A New Kind of Therapy

So many therapies. 

When I first had the prostate cryoablation in April, everyone in the medical profession seemed to be calling it "cryotherapy" (probably because it sounds less invasive.) Next came "chemotherapy", which was a gentle way of saying, "We're going to poison you, repeatedly, for months, in order to try to poison the cancer in the process." I'm also undergoing some "hormone therapy" by means of the testosterone inhibitors and blockers that I'll probably be taking for the rest of my life. 

Now I'm on to a different kind of therapy.

On Wednesday, I had my first physical therapy appointment. Originally, they weren't going to be able to get me in until some time in January, but they called on Monday and asked if I could start on Wednesday. I was keen to start as soon as possible, but rather apprehensive about it, too.

Between my lack of physical activity this year and the abuse my body has taken from both the cancer and it's treatment, I am currently in the worst shape in my life. For example, when I need to lift up a leg to put a shoe on or get into a car, I have been using my hand/arm to reach down and help lift it. For whatever reason(s) my lower body has fallen much more out of shape than my upper body, which was confirmed at this first PT appointment. 

Part of the appointment was diagnostic. They had my medical records, so we talked about the weaknesses I'm experiencing and what some of my goals were for PT. I came up with such lofty goals as "be able to stay balanced again" and "be able to hike a mile in the woods again." My therapist then ran some tests of balance, resistance, stamina, etc. The simple resistance tests made it clear that, while I did still have some upper body strength, my lower body was pretty wimpy right now. 

I suppose that's not too surprising, considering that the had cancer spread to my lower spine and both hips before we discovered it. I remember looking at my PET PSMA scan from back in March and being blown away by how much cancer "lit up" in my hips in particular.

Anyway, I feel like I'm in good hands with this physical therapist. He seems to know his stuff. He gave me a set of exercises (stretches, really) for me to work on at home and went through each of them with me in the PT room. By the time I got home from the appointment, I was pretty wiped out by everything we had done, so that was the only set of exercises I did that day. 

I have managed to go through at least one set of each of the exercises on each of the days since. My therapist wants me to do two sets, though, one in the morning and one later in the day. So far I haven't managed it, partially due to how I feel and partially just due to stuff we've got on the calendar. I'm determined to get into it, though. It's the only way I'm ever getting back to hiking, biking, and kayaking.

With that, then, I'm off to do my PT exercises for today!