8 June 2005
I had an appointment with Gavin this morning. I found out this morning that the roadwork near our house is still going on. I was quite annoyed with it yesterday because I almost couldn’t get home after my shopping at Barkly Square. They blocked all the roads near our house when I returned yesterday. I was hoping this would not happen this morning because I need to catch a taxi to Epworth for my appointment. Tim said if the road is blocked I could go to the store across the road and wait for my taxi there. That’s one possibility except I don’t think I can make it there without wearing my ankle brace. I thought about wearing the ankle brace but I hate to think what Gavin might say to me. I went outside to check the road situation before I called for my taxi. It looked pretty bad, not only there were workmen everywhere, there were two trucks on the other side of the road as well. I could not see the roadblocks but judging by the workmen and the trucks, they must have blocked the roads. I decided to put on my ankle brace. I know Gavin will probably tell me off but it’s not everyday the city council blocks the roads right in front of your house everyday. At least I hope it doesn’t.
When my taxi arrived at the Epworth, Gavin was actually right outside on the footpath with some patients. I didn’t expect to see him there. I was hoping that I wouldn’t see him before I take the ankle brace off. When I got off the taxi, I quickly (as quick as I possibly could) sneaked in through the other entrace, hoping that he may not have noticed my ankle brace. I was surprised at my luck because he didn’t say anything and I was able to go directly to the treatment room, take off my ankle brace and stuck it in my handbag and cover it with my jacket before he walked in. I actually felt a bit guilty that I was able to get away with this. It’s a bit like when my dog peed on the floor and we didn’t punish him straight away, he actually felt quite terrible and it’s not until we told him off he was more relieved that he has been punished for his crime. At the time, I thought it was a bit strange that he wanted us to tell him off when he did something wrong and he was waiting for that. Now, I think I can understand how he felt like.
Gavin set up a mini trampoline for me. Just when I thought I had got away with murder, he asked me why did I wear my brace today. I thought he didn’t notice because he was with another patient and thought I had got away with it. I told him ask the City of Melbourne council about that. I explained to him that they blocked all the roads around my house and I had to be prepared to walk quite a bit if the taxi couldn’t get to my house. I actually didn’t think that was much of an excuse but I was surprised that he was ok with that. I didn’t feel very energetic today. After about 10 minutes on the trampoline, I felt tired already. I looked at the time, I turned up a bit early today so I still have another hour to go. When Gavin came back to check on my walking practice, I told him that my foot has been quite sore from not wearing the brace. I told him that last week I had to put the brace back on because my foot was too sore otherwise. He said it’s good that I can walk without the brace. He said he doesn’t expect me to walk around without the brace all the time but it’s promising that I can walk without it. I’m not sure where this change of tune came from. Who was the one that wanted to burn my ankle brace last time?
Gary, Gavin’s other patient turned up in his electrical wheelchair. He is the patient with spinal injury. His appointments are normally the same time as mine. I did a few laps of walking and then Gavin came back to check on me. He told me to go to the treatment room and set up a mirror for me in front of the walking rails. He said I need to do more work on my hips and also wanted me to practice walking with narrower base of support. At the moment, my feet are too far apart. I actually don’t like to be in the treatment room because I can always hear Gary talking to Gavin. I don’t want to eavesdrop on them but I had no choice. They always talk a lot about football and which team is going to win at what game. I have no idea what they are on about and have no interests in that either. Tim always thought AFL is more of a sport for the low –lives. He always says rugby is a game where gentlemen play like thugs while AFL is thugs playing like gentlemen. I’m not a big fan of either. I’m a bit annoyed because I feel that every time I go to Epworth, Gavin spends about 10 minutes with me looking at my gait and various things but he spends most of his time with this patient talking about footy. Sometimes, it makes me wonder what’s the point of going there at all since there is nothing that I do there I can’t do at home. I can do the walking practice combined with the trampoline and get a nice tall mirror so I can see myself walking.
Gavin came to check on me and said I need to drop my hip when I’m taking a step with my left foot. I didn’t quite understand what he meant so he came into the walking rails and was trying to correct me as I was taking a step but he soon realised it was too hard to do that in the walking rails so he told me to step outside of the rails and practice in the middle of the room. When I was doing that, I overheard them talking again. I heard Gavin saying that there are many staff leaving. Gary asked him about whether they have found his replacement. I wasn’t sure whether I heard this correctly. Does it mean Gavin is leaving? He hasn’t mentioned anything to me but then again we don’t talk very much, unlike him and Gary. I just hope he is not leaving, at least not before I finish my program here anyway.
Tracy came in to ask me if I’m ready to try the theraband again. Gavin must have asked her to set it up for me. She set it up for me and I tried again but it’s still very hard. My ankle was still inverting a lot and my legs were getting quite tired. Tracy was good enough to let me rest a bit before I started again. After about another 10 repetitions, I told her I had enough and she agreed that was enough for me. As I was heading back to the treatment room, Gavin came out and asked me how did I go. I pointed at a particular part of my leg and asked him what muscle is that. He said it’s part of the calf. That’s exactly what Prema said last time I asked her. I told him when I was doing those theraband exercises, I had to relax certain muscles to stop the inversion and the muscle I had to relax or I felt I had to relax was where I was pointing. Prema said it’s the extension of tib post, which is a very deep calf muscle. Gavin said my inversion is caused by weakness on my outside leg muscles, not the calf.
