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My Weekly Journal – 11/26 Through 12/2
Monday, November 26, Through Sunday, December 2 – This was an incredibly long but productive week. While there are those that were still suffering from the effects from eating too much turkey over the Thanksgiving holiday, my work schedule kept me extremely busy. My week ended with a surprise phone call from the owner of BioNews Services. The only thing that I’m allowed to say right now is that I received a promotion, but until the announcement goes out on Monday, I can’t really speak too much about what my new job responsibilities will be. I will update everyone reading my journal next week as to the details of my promotion and my new responsibilities with BioNews Services. While there was quite a bit of excitement in the air, my excitement was tempered by my overall health. It seems as if my right arm is not as strong as it was a few weeks ago, and I was hoping that this was going to be something temporary, but it doesn’t seem to be getting any better. I don’t know if it’s my diet, my sleeping patterns or some other issue that’s causing my weakness in my right arm, but I’m hopeful and praying that my strength will return back to what it was. I know that there are going to be ups and downs with regards to my treatments and how I feel, but this is the first setback that I can say that I’ve had since beginning my treatments. Like I said, hopefully this setback is only temporary in nature.In last week’s journal entry, I told everyone that I completed my 4 week reevaluation with Laura. While doing this reevaluation with her, we decided that we would work on my legs and my feet and my neck one week, and then the following week, we would work on core strengthening exercises. By alternating every other week, this will give me a good workout and still allow me to maintain the increase in strength with regards to my core. My workout with Laura this week was the first week since my reevaluation, so she and her physical therapy assistant, Emily, transferred me out of my chair to the therapy table. Both Emily and Laura worked on stretching my legs, focusing much of their attention on my calf muscles and ligaments in my knees. After this, they began the exercises on my feet and toes. While it’s still uncomfortable to work on my feet and toes, it is beginning to be more bearable than it used to be. I don’t know if I’m getting used to it or if maybe the muscles themselves are starting to loosen up and allow more flexibility, but, it doesn’t seem to be as painful as it used to be. Laura was working on my left leg and Emily was working on my right leg. Laura did mention that it seems as if I’m able to get my legs straighter and flatter on the table and still be able to keep my back pressed against the table at the same time. It used to be that when they would stretch my legs out on the table, it would force my back to come up off of the table. Now when they do these exercises, I’m more conscious about trying to keep my back flat on the table and Laura said that it looks like I’m getting better range of motion in my hips and my knees. Next week, we will work on my core strengthening exercises using the resistance bands. While I normally do my workouts on Thursdays, Laura requested that I start coming in on Tuesday. She works a shorter day on Tuesdays, and she told me that I would be her only patient on that day. Along with that, Emily would be free to assist Laura during my workouts. Since this will make it easier for Laura, I will now do the majority of my workouts on Tuesdays. This is also good because getting Emily involved will take a little bit of work off of Laura. Another good thing is that Emily is used to working with me when Laura is not there, so Emily will be a great addition to my workouts. Unfortunately, I already had an appointment with my pulmonologist this coming Tuesday, so I will go on Thursday to do my workout with Laura and Emily, and I will begin my normal Tuesday schedule beginning week after next.In this week’s video, I’m going to discuss the recent results from my reevaluation on my legs, feet and neck. Every 4 weeks, Laura reevaluates me to check my progress with regards to the exercises that we’re doing. Laura and I began working on the muscles in my legs for 2 reasons. First, I wanted to stretch these muscles and ligaments in my leg to improve the strength, range of motion and flexibility. Second, due to my recent CT scan that was done that revealed damage to my right hip and leg, working on the hamstring and quadricep muscles in my legs has decreased the amount of pain that I’m going through on a day-to-day basis. We began working on the muscles in my neck to improve the rotation as I look to my left and to my right, and we are also working on the amount of side bending that I can do when I bend my head to the left or to the right. After each reevaluation, I will post these results to my website so that you can track my progress. Click HERE to view my video. Click HERE to view my test results.I hope that all of you had a fantastic week and I hope that you do something for yourself this upcoming week that will make you a better person. God bless you and I’ll see you next Sunday. -
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