Back at It II

As allyuh know, I found The Shepherd Center for therapy and I never looked back so for my fourth year straight, I went to shepherd this year for 10 sessions of OT and PT. One of the things I like about going to shepherd every year is that I don’t have to repeat my story every time. Rebecca, my OT and I have been working together for 3 of those 4 years, which is why she was able to say/see from jump this year, that my thumb had become an issue. I have actually had 4 PTs but all but one of them is still around in some capacity. The fact that it was a new PT each time hasn’t bothered me because my story/progress notes are in my file and if needed, all they need to do is talk to my old PTs. I actually finished my round of 10 sessions at the end of August, and as always, it was 20 hours well spent.

One of the things that ms takes from us is muscle strength. I’ve told u that my left hand is weak, so weak sometimes that just opening the hand takes everything in me to pull off and even then, it doesn’t open all they way. Now luckily, at least for me, only some muscle groups (that I’m aware of) are affected; the left hand, my hamstrings and my core- ugh! I tell people sometimes, that my core is nonexistent (I know that’s extreme cuz I wouldn’t be able to sit up (not do a sit up eh) stand etc). It’s most annoying and I hate it so, but I have to deal/live with it. Taylor, my PT this year, asked me if I had anything specific that I wanted to work on during our time together and I told her that I’d like to work on my core. She liked nothing better because she is a certified Pilates instructor as well, so we incorporated core work in just about every session.

One of the other reasons that I enjoy going to Shepherd is that I get to “play with/in all the “toys””. This year, I didn’t do that as much but one of the pieces of equipment that Taylor wanted me to use is the “AllCore”. She explained that I would sit in the machine as it rotated/moved and my goal was to remain as upright as I could as it went thru its motions. Unfortunately, the machine was at the main campus of Shepherd rather than the outpatient facility where the MS Institute is housed, so we had to schedule my use in advance and coordinate to meet at the main campus, so I only had the opportunity to use it once. It was unfortunate because with prolonged use, I could definitely envision the long term benefits.

Now doh get me wrong, I know that I can incorporate sit-ups, crunches and whatever other core exercises into my routines when I go gym (and sometimes we do) but those things are no fun. I prefer exercises that don’t feel like exercises – years ago when I was dancing, it was a workout and a half but it never felt like I was working out/exercising because I enjoyed doing it so much; that’s what I’m talking about. Anyhoo, as difficult as it was, I liked my time in the AllCore, doh mind I had to concentrate on so many different things to do it properly(ish) – shoulders down, back straight, lean forward…all the while “engaging my core” to keep form. I think it was the hardest thing I’d done that week! Enjoy a short clip…