4 August 2005
I had personal training with Mary this morning. I think just as well I made an appointment to have a session because it looked so miserable outside and I didn’t feel like get out of bed.
It was still raining when I left the house so I had to use an umbrella. It’s probaby the first time I had to do this in heavy rain. It certainly made walking to the gym more challenging. It was even more tricky when crossing the roads. I had to make sure I don’t stand too close to the road or I might get splashed when a car drives past too quickly.
It was still a bit early when I got to the gym so I decided to warm up with some ellipticals before my session. The personal training gym is separate from the general gym so I decided to stay in the personal training area because it’s not as crowded. After about five minutes, my left leg started to get a bit tired and I could really feel the muscles working in the glutes and the quads. I was very tempted to stop but then I thought I should just push on until Mary turns up. Mike, Mary’s boss, came up to me and said Mary just called and she’s running a bit late. Well, I guess this just means I have to stay on the elliptical for a bit longer. I think Tim would be happy to see that I was breaking out in sweats. He always thinks if I’m not sweaty that means I haven’t worked hard enough. I didn’t bring a towel with me because there was never any need in the past but today the sweat was dripped down my face.
I have been on the elliptical for about 10 minutes when Mary turned up. I didn’t tell her that my leg was tired because I was worried that she might just let me do easy stuff today. I told her that Gavin and Prema said there is some gym equipment to work on the hamstrings and I would like to try that. I think I might have been a bit harsh on her in the past because when she set me up on the equipment, I realised that it’s too hard for me and no matter how hard I try I couldn’t lift up the 5kg weight which is the bear minimum. She said she was trying to get me do some strenghthening exercises first so my muscles would be strong enough to use the equipment. She suggested that we go back to the personal training gym and use the cable so she can set up the equipment in such a way to help me work on my hamstrings.
After my session, Neil walked me home. We talked about getting some expert help with my upper limb and he was pushing me to do something about it. He found out for me from Guy Zito, his physio and also a lecturer in physio at Melbourne uni, the name of a physio who specialises in upper limb. When I looked at the address, I realised that it’s the same place where Lisa, a physio from MECRS, works on Fridays. I don’t really like Lisa because she treated me quite badly when I was an in patient there. I remember there was one occasion that my physio Jane didn’t show up and left someone with pen and paper and a test question for me. This happened after Tim complained that they hadn’t done anything about my arm. Jane asked me to write down all the things I have learnt from physio sessions about my arm. I couldn’t write any because she didn’t do much for my arm and there was nothing to write about. I burst out in tears because I thought it was wasting my valuable treatment time. Lisa came over and wheeled me into an office and told me off. Those words will always be branded in my memory because it was quite a traumatic experience for me. I remember her saying that it’s my fault that I don’t remember things because I had a brain injury and I shouldn’t blame Jane for not doing anthing about my arm. She was basically saying that it’s not Jane didn’t do anything about my arm – she has done somethig but I don’t remember. I cannot believe that she had the nerve to tell me that. I don’t think I want to see her again. I’m quite happy to see Dale, the social worker and Kerry and Jacqui, the OTs, but I have no intension of seeing anyone else at that place. Tim thinks I shouldn’t forget the good things they have done for me but all I can remember is how they put me down and treated me like morons. If I ever have any doubt on myself or my ability it is because of their doings. It’s for the same reason I haven’t contacted this upper limb person – I wonder what she is like if she and Lisa work at the same place. Both Jane and Lisa thought it would take me 2 to 3 years to drink a cup of tea with my left hand. I know we can all laugh at that now.
There is another person I told Tim and Neil about who specialises in upper limb. Her name is Kim Miller and she is based at Melbourne Uni. I found out from her website that she is currently doing her PhD on upper limb. I told Neil that she may be a better person to contact because she will be very up to date with all the latest techniques. I also told Neil that when I looked up (on the internet) on this High Level Mobility Assessment Tool Gavin used for my tests yesterday, I found out that Kim is presenting a paper at the APA (Aust Physiotherapy Association) conference on upper limb. I think Gavin is really an expert on the legs and Kim could be really an expert on the arms. Neil said he would call Kim for me because otherwise I just won’t do anything about it.
