PT Is Not A Piece Of Cake

August 6, 2018 , 8:41 pm

Day 3 in physical therapy was not a piece of cake.  I about fell asleep during physical therapy today, I was so tired.  I told my nice PT guy, “If you hear me snoring, it is real, not pretend, so wake me up. Don’t take it personally”.  I told him I wanted to continue my therapy, but I was just so tired.  He said he would wake me up, but added.  “Nettie, you are kinda hurting my feelings here!”.  I think he thought I thought he was boring, even though he is not.

I am getting stronger every day.  I can do things today that I couldn’t do over the weekend, and it amazes me.  I still tend to keep Lefty out of the loop, but he is coming along.   

What I mean by “keeping Lefty out of the loop” is that being a RIGHTY all your life, then having to try to learn how to use your LEFT SIDE again, which you have never been really good at using anyway, because who needed LEFTY when you have always had RIGHTY to do everything for you.

For example:  last night I wanted to brush my teeth and my physical therapist was with me.  He went into the bathroom with me to brush.  I knew I had my electric toothbrush and 2 tubes of toothpaste in a little container on the counter. I scanned the WHOLE BATHROOM but didn’t see what I was looking for, even though I KNEW I had just used it a few hours before…  The physical therapist said, “Miss Nettie, where are you supposed to look?”  I said, “To the left…”.  So, I looked to the left, and there it was, standing right where it was before, right in front of me but I hadn’t even seen it.  I hadn’t looked to the left, because before all of this I didn’t have to think about it, Righty just did everything.  But now I have to learn to use my left side again and it is hard to get Lefty to cooperate when Lefty has always been lazy anyway.

By the end of this journey Lefty is going to be one of my best friends.  I may even have to write a little story or poem about him and tell how much he helped me along.  “C’mon Lefty, I need you, hang in there!”

Thank you for all of the emails, cards, and visits.  I even enjoyed a Heath Blizzard tonight bought with a Dairy Queen gift card an old friend gave me. 

I need to continue to get stronger so I can come see my little friends at school.  To my teacher friends at Columbian - please give my sweet little babies hugs in the hall while I am not there.  Please be there for Kemper and Tallis, because me being up here has been hard on them, also.  Please give them the little hugs in the hallways that you have always seen me do when I am at work.  I don’t want them to miss out on that special little part of their day.  Mrs. Gilmore you might not recognize Tallis – she now has pink and blue hair.  She is looking like a mermaid for 1st grade. 

My dad has ended up at Methodist hospital also.  He is on a different floor than me , but my family has been going back and forth from room to room – floors 9 to 4, 9 to 4.  He is doing better today.  He is having some tests tomorrow, so please pray for him. 

Sometimes life can just be overwhelming.  I am sure this is how it feels right now for my whole family – life is just too overwhelming. 

Everyone who walks in my room tells me how festive it looks.  That makes me happy and proud that my family has made my room look festive.  The staff told my sisters today that maybe it is a little too festive – that it is making my brain work too hard.  Too many pictures, too many posters.  But that’s how I love it – pictures and posters – things that remind me of fun times.  So, my sisters cleaned up my room a little bit and got rid of a few of the festive items just to give my brain a little break with less distractions.  It was so sweet watching my sisters clean my room – telling me, “This is the only Nettie we know, the Nettie who likes festive stuff.  We don’t know the Nettie with the brain tumor.  We only know our sister who likes having things look happy”. 

They only want me HAPPY and WELL, and that is exactly how I want myself – HAPPY and WELL.  And I plan to be that way – happy and well.  Soon. 

I CAN:

1.      Be happy again

2.      Be well again

3.      Part with a few festive decorations in my room, I will survive

4.      Get frustrated 

5.      Use Lefty.  I WILL use Lefty

I CAN’T:

1.      Give up

2.      Quit

(Transcriber’s note:  the author, who happens to be my sister, instinctively started with listing I CAN s tonight, instead of I CAN’Ts.  This shift in focus from things she cannot do to things she CAN DO makes me very proud and happy.)