18 August 2005
No diary entry for a while because we were away in Canberra last week. I feel a bit de-conditioned when I got back. I don’t know why that’s the case because I did quite a bit of walking with my mother-in-law, Helen, when I was there. Maybe it’s the lack of weight training at a gym and also the absence of remedial massage for two weeks.
I had a pretty busy week so far –on Monday I had physio in the morning and personal training in the afternoon, on Tuesday, hydro in the morning and personal training in the afternoon, yesterday I had physio at Epworth in the morning and physio with Prema in the afternoon. I was really struggling on Monday morning at physio. The exercises that wouldn’t normally tire me out seem to be so hard and tiring.
After two sessions of physio and two consecutive days of personal training I think I’m feeling a bit better. Gavin started to work on my arm and shoulder a bit before I went to Canberra. He put me on this machine and gets me to do pull ups and push ups. Tracey said the push ups will work my triceps and the pull ups work on my pec and latissimus dorsi (some back muscle). It’s a very hard exercise to do. I told Gavin that I don’t think I could do pull ups or push ups before my surgery anyway. Of course, he doesn’t care whether I could do it before or not, he wants me to be able to do it now! This is what Neil would call a 120% recovery! I told Mary about the exercise and she thought it might be a bit hard for me to do it bilaterally so she used a gym equipment (I can never remember what those things are called) to get me to work on my left side only. She said once I built up the strength on my left side, she’ll get me to use the equipment that I use at Epworth so I can do it bilaterally because otherwise my right side will do most of the work. I think she is actually getting better these days because I found that she would actually think about my problems and try out new exercises for me. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a bit de-conditioned because on Monday and Tuesday I actually felt she was pushing me a bit harder than before. Another thing I noticed is that my arm and shoulder actually felt better after some weight training. I actually find it a bit addictive that I can’t wait for my next session.
When I went to my physio session on Monday, I was surprised to see how much progress Gary has made. He is the loud mouth who has spinal injury. He is not a bad person but because he never shut up and he looked like one of my old boss in the previous accounting firm I worked for, I don’t like him very much. Before I went away, Gavin used to set up a couple of physio beds so Gary could hold on the the edge of the bed for support while Gavin put his foot in place when getting him to walk. It’s a bit like when I first started to learn walking again at MECRS. I was surprised to see that Gary is able to walk with the help of Gavin and another physio. I don’t want to be mean but somehow I felt he is not very deserving of this speedy improvement because I know how little he worked. I know it’s a bitchy thing to say but I think his lips worked more than his legs. While he has improved while I was away, I felt I have regressed. It’s a depressing feeling – a bit like when you trained so hard but was eliminated in the first round (of ballroom dancing competition).
I always thought I was hard done by until I saw this guy at Epworth on Wednesday. I recognise him from a few weeks ago – he was the guy who picked his nose while waiting for the porter to collect him. He is looking so much better when I saw him on Wednesday. He can actually walk with Gavin’s support now. When I was doing my dorsiflexion exercise against the wall, a woman walked in with a pram. The kid is holding a teddy bear and has a dummy stuck in his mouth. I presume he is younger than Lillian since he still sucks on a dummy. I have no idea when do they stop sucking on dummies since Lillian never had one. The woman looks quite young, I don’t know if that’s her kid or if she is just a nanny and is looking after someone else’s kid. (TO BE CONTINUED)... DUE TO THE SMELL OF THE PAINT I WILL HAVE TO FINISH THIS ANOTHER TIME(the painter is still here - after about 1 1/2 weeks)
I had a pretty busy week so far –on Monday I had physio in the morning and personal training in the afternoon, on Tuesday, hydro in the morning and personal training in the afternoon, yesterday I had physio at Epworth in the morning and physio with Prema in the afternoon. I was really struggling on Monday morning at physio. The exercises that wouldn’t normally tire me out seem to be so hard and tiring.
After two sessions of physio and two consecutive days of personal training I think I’m feeling a bit better. Gavin started to work on my arm and shoulder a bit before I went to Canberra. He put me on this machine and gets me to do pull ups and push ups. Tracey said the push ups will work my triceps and the pull ups work on my pec and latissimus dorsi (some back muscle). It’s a very hard exercise to do. I told Gavin that I don’t think I could do pull ups or push ups before my surgery anyway. Of course, he doesn’t care whether I could do it before or not, he wants me to be able to do it now! This is what Neil would call a 120% recovery! I told Mary about the exercise and she thought it might be a bit hard for me to do it bilaterally so she used a gym equipment (I can never remember what those things are called) to get me to work on my left side only. She said once I built up the strength on my left side, she’ll get me to use the equipment that I use at Epworth so I can do it bilaterally because otherwise my right side will do most of the work. I think she is actually getting better these days because I found that she would actually think about my problems and try out new exercises for me. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a bit de-conditioned because on Monday and Tuesday I actually felt she was pushing me a bit harder than before. Another thing I noticed is that my arm and shoulder actually felt better after some weight training. I actually find it a bit addictive that I can’t wait for my next session.
When I went to my physio session on Monday, I was surprised to see how much progress Gary has made. He is the loud mouth who has spinal injury. He is not a bad person but because he never shut up and he looked like one of my old boss in the previous accounting firm I worked for, I don’t like him very much. Before I went away, Gavin used to set up a couple of physio beds so Gary could hold on the the edge of the bed for support while Gavin put his foot in place when getting him to walk. It’s a bit like when I first started to learn walking again at MECRS. I was surprised to see that Gary is able to walk with the help of Gavin and another physio. I don’t want to be mean but somehow I felt he is not very deserving of this speedy improvement because I know how little he worked. I know it’s a bitchy thing to say but I think his lips worked more than his legs. While he has improved while I was away, I felt I have regressed. It’s a depressing feeling – a bit like when you trained so hard but was eliminated in the first round (of ballroom dancing competition).
I always thought I was hard done by until I saw this guy at Epworth on Wednesday. I recognise him from a few weeks ago – he was the guy who picked his nose while waiting for the porter to collect him. He is looking so much better when I saw him on Wednesday. He can actually walk with Gavin’s support now. When I was doing my dorsiflexion exercise against the wall, a woman walked in with a pram. The kid is holding a teddy bear and has a dummy stuck in his mouth. I presume he is younger than Lillian since he still sucks on a dummy. I have no idea when do they stop sucking on dummies since Lillian never had one. The woman looks quite young, I don’t know if that’s her kid or if she is just a nanny and is looking after someone else’s kid. (TO BE CONTINUED)... DUE TO THE SMELL OF THE PAINT I WILL HAVE TO FINISH THIS ANOTHER TIME(the painter is still here - after about 1 1/2 weeks)
posted by Teresa Liu at 11:15 PM
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