Physical Therapy

I had my first physical therapy session this afternoon in an attempt to improve my balance. Like many of our faculties, my  balance has continued to decline over the years. Most of us take the need to wear glasses for granted and eventually even hearing aids, but to improve balance it seems that physical therapy is a logical first step. This is not to say that I haven’t already used a cane occasionally and appreciate using the shopping cart to take even 1 bag of groceries to the car. Jon put me through a lengthy interview and a number of “tests” last week over at the Seward Memorial Health Care Systems to evaluate what may be most appropriate for my particular problem. I also made him aware of my family Doctor suggesting I have an echo cardiogram which is scheduled for tomorrow morning. That may have had something to do with his not working me too hard today and encouraging me to rest whenever I got “winded”. Working the foot/arm machine pictured for 5 minutes was my first assignment. It wasn’t “weighted” very heavily but still got me “puffing” and was glad to hear the bell. My most difficult task is trying to walk a straight line. I did some balancing exercises to help that and even stepped from one “pod” to another without losing my balance. It was an interesting half hour and will need to use some “Icy Hot” on my right shoulder at bedtime. I will miss joining my coffee group in the morning but looking forward to the procedure and the information it may provide.