It was still raining when I left the house so I had to use an umbrella. It’s probaby the first time I had to do this in heavy rain. It certainly made walking to the gym more challenging. It was even more tricky when crossing the roads. I had to make sure I don’t stand too close to the road or I might get splashed when a car drives past too quickly.
It was still a bit early when I got to the gym so I decided to warm up with some ellipticals before my session. The personal training gym is separate from the general gym so I decided to stay in the personal training area because it’s not as crowded. After about five minutes, my left leg started to get a bit tired and I could really feel the muscles working in the glutes and the quads. I was very tempted to stop but then I thought I should just push on until Mary turns up. Mike, Mary’s boss, came up to me and said Mary just called and she’s running a bit late. Well, I guess this just means I have to stay on the elliptical for a bit longer. I think Tim would be happy to see that I was breaking out in sweats. He always thinks if I’m not sweaty that means I haven’t worked hard enough. I didn’t bring a towel with me because there was never any need in the past but today the sweat was dripped down my face.
I have been on the elliptical for about 10 minutes when Mary turned up. I didn’t tell her that my leg was tired because I was worried that she might just let me do easy stuff today. I told her that Gavin and Prema said there is some gym equipment to work on the hamstrings and I would like to try that. I think I might have been a bit harsh on her in the past because when she set me up on the equipment, I realised that it’s too hard for me and no matter how hard I try I couldn’t lift up the 5kg weight which is the bear minimum. She said she was trying to get me do some strenghthening exercises first so my muscles would be strong enough to use the equipment. She suggested that we go back to the personal training gym and use the cable so she can set up the equipment in such a way to help me work on my hamstrings.
After my session, Neil walked me home. We talked about getting some expert help with my upper limb and he was pushing me to do something about it. He found out for me from Guy Zito, his physio and also a lecturer in physio at Melbourne uni, the name of a physio who specialises in upper limb. When I looked at the address, I realised that it’s the same place where Lisa, a physio from MECRS, works on Fridays. I don’t really like Lisa because she treated me quite badly when I was an in patient there. I remember there was one occasion that my physio Jane didn’t show up and left someone with pen and paper and a test question for me. This happened after Tim complained that they hadn’t done anything about my arm. Jane asked me to write down all the things I have learnt from physio sessions about my arm. I couldn’t write any because she didn’t do much for my arm and there was nothing to write about. I burst out in tears because I thought it was wasting my valuable treatment time. Lisa came over and wheeled me into an office and told me off. Those words will always be branded in my memory because it was quite a traumatic experience for me. I remember her saying that it’s my fault that I don’t remember things because I had a brain injury and I shouldn’t blame Jane for not doing anthing about my arm. She was basically saying that it’s not Jane didn’t do anything about my arm – she has done somethig but I don’t remember. I cannot believe that she had the nerve to tell me that. I don’t think I want to see her again. I’m quite happy to see Dale, the social worker and Kerry and Jacqui, the OTs, but I have no intension of seeing anyone else at that place. Tim thinks I shouldn’t forget the good things they have done for me but all I can remember is how they put me down and treated me like morons. If I ever have any doubt on myself or my ability it is because of their doings. It’s for the same reason I haven’t contacted this upper limb person – I wonder what she is like if she and Lisa work at the same place. Both Jane and Lisa thought it would take me 2 to 3 years to drink a cup of tea with my left hand. I know we can all laugh at that now.
There is another person I told Tim and Neil about who specialises in upper limb. Her name is Kim Miller and she is based at Melbourne Uni. I found out from her website that she is currently doing her PhD on upper limb. I told Neil that she may be a better person to contact because she will be very up to date with all the latest techniques. I also told Neil that when I looked up (on the internet) on this High Level Mobility Assessment Tool Gavin used for my tests yesterday, I found out that Kim is presenting a paper at the APA (Aust Physiotherapy Association) conference on upper limb. I think Gavin is really an expert on the legs and Kim could be really an expert on the arms. Neil said he would call Kim for me because otherwise I just won’t do anything about it.
posted by Teresa Liu at 12:30 AM
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