On my way home, I couldn’t stop worrying about where I’m going to go for my physio if Gavin is not there anymore. It’s very hard to find a good physio like him these days. In fact, it took me almost 10 months to find him. It almost makes no sense for me to go to Epworth anymore if he is not there anymore. Isn’t it ironic – one minute I was complaining about not getting enough attention in the physio session and the next minute I’m worrying about not having him as a physio anymore.
When my taxi arrived at the Epworth, Gavin was actually right outside on the footpath with some patients. I didn’t expect to see him there. I was hoping that I wouldn’t see him before I take the ankle brace off. When I got off the taxi, I quickly (as quick as I possibly could) sneaked in through the other entrace, hoping that he may not have noticed my ankle brace. I was surprised at my luck because he didn’t say anything and I was able to go directly to the treatment room, take off my ankle brace and stuck it in my handbag and cover it with my jacket before he walked in. I actually felt a bit guilty that I was able to get away with this. It’s a bit like when my dog peed on the floor and we didn’t punish him straight away, he actually felt quite terrible and it’s not until we told him off he was more relieved that he has been punished for his crime. At the time, I thought it was a bit strange that he wanted us to tell him off when he did something wrong and he was waiting for that. Now, I think I can understand how he felt like.
Gavin set up a mini trampoline for me. Just when I thought I had got away with murder, he asked me why did I wear my brace today. I thought he didn’t notice because he was with another patient and thought I had got away with it. I told him ask the City of Melbourne council about that. I explained to him that they blocked all the roads around my house and I had to be prepared to walk quite a bit if the taxi couldn’t get to my house. I actually didn’t think that was much of an excuse but I was surprised that he was ok with that. I didn’t feel very energetic today. After about 10 minutes on the trampoline, I felt tired already. I looked at the time, I turned up a bit early today so I still have another hour to go. When Gavin came back to check on my walking practice, I told him that my foot has been quite sore from not wearing the brace. I told him that last week I had to put the brace back on because my foot was too sore otherwise. He said it’s good that I can walk without the brace. He said he doesn’t expect me to walk around without the brace all the time but it’s promising that I can walk without it. I’m not sure where this change of tune came from. Who was the one that wanted to burn my ankle brace last time?
Gary, Gavin’s other patient turned up in his electrical wheelchair. He is the patient with spinal injury. His appointments are normally the same time as mine. I did a few laps of walking and then Gavin came back to check on me. He told me to go to the treatment room and set up a mirror for me in front of the walking rails. He said I need to do more work on my hips and also wanted me to practice walking with narrower base of support. At the moment, my feet are too far apart. I actually don’t like to be in the treatment room because I can always hear Gary talking to Gavin. I don’t want to eavesdrop on them but I had no choice. They always talk a lot about football and which team is going to win at what game. I have no idea what they are on about and have no interests in that either. Tim always thought AFL is more of a sport for the low –lives. He always says rugby is a game where gentlemen play like thugs while AFL is thugs playing like gentlemen. I’m not a big fan of either. I’m a bit annoyed because I feel that every time I go to Epworth, Gavin spends about 10 minutes with me looking at my gait and various things but he spends most of his time with this patient talking about footy. Sometimes, it makes me wonder what’s the point of going there at all since there is nothing that I do there I can’t do at home. I can do the walking practice combined with the trampoline and get a nice tall mirror so I can see myself walking.
Gavin came to check on me and said I need to drop my hip when I’m taking a step with my left foot. I didn’t quite understand what he meant so he came into the walking rails and was trying to correct me as I was taking a step but he soon realised it was too hard to do that in the walking rails so he told me to step outside of the rails and practice in the middle of the room. When I was doing that, I overheard them talking again. I heard Gavin saying that there are many staff leaving. Gary asked him about whether they have found his replacement. I wasn’t sure whether I heard this correctly. Does it mean Gavin is leaving? He hasn’t mentioned anything to me but then again we don’t talk very much, unlike him and Gary. I just hope he is not leaving, at least not before I finish my program here anyway.
Tracy came in to ask me if I’m ready to try the theraband again. Gavin must have asked her to set it up for me. She set it up for me and I tried again but it’s still very hard. My ankle was still inverting a lot and my legs were getting quite tired. Tracy was good enough to let me rest a bit before I started again. After about another 10 repetitions, I told her I had enough and she agreed that was enough for me. As I was heading back to the treatment room, Gavin came out and asked me how did I go. I pointed at a particular part of my leg and asked him what muscle is that. He said it’s part of the calf. That’s exactly what Prema said last time I asked her. I told him when I was doing those theraband exercises, I had to relax certain muscles to stop the inversion and the muscle I had to relax or I felt I had to relax was where I was pointing. Prema said it’s the extension of tib post, which is a very deep calf muscle. Gavin said my inversion is caused by weakness on my outside leg muscles, not the calf.
On my way home, I couldn’t stop worrying about where I’m going to go for my physio if Gavin is not there anymore. It’s very hard to find a good physio like him these days. In fact, it took me almost 10 months to find him. It almost makes no sense for me to go to Epworth anymore if he is not there anymore. Isn’t it ironic – one minute I was complaining about not getting enough attention in the physio session and the next minute I’m worrying about not having him as a physio anymore.
posted by Teresa Liu at 1:12 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home