Physical Therapy

Today (which in my world is still Monday, March 12th), I had my first physical therapy appointment.  I was very excited and nervous all at once since I've never done physical therapy before.  I have also been quite sore still and it seemed as if my tiny T-Rex arms were never going to go away.

But by golly, that just was not true at all!  I arrived early to physical therapy and waited anxiously to see what they would have me do.  I met with Rita who went over everything.  She specializes in breast cancer, mastectomies, reconstruction and lymphedema, so as you can imagine, she was quite knowledgable.  I told her about the pain, where I was feeling it, and how it was affecting my day to day activities.

Then, like magic, she fixed me!  Sorta.  She had me show her my range of motion and what I could do.  She then had me lie down on the bed and she began to show me stretches I could do.  They hurt, but at the same time they were amazing!  By the end of it all, I could reach my hands over my head!  Not as gracefully as I would have hoped, but I could at least do it.

My right side hurts a lot more than my left side.  I'm not sure why since the lymph node was taken out of my left side.  I feel like there was more "trauma" on that side.  The place where I feel the most amount of pain is in my armpits.  Rita explained that underneath the armpit is where the pectoral muscle cinch together and that is why I am having all that pain.  I explained to her the pain in my "rainbow" area and that pain is from the pectoral muscle being stretched.  She told me that we just need to relax the pectoral muscle so that it knows it's OK to be where it is now.  I've been having such trouble sleeping, but once my body learns how to relax, I'll be off to dreamland in no time!

She gave me 3 exercises to do 4 times a day 10 reps of each exercise 3 times.  It's a lot, but I plan on doing it all!  I did it tonight before I go to bed.  I have another appointment with her Friday morning and I want to show her how awesome I progressed.  I can't wait to have full range of motion with no pain!

Tomorrow (Tuesday, March 13th) is my first expansion with Dr. Spiro.  I am super nervous about that.  I am scared of the pain it may bring, but I still have many of my pain meds here so if I need them they are at my disposal.  I will update everyone on my first expansion later.

- J.