...a P.T. farewell

Pine Street Physical Therapy in Mudville...



about 2 miles from my house...
my afternoon destination on Monday, Weds & Friday...
for about 90 minutes a day for weeks...
[24 sessions = 8 weeks...]

Monday was my last PT session...
and I took along my camera...
so I could memorialize the journey...

when I first arrived each day...
I signed-in, then came back to the "hand room"...
to wash my hands and get prepped for the hot parafin...



first, the assistant wrapped my left hand in coban...
holding down my injured finger...
after I made a fist...
[or as close as I could come to one...]



then I dipped the wrapped hand into the parafin...
5 times....



after the 5th time, my now parafin encased hand...
was wrapped first in plastic wrap...



then swaddled in a towel to sit & wait 10 minutes...
while the warmth loosened all my tendons & muscles...



after 10 minutes of lovely warmth...
off came the cocoon of wax & wrappings...

and then came the "high tech" time...



you can see the ultra sound machine waiting...
but first, in the black case, the ASTYM technique...



the ASTYM [augmented soft tissue mobilization]...
is a method developed for use on scar tissue...
resulting from injury or surgery...
the heavy plastic tools are scraped across the affected areas...
[which have been liberally slathered with cocoa butter...]
causing the breakdown of the scar tissue...
and the regeneration of new soft tissue...
that will aid healing by allowing the body...
to drain away swelling and injured cells...



the hard plastic tools,applied with some pressure...
cause pain for some...
I was lucky...it worked perfectly...
and never hurt at all...

after the first treatment...
the persistent, rigid swelling in my injured finger...
went away... and subsequent treatments helped even more...



after the ASTYM...came my favorite part...



the massage...

although, at first, when my finger was still very stiff...
all the bending & manipulation wasn't fun...
[it really hurt...]
but, eventually, the pain lessened...
and I began to have healing sensations...
[nerve burning & pain in muscles that had been numb]

that's when I knew "it",[the PT...], was working !

after the ASTYM/massage/manipulation, came the ultrasound...



first the assistant would squeeze a glob of goo into my hand...



and then using her "magic wand"...
proceed to massage my finger for 3 minutes on one side...
and then have me turn my hand over...
transferring as much goo as possible...
and spend 3 minutes on the other side...

then it was "playtime"...

[in no particular order since we all had to share our "toys"...]



there was "putty" is several densities...
[different colors were different densities...]



I started with a light violet...
but soon moved to an orangy tan...
which after squeezing and rolling into a snake...
I was to pinch, using my thumb with each finger on my hand...
fortunately, it didn't hurt me as it did some...



then there was the "velcro" checkerboard...



using my thumb with each finger in succession...
I had to pull off all the squares...
and then replace them...
a total of 3 times...

[this could hurt until I got "warmed-up"]

I amused myself by creating geometric designs...



these dowels were my least favorite thing...



I only used the 4 biggest ones...



and while bending my fingers around them...
had to do 15 reps of finger tip curls...

OUCH !!!!



the graduated cylinders could be painful too...
I had to grasp the biggest one...
lift it up & put it on the next spindle...
then stretch my hand out...

then to the next, repeat...

the smaller they got, the more it hurt...

about 9 reps...



the most annoying task was "moving rice"...



I was to grab a handful of rice...
turn my hand over [so as not to spill...]
move it over the empty box...
turn my hand back over...and drop the rice...



at first, I couldn't close my hand very much...
so it took FOREVER to empty the box...
but as I got better...it took no time at all...

that is, unless I didn't get all the ultrasound goo...
or ASTYM cocoa butter wiped-off/rubbed-in...
then it was rice everywhere...
as it stuck to all parts of my hand & fell off at will..

all in all...

P.T. was a very positive experience for me...
I'd like to thank S, the "hand specialist" & her able assistant,V...
who did more to help me heal...
than anyone, including my doctor...
had ever expected...



so today, I "wave" a fond farewell to Pine Street...
thanking all those who helped me...

I also wish the very best & speediest recovery...
to all those who are still seeking relief from pain...
and restored use of their hands & arms...

vaya con Dios...

...ISP -less, in Mudville

yes... I did talk to "tech support"...[in India...]

more than once...and once was more than enough for me...



yes... I unplugged everything...[several times...]
plugging it back in several times...

all this was after I had begun by carefully unpacking the DSL box...
identifying ALL the parts...
READING the instructions carefully...[several times...]



I did encounter a couple of problems...

the phone jack box nearest the computer fell apart...
and needs to be rewired...

I stretched the phone line from the wall phone jack in the kitchen...
plugged in everything...and all the lights lit on the modem...
uhhh... except the "Internet" one...
[tech support said that it should be "on"...
implying some grievous genetic problem on my part as the cause...]

and the program/software reported,"failure"...



so I repeated all the steps with all the same results...
[tech support,"it should be working, ma'm..."]

I have an ADT system hard wired into my phone line...
but that hasn't been a problem before...
[I did have "dial-up"once...]

