free in my gown.
After all the therapy I was getting I was feeling very good about my ability to get around and mentally getting ready for leaving the hospital and the trip home.
I mentioned I still had a fear. This was the 16 steps up to my apartment. After all the therapy I had I never had any exercise on the stairs.