Fast forward to this morning. I woke up at about 4:30 this morning, very aware that my foot felt worse than it usually does in the morning. Uh, oh. If it's already at an 8 before I get out of bed, things don't bode well for the day, which includes a full work day, PT, and a two-hour choir rehearsal. I gave myself a pep talk and got up to face the unknown.
The morning was rough. It was still quite cold and not only was the pain worse, but the color and swelling had returned. I started dreading PT and promised myself I would skip rehearsal. But then, when I left work to go to PT, something strange happened. I walked outside and the sun was out for the first time in several days. And it was 25 degrees warmer than it had been in the morning! I got into my car, which was warm from the afternoon sun, and could already feel the change in my foot.
By the time I got to my PT appointment, the color was much better and the swelling was down. I let my PT know that I'd overdone it last time and had been in a lot of pain in the morning, but that I was feeling better. We focused on some "gating" exercises, which are not physically demanding, but require you to multitask. The exercises are intended to refocus your brain away from the pain messages. For instance, in one of the exercises, I bounced a weighted ball into a small trampoline so that it bounced back to me and I had to catch it, while trying to keep all my core muscles tightened and answering random questions posed by my PT. Doesn't sound that difficult, you say? Well, you aren't the one who accidentally bounced a weighted ball into your gut while trying to multitask.
After PT, I was feeling well enough that I decided I could make it to rehearsal after all. I'm ending the day in better shape than I started it, somewhere in the 6.5-7 range. It's great to feel better at the end of the day, but also a little disconcerting. (At least, it would be if I were a control freak. Which I'm not.)
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