Unsung Heroes: Physical Therapists
As many of you may or may not know, I have been here at the Walter Reed Military Hospital since January 2016 and I recently had my leg amputated just below my knee.
I spent 71 days in the hospital. Surgery after surgery we were trying to save my leg. In the end, we had to do what was best for me health-wise and that was to amputate.
Upon release I was assigned a physical therapist almost immediately and had appointments scheduled to start my rehabilitation. I must admit due to past experiences I was a bit apprehensive at first. But once I began my physical therapy, I realized that my therapist was very empathetic, knowledgeable, and dedicated to each of us attending.
Initial Reactions to Physical Therapy
As amputees we aren’t looking for sympathy, but instead we are looking for others that show a bit of empathy to our situation or to even motivate us. The last thing I’d want is a bunch of tears because of my situation.
In my first two weeks of physical therapy I have already noticed an increased amount of energy. Plus, I have gained back some of the muscle that previously took me years to build.
My physical therapist asked me what my goals were the first day I arrived. I wrote them down and then we went over them to make sure they were realistic and obtainable. Then we got to work the next day.
The class isn’t spread thin either. When I go in for my appointments, there’s rarely more than three of us with her at one time. This allows for hands-on-assistance and it gives us the opportunity to do workouts together.
Not an Easy Task
It hasn’t been easy. You can ask anybody who’s had a leg amputated that one of the biggest concerns is falling down. Well, I fell down twice the day after I got out of the hospital. I’m a ranger and for anyone who knows a ranger, or anybody in the military for that matter, knows we don’t want people doing things for us if we can do it ourselves.
That’s pretty much what happened to me. I was doing too much and I fell down twice. Since that time, I have become more cautious. My physical therapist does a good job of catering my therapy towards myself, my limitations, and my capabilities.
Past Thoughts
In the past, when I’ve needed to go to physical therapy, I pretty much blew it off and didn’t go. I blew it off because I have a degree in exercise science so I thought I could do my own therapy or my own workouts myself. And I did, and I was able to recover from minor injuries on my own.
This time, though, I knew what I had to do and I wasn’t looking forward to it. I would need to complete the therapy because this was a major injury that was going to take months to fully recover from.
Go Ahead and Do Physical Therapy
I must say that this has been beyond what I could’ve ever imagined. The people here do a tremendous job of helping you understand the therapy by explaining why a particular movement is being done. Now I have come to realize that no matter what your injury is physical therapy is a must.
The physical therapist and the entire staff here are either Army, Navy, or civilians and they’re such a great group of dedicated professionals. I urge anybody who has been injured, or recently injured, to take advantage of going through and completing physical therapy.
No matter what your injury is, or the extent of your injuries, physical therapy works and it can help.
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