I know I just posted this morning, but her PT session was too good to put this off.
She worked with a new guy today and he said that his goal was to make her exercises as hard as possible while still being safe. He’s big on functional movements and he knows that mom’s primary goal is to be able to walk more independently. In order to be able to do that, she needs to strengthen everything from her hips on down. What move is good for that? SQUATS!
She must have done 100 squats today (at least). She did a progression, with each set gradually getting harder. She sat facing the mirror and was able to pull herself up with the bar. First set was holding on and being allowed to actually sit in between each rep. Eventually a pillow was added to her seat that she used as a target. Just a quick touch and then right back up. By the time she got to her last two sets, she was holding onto the bar with just two fingers! Keep in mind the therapist was right there with a light touch. Not only in case she got wobbly, but mainly to ensure that she was not leaning to one side. We’re really trying to get her to put more weight through her left side. It’s been easy to favor her left and have her right side do all of the work. That will actually do more harm than good. So the “easy living” days for that left leg are gone. 🙂
She finished her session with some walking. NOT walking with a walker. Her therapist helped her walk in the hall holding on to the railing. I’m a bad judge of distance, but I’d say it was a good 25 feet. She stood up, held onto the railing, and he was in his stool next to her guiding her leg. He was working on her gait and explained that it’s actually a lot easier to take steps when your legs are behind you (just think of a longer stride). When she goes to use that left leg, it’s more of a swing through than having to use her hip flexor to pull it all up. She can use momentum more easily to create a step. Not sure if my explanation makes sense or not, but she got it. So well in fact that she did this twice!
She was quite happy that she was able to walk without a walker for a change. She was able to take a few steps last week but I hope they are able to work this into her sessions each time she’s there. Unfortunately we aren’t planning on ditching her walker anytime soon. Not only does it make her walking around the house easier with us untrained professionals, but the platform actually allows her to do weight bearing on her left side. That is actually so beneficial for the subluxation in her left shoulder. So like it or not, we need to keep it and use it. I’m glad that we are actually given a new way of looking at the benefit of that walker and the platform. I think mom has been looking for any excuse to stop using it, thinking that she just needs to get up and walk. This isn’t a matter of not going through the motions enough. She actually needs to retrain her brain and strengthen her muscles. It’s going to take time, but nothing is out of the realm of possibility for her.