This Year is Our Year for Success!
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Pam - I think you described the "new" P/T really well. At this practice there are lots of "techs" and only a handful of actual physical therapists. What really sort of turned me off was no one even pretended to watch my form and see if I was doing things right. They'd say "go do xyz, 2 sets of 10" and off I'd go. They mostly stand around a center desk and you go up to them to get your next exercise. I'd probably learn more from a DVD. The smart azz part of me also was SO tempted to say "why not just say 'do it 20 times;"? LOL!
I hope you get relief for your foot. That does NOT sound like fune.0 -
So far, my foot is pain free. Let’s hope it stays that way as I really would rather not have surgery on it.
I’ve done PT in large settings as well as smaller ones. I felt like I got much more personal attention from the actual PT in the smaller setting than in the larger practices. In the smaller one, there were 2 PTs and a couple of techs, and they never scheduled me at the same time as anyone else, unless it was just a slight overlap of someone finishing up with a heat or cold treatment when my appointment was starting. When I went to the larger facility, I found that my PT was working with multiple patients at the same time and the techs were the ones actually providing most of the supervision and/or instruction. Is yours a large practice?
This is what I spent my day on yesterday. DH’s church home groups are having a bake-off contest tonight and this is my contribution.
They requested a sopapilla cheesecake that I had made for them previously, but I had 2 problems with that. Number 1 is that I dislike being told what to bake (LOL), and number 2, I couldn’t remember which recipe I had used for that cheesecake as I have at least 3 different ones that I’ve made. So instead they are getting a blueberry pie. I think it turned out well. Hopefully they will agree.0 -
Maryanne, I’ve forgotten why you were doing PT. Refresh my memory, please. My experiences with PT were pretty positive. Maybe some of it the practice whether do they do the work or tell you to do it at home. My most recent experience was in 2022 when I had knee and back pain. I did 12-14 weeks, 2 sessions per week and ended my sessions when it was time to head south. I probably could have gone a few weeks more without Medicare or insurance stepping in. All my sessions were covered. They did such a good job on my knee that I haven’t had any pain in more than a year. I only had about a month to work on my back before we left for FL. It’s better because of the PT but not totally pain free. I got a print out of exercises when my sessions end but didn’t really keep up with them.
Pam, sounds like the beach trip was just what you needed. I hope your doctor can resolve you foot pain without surgery.0 -
Today we got unwelcome but not unexpected news. DH has continued to struggle in several areas, and today we had a follow up appointment with his neurologist to get the results of testing she had ordered. Though it’s not definitive until a biopsy is done next month, it’s almost certainly Parkinson’s Disease and some form of dementia. Both are fairly early stage, but it has been progressing rapidly. His symptoms have increased significantly in the past 6 months, and the dementia and other symptoms are becoming more prominent. He’s having tremendous problems with insomnia, which is definitely exacerbating all of his other symptoms. He was started on 2 medications today that will help slow the progression of both conditions, so we are hopeful that they will help.0
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Pam, I’m so sorry to hear about your DH’s diagnosis. It sounds a lot of like my BIL’s condition. He was initially diagnosed with Parkinson’s and a couple years in he started showing dementia symptoms. Specialized PT for Parkinson’s has helped managing some of his symptoms. He first started treatment during the pandemic so many of his therapies were on Zoom. When things opened up, he started in person group therapies. His voice was affected so he had a group called The Loud Crowd that worked on helping him to project his voice and to speak louder. That was really helpful. He did a boxing therapy that helped with balance and coordination. The boxing was helpful and he enjoyed going to the sessions. Your doctor can suggest therapies that might be helpful for him.0
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Your pie looks amazing. It will probably go for more money that the cheesecake because the presentation is so beautiful. I’m glad the foot pain is gone and I hope you stay pai free for a long time.0
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Today we got unwelcome but not unexpected news. DH has continued to struggle in several areas, and today we had a follow up appointment with his neurologist to get the results of testing she had ordered. Though it’s not definitive until a biopsy is done next month, it’s almost certainly Parkinson’s Disease and some form of dementia. Both are fairly early stage, but it has been progressing rapidly. His symptoms have increased significantly in the past 6 months, and the dementia and other symptoms are becoming more prominent. He’s having tremendous problems with insomnia, which is definitely exacerbating all of his other symptoms. He was started on 2 medications today that will help slow the progression of both conditions, so we are hopeful that they will help.
I'm so sorry! I'm hoping that the medications will be a huge help. That diagnosis has got to be incredibly difficult on both of you.0 -
Pam -that pie looks SO good! Blueberry is one of my favorites.
Helene - I went to an orthopaedic surgeon for hip pain. He did xrays and turns out it's not my hips but my lower back. So no surgery.
