| Exercise is a four letter word, isn't | | | | mainstream thinking, but at that time |
| it? I know some forms of exercise are. | | | | they were not. He even had his own |
| Let's see, there's leap, jump, lift, | | | | physical therapist in the office. After |
| flex, hike and the most friendly of all, | | | | my second or third trip down to see him, |
| walk. Okay, so it isn't my favorite | | | | he called her in to evaluate me. I was |
| thing to do. I'm not nor have I ever | | | | totally discouraged. I hate to admit my |
| been the athletic type. I'm not lazy. | | | | ignorance, but I didn't see what that |
| I'm just more cerebral. | | | | had to do with me. I was sick. I needed |
| As a nurse, my experiences with physical | | | | more medication. I needed a firm |
| therapy were with those therapists who | | | | diagnosis. I needed someone to relieve |
| came onto the unit to walk about with | | | | me of this burden. I did not need to be |
| the patients who had a fractured hip, or | | | | told to move. I must confess to you that |
| they applied the motion machines to | | | | I can be very stubborn and just didn't |
| those who had total knee replacements or | | | | get this whole PT bit, at all. I |
| generally helped those who were | | | | couldn't imagine how it pertained to me. |
| recovering get back on their feet. | | | | I thought he was just passing me off to |
| After struggling with pain in my sitter, | | | | get rid of me. I know. How stupid can |
| my neck (accompanied by excruciating | | | | you get? |
| headaches) and a few other places, I | | | | The first thing the PT did was to |
| still was unable to get an adequate | | | | explain to me that if I didn't move, my |
| diagnosis. I looked for and found one of | | | | body was going to become even more |
| the best rheumatologists in the country, | | | | misshapen and useless. I'm sure that |
| Dr. Rodney Bluestone. He had treated my | | | | wasn't her word "useless," but that was |
| oldest sister who had psoriatic | | | | the general idea. I was having a great |
| arthritis and she got better. So I | | | | deal of neck pain from the long drive |
| figured he must know what he was doing. | | | | down and felt as if my whole body was |
| His practice was in Beverly Hills, which | | | | twisted from my head down to my always |
| was three hours from where we lived at | | | | painful behind. She directed me over to |
| the time. The trip was gruesome, with | | | | a full-length mirror and had me look at |
| the sit, the ride and the damnable L.A. | | | | myself. I was wearing a slip, and it was |
| traffic. But he was well worth it. His | | | | all too evident that my shoulders were |
| approach was a practical one of | | | | not the same height. Funny, I had never |
| function. I had to keep moving even if | | | | noticed that before. One shoulder was at |
| we didn't have a name for this thing | | | | least two inches higher than the other. |
| that had come to destroy my life. The | | | | Right there before my eyes, I was |
| local internist I had been seeing | | | | becoming that tangled mass of |
| belonged to the old school of joint | | | | protoplasm. It was indeed happening. |
| protection. That was the philosophy | | | | That was my day of conversion. That was |
| which said, "If it hurts, let it rest." | | | | the day I began to embrace physical |
| I began to suspect if I let it rest any | | | | therapy, faithfully following all of my |
| longer, my husband would come home one | | | | PT's recommendations for daily stretches |
| day and find me a tangled mass of | | | | and moderate exercise. I went on and |
| protoplasm! At the time, my arms and | | | | connected with a local physical |
| legs were intertwined, unable to even | | | | therapist, and he followed Dr. |
| make it into the bathroom. I was tired | | | | Bluestone's protocol. |
| of lying down, loathed the constant pain | | | | Over the last 20 years, I have relapsed |
| and felt completely ostracized from | | | | many times, become lazy and let the |
| society. By the time I saw Dr. | | | | whole movement thing slide, only to be |
| Bluestone, I was on my last nerve, | | | | brought back abruptly by the pain and |
| dissolved into tears just talking about | | | | suffering that ignoring my body brings. |
| myself. It's important to note that this | | | | True, it's overused but the old adage is |
| doctor is British, and he has a totally | | | | painfully true, "If you don't use it, |
| different idea about moving the joints. | | | | you lose it. |
| Thankfully, those same ideas are now | | | | |