4/9/14. The post where I can't get anywhere fast.

4/9/14: the yoga didn't seem to make my foot worse today.  I woke up in the 5.5-6 range and went to physical therapy.  My PT gave me the go ahead to continue yoga to the extent I can tolerate it, and he stressed that I needed to make that decision on a day-to-day basis.  And as I suspected, he had a good pep talk ready for me.  (I'm beginning to wonder if he is secretly reading my blog.)

The first thing he did was tell me not to get down about the nerve blocks not working.  He opined that the nerve blocks were still useful as a diagnostic tool and the fact that I didn't get any relief just indicated that the nerves themselves were not the part of my nervous system sending the rogue pain signals to my brain.  I don't know if my doctor will agree, but it certainly sounded plausible and made me feel better.  

He also talked more about finding the right level of activity - enough to distract my brain from the pain, but not so much that it aggravates the pain.  For instance, he started me on the treadmill at a speedy...1 mph.  Yes, you read that correctly.  After a few minutes, he asked me if it felt any better and I said it wasn't better, but it wasn't any worse than when I was sitting a few minutes earlier.  Wrong answer.  He slowed it down to .7 mph.  (I wasn't sure a treadmill could even be set that low.)  He said if he does his job correctly and finds the right level of activity, I should actually feel better when I am doing the exercises than when I am not moving.  And he was right.  I'm not going to win any races at .7 mph, but it did feel better at that speed.  

He then shamed me into resting a few times during the treadmill exercise.  Apparently he has me figured out pretty well, because he said he could tell by looking at me that I felt guilty about stopping to rest.  He reminded me (once again) that I was working to my body's current capacity and that I was not doing myself any favors by trying to exceed my limits.  He may be getting tired of reminding me, but he's certainly being a good sport about it.  

In addition to the treadmill, I spent 8 minutes on the exercise bike (at a speed so low it did not even trigger the automatic start) and did mirror therapy.  Now that I am back on a regular PT schedule, maybe I will start to see some improvement.  Hope springs eternal.

My speed was not any better in the car today than it was on the treadmill or exercise bike.  Due to some sort of utility work, the road between work and home was nearly at a standstill this afternoon.  I'm no math genius, but 39 minutes to drive 3.2 miles doesn't seem like a very good average to me.  Apparently I was not destined to get anywhere fast today.  Another lesson in patience.

As a little reward for playing along with me every day, here is the long-promised picture of me in the harness on the treadmill today.  If you squint just right, it looks like I'm moving faster than .7 mph.  At least, I hope it does.