Skiing in Texas

Well, I am getting down to the last bit of my Physical Therapy. It has been rough and sometimes nonexistent due to weather (and last week being deathly ill), but my ankle has gotten better. Even though it is towards the end, I still had some new exercises. Jeff is starting to make my ankle stronger.

I did most of the same exercises that I'm used to doing when I'm there. I was even told to get on the big machine to connect the dots. I didn't break 80%, but I did more without using the handles for stability. Even when the thing was unhinged, I tried to only use the handles in an emergency. My highest score on that one was 63% (not bad). Afterwards, Jeff asked me if I have ever skied (hence the name of this post). I said that I had and then he showed me this contraption that I would stand on and simulate skiing. At first, I couldn't get it to work correctly. Jeff's exact words were, "It's not easy going slowly." Yeah, yeah, yeah. Finally after a quick demo and trusting my ankle, I started going. Man, was that a workout on its' own. My thighs were burning when I was done. Jeff asked me if my ankle hurt, but it really didn't.

Then, he took me over to this net thing and handed me a 2 lb medicine ball. I often wondered what this net thing was used for in physical therapy. I kept picturing people jumping on it and then riccocheting backwards (as an advanced move, of course). I was wrong. I had to stand on my bad ankle only and then throw the ball at the net. Then, I would catch the ball. At first, it was easy and I was just chunking that ball like it was nothing. After awhile, my ankle and foot really started to hurt. I haven't put that much weight on it in a long time. Jeff took me off and told me that I still have issues with weight on my ankle, but that is a good start. He took me over to get my compression therapy. I have learned that I'm sadistic; I guess I like pain, because I look forward to this darn thing. It hurts, but it feels so good. The machine didn't work quite right and I missed on 4 minutes. Oh well.

The good news is that Jeff thinks I can start to test out running on our next visit on Wednesday. WEEEEEEE! He told me to bring my tennis shoes. Man, I hope this works. I miss running and well, wearing regular shoes.