I actually really enjoyed PT when I went before but that place is gone (a casualty of a purchase of one hospital by a larger hospital system). The place I went this time the techs and therapists pretty much stand at a center desk with everyone's files. You go up to the desk and one of them gives you a next exercise to do. You do it and go back for another. No one's checking form or helping in any way that I could tell. They sent me something to review them and I just deleted it. I'd rather not say anything bad as I will be going back to that doctor but I'll be doggone if I'm going to praise them.0 -
Today would have been my mother's 100th birthday. Instead she only made it to 75. Such a shame. And then to have my sister go even earlier. Hard to fathom!0
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Is there another PT practice you can try? It sounds like DIY PT at your place. The places I used in FL and MA were both small independent practices. I had the same therapist every time in FL. The place I went to in MA had two locations a town apart. The one in my town was open three days a week. The one in the larger town was open five days. I was willing to alternate facilities to get the days and times I wanted. I could choose which therapist I wanted. I liked both of the therapists and they would do the whole session. Maybe your answer is to find a smaller practice with more personal service.0
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Is there another PT practice you can try? It sounds like DIY PT at your place. The places I used in FL and MA were both small independent practices. I had the same therapist every time in FL. The place I went to in MA had two locations a town apart. The one in my town was open three days a week. The one in the larger town was open five days. I was willing to alternate facilities to get the days and times I wanted. I could choose which therapist I wanted. I liked both of the therapists and they would do the whole session. Maybe your answer is to find a smaller practice with more personal service.
The University of Maryland Medical System bought Kernan Hospital years ago. The first thing they did that impacted us was bring in their own people to the lab which cost DH the job he'd had for decades. Recently they announced they were closing the whole hospital. It appears that they'd already closed both of the PT locations which were the two places I went before. One was licensed as a gym and was great. I went there after I broke my heel. The other had certified hand therapists which is where I went after my wrist surgery. So those are both gone. I don't see anything else on line that's close to me. But you're right; this place felt like DIY.0 -
A big group has been buying up hospitals in various communities across the country. They had some in MA which they’ve pretty much looted. They’re in the process of filing for bankruptcy after giving the CEO and board multi million dollar bonuses. They’ve left these community hospitals scraping by with inadequate supplies and staffing. In one case, a new mom died after a critical piece of equipment that might have saved her had been repossessed by a vendor for lack of payment. The MA Governor has started a lawsuit against the company. You wonder how a CEO justifies buying a ginormous yacht while a women dies because the hospital didn’t have the equipment to save her.0
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A big group has been buying up hospitals in various communities across the country. They had some in MA which they’ve pretty much looted. They’re in the process of filing for bankruptcy after giving the CEO and board multi million dollar bonuses. They’ve left these community hospitals scraping by with inadequate supplies and staffing. In one case, a new mom died after a critical piece of equipment that might have saved her had been repossessed by a vendor for lack of payment. The MA Governor has started a lawsuit against the company. You wonder how a CEO justifies buying a ginormous yacht while a women dies because the hospital didn’t have the equipment to save her.
It's sort of the same mind set as the people I now spend my days dodging - who run through red lights, dart around cars already going over the speed limit, etc. There's a lot of just plan "I don't give a zhit" out there. About the rules or other people. Whatever they want is ALL that matters. And the Cheeto is their leader. I try not to think about the fact that next year at this time our entire democracy may be going away.
I've always looked at the compensation that some of the non profits pay their execs and shuddered. I guess it's gotten much much worse.0 -
The amount of compensation some CEOs get is obscene. How much is enough? Nobody is worth 20 million dollars or mor.0
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Pam - do you have power? (I guess if you don't you won't see this). I see on CNN that hundreds of thousands of Texans are without power.0
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We were without power from 5:45 AM Tuesday until 7:15 PM today (Wednesday). Luckily, it wasn’t terribly hot and we were fairly comfortable. DH set up one of the generators we acquired after the big ice storm from 4 years ago, so we were able to plug in the freezer and keep our phones charged. Several friends offered us a place to stay, but we didn’t feel like we needed to leave since it wasn’t uncomfortably warm. We had lots of small tree limbs and branches in the yard, but no other damage. We were very happy when the power came back on because we had seen some estimates saying it could be Saturday before the repairs might be completed. Apparently the neighborhood behind us had some large trees that fell on the power lines and that caused a transformer to blow. So in addition to clearing the tree limbs and debris, lines had to be restrung and the transformer had to be replaced. I’m sure the linemen have been working nonstop and must be exhausted, so I can’t really complain. In addition to powering the freezer, we were able to plug in a small microwave, so we had hot food. It was inconvenient, but not catastrophic.0
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Pam - I'm so glad you're okay!
We have a generator but now that I know there's such a thing as a whole house generator, that comes on automatically and would be powered by the natural gas that comes to our home anyway, I can't believe we didn't get that. DH doesn't even want to think about it!0 -
All things considered, you did well coping with the power outages. I wondered if the storm affected you. I was thinking of all the people without AC. We’ve been in the 90s for a couple weeks I no AC here would be pretty debilitating . we start the drive north today.0
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Maryanne, we have investigated getting a whole house generator, but besides the expense, there are some logistical issues that made us decide against it. The primary issue is the noise they make and our city noise ordinances make it virtually impossible to have one that complies. So we invested in a couple of portable ones that can power the things we most critically need and hope for the best.0
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Maryanne, we have investigated getting a whole house generator, but besides the expense, there are some logistical issues that made us decide against it. The primary issue is the noise they make and our city noise ordinances make it virtually impossible to have one that complies. So we invested in a couple of portable ones that can power the things we most critically need and hope for the best.
That's interesting! Obviously we haven't dug into it. I most worry about having enough gas on hand for a prolonged power outage.0
