New Respect for People Doing Physical Therapy

Before Doonesbury disappeared from the editorial page and became so tiny and hidden among the other cartoons that I almost need a magnifying glass to read it, I had followed B.D.'s struggle through physical therapy. But I never really appreciated the psychological struggle people go through, taking at faith that pushing their bodies this way and that will eventually get you back into order. Or at least better, enough better to be worth the effort and pain.











My injury is tiny and almost inconsequential. Nevertheless, working towards getting full, normal use of my finger is giving me a new respect for the work and will needed to do much more significant therapy - learning to walk, learning to talk again, etc. I've been doing the exercises that I posted a month ago. I can almost make a fist now, but the bad finger still doesn't curl all the way in. My main knuckle on that finger is still fat and that finger has a distinct downward bend to it.

The therapist left town right after I saw her. And then I was out of town. So I finally got back in to see her.


So, to stretch my finger further so I can eventually make a tight fist again, I'm supposed to wrap my finger like this and pull it as tight as I can for 15 minute periods, three times a day.

But after that time, it hurts like hell when I try to straighten it out. And all this concentration on bending has postponed dealing with the fact that I can't totally straighten out the finger.

So now I have this gadget which bends my finger in the opposite direction. And when I take this thing off, it hurts to bend the other way.

The therapist wouldn't make any predictions, but 'two months' did slip out of her mouth. I'm not holding my breath, just my finger, in various contorted positions.

And I'm not complaining, just observing. My problems are minuscule.