I also have a Mac...
but all my research on that subject has not indicated a problem...
or a solution...

it has occurred to me as I gain experience on my MacBook Air...
which is running the same OS as my home computer...
that it is different...

my MacBook Air has an Intel chip...
my home Mac has a Mac chip...
so perhaps the new Mac [Intel] chip is required to operate the DSL...

when I get home, I'll try to fool around with my MacBook...
it doesn't use an Ethernet cable...but rather a USB connection...
I think I saw one in the DSL box...my MacBook has 1 USB2 port...
but one is all I need if it works...

that would tell me what I need to add to my 2001, dual processer G4 cpu...
[which worked just fine on broadband, thank you very much...]
I already knew that I needed to add a USB 2 port[it only has USB 1...]
but I don't think that I can add the Intel chip...
and I can't afford to replace a perfectly good, working system...

I'd go back to broadband from Comcast[for $60 p/mo]...
before I could spend a cool $2500 on a new Intel "cpu"...

I need to fix this situation soon...
it's inconvenient & annoying...
not to mention that I'm paying for a service I can't hook up...
and that... is getting old...fast...

hopefully...I'll find a solution...
before I have to resort to this...

...a very busy Saturday

the weather forecast was for triple digit heat...
our first for 2009...and it's only May...

because I don't have the time or energy to do yard work on Sunday...
and because Sundays' forecast was for higher temps...
and I'd waited as long as I could get away with...

I "bit the bullet", put on my gardening clothes...
and went outside around 10 AM...



I knew this was waiting....
[oh, my aching everything...]



and these were "setting" & wouldn't withstand the extreme heat...
unless they were planted, in the ground, properly...
and soon !

but, first...



the "wilderness area" in front of my house needed mowing...
so... I got it done...

feeling encouraged, I went on to fill bird feeders...
[anything to put off the inevitable pain...]



I had needed to move my pole feeder from the soon to be squash bed...
and found a nice soft spot to drive it into...
in a flower bed just south of the garden...
seen here via "zoom" lens from the patio...
accompanied by hollyhocks* from Moms'...
& a spinner I relocated...

[*the hollyhocks were originally red, then dark pink and now, pale pink...]



this bird feeder is in an old plum tree near my bedroom...
it allows Mz Fluff to lounge in her "summer nest"indoors...
but still keep a sharp eye on the birdies outside...
[especially the foul-mouthed bluejay who calls Herself...
all manner of unkind & unpleasant names...]



there is a matching one in the cherry tree...
the sparrows seem to enjoy this one...

after cleaning out the old bird seed, filling the feeders,etc...
I resigned myself to the task at hand...
and started by clearing off the weeds & debris...
then pulling up the hoses from the 3 tomato plots...



one was OK to re-use...
one needed the end cut-off...
as it leaked big time...
and one needed to be completely replaced...



as I had cut it with a shovel...
and been unsuccessful in repairing it...



so after a sweaty 20 minutes burrowing in a corner of the garage...
I found my 50 ft roll of 1/2 inch replacement soaker hose tubing...
and pulled out the storage box of my "drip irrigation" parts...
took apart the old hose ends....[the end clip & the faucet connection...]
and installed them on either end of what I had carefully calculated...
as about half of the 50 feet replacement tubing...



et voila ! a mended hose [from parts on hand...]

unfortunately, this triumph would turn out to be the easy part of the day...



at this point...
I noticed that the beans had already climbed higher...
than my first ball of twine had reached...
and so I ventured into the sun...
to finish the "twining" of the beans...
accomplishing it in about 20 minutes...

then to the dirty, awful job I'd been dreading...

after several hours of sweaty, dirty work...

I had turned over the soil in all 3 beds...
mixed in fertilizer & a heavy 3 cub.foot bag of compost mix ...
[that contained chicken manure & smelled in the hot sun...]
replaced the now mended & tested hoses...
buried them under more planting mix...
and laid new "weedblock" plastic over it all...

by now, it was after 4 PM and most of the direct sun was gone...
so I then cut openings into the weedblock...
and set out the tomato plants...
[according to my master chart...
see below...]



here, looking towards the house...
you see the larger bed that continues into a newer, smaller one...



and here, the smaller one just west of the beans...



here you see the same tomatoes...
looking back towards the back fence...
with the now, completely twined beans beside them...

and how long did all this take ?
I started about 10 AM...
and was done just before 8 PM, Saturday evening...
[you do the math...]

I did take rests and drank about 3 liters of water...
but all in all, it was a l-o-n-g day...



so while the cherry tomatoes show off their new growth...
in front of the last objective in the veggie garden...
the soon to be squash box...



here's my crossed-off planting list [well, almost all done...]
next to my grid of the garden plan*



here's the next project on the grid...
[after I'm recovered from this one...]



the squashes & cukes can't wait much longer...

wish me luck...

...WHY the doctor smiled

[the promised pictures from the last post...]



as you can see, the swelling is gone...
although there will always be a thickening at the joint...
[scar tissue in the cartilage...]



this is as straight as it gets at this point...
too much time with the lateral bands constricted...
it may loosen up, or not...
only time will tell...



when I took this picture...
it wasn't too loose...
sometimes, I can make more of a fist...
but this is a big improvement...



if you look closely on the left of the knuckle...
you can see the beginnings of the scar...
it comes down, perpendicular to the knuckle...
cuts across it...



and then cuts down, perpendicular, again...
creating a large, sideways, elongated "Z"...
across the knuckle...
[it's hard to see unless you make the picture bigger...]

so there you have it...

the next 4-6 months will tell the tale...