More Gifts from Monica

My back has been hurting me pretty bad for the last couple of weeks.  It doesn't seem to matter what I do, it keeps getting worse and worse.  A combination of a so so bed, being on my feet most of the day, a significant increase in activity over my usual routine (without enough stretching in between) and sitting on furniture that doesn't have quite enough back support for me.  Last week, Monica noticed me stretching and asked if my back was bothering me.  I told her a little about the problem and she offered to provide assistance if I wanted her to.  (Don't forget, Monica is the Physical Therapist at the nursing home.)  Her offer was tempting, but I felt a little awkward so I declined.  She told me that if I changed my mind, not to hesitate to let her know.  Over the course of the next few days, my back got worse and worse, or maybe I just got tired of it hurting so bad.  I was doing everything I knew to improve it including: stretching, icing, 4 advil every 6 hours, and using a pillow as back support whenever I sat down.  Nothing seemed to be working.  Monica had asked me a few different times if I wanted her help, so today I decided I would take her up on it.  

I thought she would just guide me through some stretches and exercises for 20-30 minutes and send me on my way to do them on my own.  Well, no.  She had me meet her at her house.  From there she walked me over to an office that she shares with several doctors and a couple of other physical therapists.  She asked me a few questions about my pain and then proceeded to do a full treatment on my back.  She hooked me up to a machine that sent small pulses of electricity into my back.  A little scary at first but overall pretty cool.  She then used some kind of wand type thing to rub the painful area and then she massaged the area for another 20 minutes or so.  While she was doing it, It felt better, but it wasn't until I got up that I realized how much better it truly was.  

Given how much time and energy she spent on my back, I was relieved that she had me come to her office because this way, I knew I would be paying her for the service which I seemed important to me given the extensiveness of the treatment.  Except...when I tried to pay, she adamantly declined and insisted that it was a gift that she wanted to give me for all the work I had put in at the nursing home.  It was hard not to push back, which I did a little, but she made it clear that she did not want a payment and so I wanted to be gracious in accepting her generous gift.  I told her that I felt so much better, which I truly do and thanked her for her generosity.  Again, I feel so blessed.  

An interesting side note about my back pain.  The second day that I was at the nursing home, I was going around trying to work up enthusiasm among the residents to come do exercises.  I came across a man, Guido, who was not interested and explained how his back hurt too much.  Sor Julia jumped in and told him that I would massage his back before and after the exercises, to which he agreed.  He toddled his way over to the exercise room and I gave him a good back rub.  My efforts proved worthy, as the next day, without much prompting, he joined us again for exercises and another back rub.  By Friday, he told me, as he came in for exercises, that his back felt better and he didn't need a massage that day.  He has been coming to exercises everyday now and has not complained of his back since.  By Tuesday of that 2nd week, my back began to hurt.  As it got worse, I felt myself walking differently upon first standing and was aware that my motion was much like Guido's.  That little, stiff in the lower back shuffle thing that you often see old men do.  Some might say that I ended up with Guido's back ache and that's why he doesn't have it anymore.  If so, I don't mind because it has left him able to come in and do exercises with us everyday and he has become a good friend.  We have had great times together, including a day when we sat for a half hour or more, and just bounced a ball back an forth between us and laughed and enjoyed each other's company.   I'll have to find a way to set what's left of the back ache free somewhere over the gulf of Mexico so that it won't come home with me, but it won't find its way back to Guido.