![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Yeah... That...
Feb. 23rd, 2009 09:46 pmI did go to the doctor that time I said I had to go to the doctor - several months ago now.
That doctor referred me to another doctor (who is, fortunately, located here in NJ and not in Philadelphia) and THAT doctor referred me to a mobility specialist - basically a glorified physical therapist, I guess.
I've been made aware of several things so far, one being that I am definitely not the only one in my current situation. Every doctor who told me "meh, that's just what happens, deal with it" was completely full of it, just like I was certain had to be the case.
Two, my vague notion that I need to be exercising more/differently was entirely correct. My strong suspicion that I am WAY inflexible and that this is WAY bad was also right on. I mean, I've never been naturally flexible, pre-injury included, I dunno, it's just the way I was built I guess, but this is Not Good.
Three, my lower spine is starting to curve. This is also Way Bad. All those times I stared at myself in the mirror and thought my stomach was sticking out and couldn't figure out why (being that I have not gained any weight) and assumed it was some kind of internal issue - yeah. Apparently I'm becoming deformed. How very attractive. I'd guess this has been slowly happening since, oh, I don't know, all that hardware was removed from my spine? I didn't want that done for exactly this reason. Supposedly these two things are not related, but I don't see how they can't be.
I had to fill out a very intense questionnaire and midway through I kind of had the urge to bolt. I don't know how to explain why, either - I guess it was kind of that a lot of questions were practical, like, asking what kind of household chores I was able to do and what things I needed assistance for. The idea, it seemed, was that the therapist would then teach the patient new ways to do the things the patient couldn't do - I get that the questionnaire was very general and everyone who goes there has to fill one out and everyone's situation is different and so on, but I just got this sudden wave of I don't need this, I don't belong here, I don't need this kind of thing, this is not for me. I don't need help managing my daily life. I just don't want to be in pain.
And... that's about all for now.
That doctor referred me to another doctor (who is, fortunately, located here in NJ and not in Philadelphia) and THAT doctor referred me to a mobility specialist - basically a glorified physical therapist, I guess.
I've been made aware of several things so far, one being that I am definitely not the only one in my current situation. Every doctor who told me "meh, that's just what happens, deal with it" was completely full of it, just like I was certain had to be the case.
Two, my vague notion that I need to be exercising more/differently was entirely correct. My strong suspicion that I am WAY inflexible and that this is WAY bad was also right on. I mean, I've never been naturally flexible, pre-injury included, I dunno, it's just the way I was built I guess, but this is Not Good.
Three, my lower spine is starting to curve. This is also Way Bad. All those times I stared at myself in the mirror and thought my stomach was sticking out and couldn't figure out why (being that I have not gained any weight) and assumed it was some kind of internal issue - yeah. Apparently I'm becoming deformed. How very attractive. I'd guess this has been slowly happening since, oh, I don't know, all that hardware was removed from my spine? I didn't want that done for exactly this reason. Supposedly these two things are not related, but I don't see how they can't be.
I had to fill out a very intense questionnaire and midway through I kind of had the urge to bolt. I don't know how to explain why, either - I guess it was kind of that a lot of questions were practical, like, asking what kind of household chores I was able to do and what things I needed assistance for. The idea, it seemed, was that the therapist would then teach the patient new ways to do the things the patient couldn't do - I get that the questionnaire was very general and everyone who goes there has to fill one out and everyone's situation is different and so on, but I just got this sudden wave of I don't need this, I don't belong here, I don't need this kind of thing, this is not for me. I don't need help managing my daily life. I just don't want to be in pain.
And... that's about all for now.
