Life Lessons From Physical Therapy

If you’ve been reading my column, you know that back in April I had knee surgery. I’m progressing in my recovery, and after nearly two dozen physical therapy sessions, I’ve discovered some PT lessons that apply to life as well. 

The setting where I receive my therapy is a large room filled with various types of exercise machines and equipment, and there are usually several other patients there rehabbing at the same time. I’ve seen numerous people from teens to octogenarians who are coping with a variety of physical impairments from concussions to back pain to regaining movement in an arm after rotator cuff surgery.

One thing we all have in common is a lack of patience. Every new person comes in and says the same thing: How long before I’m back to normal? I want to get better as fast as I can. Patience is a virtue, and I’m hoping the training I’m receiving in it, will result in more of it in life.

It goes without saying that no one likes pain. Sometimes its distressing to watch other patients grimacing as they work to regain motion. But in life we all, at one time or another, must endure pain. Sometimes, you just have to gut things out.

Progress is not linear. Recovery, like life, does not progress in a straight line. Some days we move ahead two space, and some days we move backward, but being persistent and consistent is crucial.

Balance is key to much of life. In therapy, I have learned that you must push yourself, but not so much that you do harm. As my therapist advised, “Do the exercise, but stop right before it causes pain.” We all need to challenge ourselves in life, but we need to be kind to ourselves too.

When one thing goes out of whack, it can cause a cascade of consequences. When my knee was messed up, I subconsciously learned to compensate for it by altering my gait. We are slowly realigning my body and getting the kinks out. This happens in life as well. If you allow something to get out of control, it often leads to other problems. For example, if you spend too much, it can cause financial distress, induce anxiety and impact your future retirement.

Finally, progress sometimes is difficult to assess as it is happening; hindsight is often the best way to evaluate how far we’ve come. It’s only when I think back to those initial therapy sessions and how stiff, swollen and painful my knee was that I can appreciate how much better I am, that I can see my progress. I hope all of us can look back in hindsight and be pleased at how much better we and our lives have become.  

This column originally appeared in the August 2018 issue of Northern Connection magazine.

It's a Major Award!

Hi Readers,

I'm pleased to announce that MOST HIGHLY FAVORED DAUGHTER was a finalist in the Inspirational Fiction category in the 2018 Indie Book Awards.  I've won writing awards before but that was for essays or articles I've written.  I've never had a book honored like this!

I received a medal and a nice tote bag that says I'm a finalist.  Love that swag!

Thanks to all of you who read anything I write. I so enjoy writing, but if there's no readers, it's like shouting into the wind.

To celebrate, I've reduced the digital version of the book to $2.99.  Pick up a copy today, and did you know you can gift people ebooks on Amazon. Share the reading love today!

Happy Mother's Day

Where Was I . . .Being Them

This originally appeared in the May 2018 of Northern Connection magazine.

By Janice Lane Palko

“What is that on your foot?” I was around seven years old when I asked my mother that question. “It’s a callus,” she said. “You’ll have them when you’re older.” No way, I thought. My feet are never going to look like that.

“What’s that thing?” I was around eight years old when I asked my grandmother that question. “It’s a needle threader,” she said. “I can’t see the eye of the needle anymore. You slip this little metal loop through the needle’s eye, and then put the thread though the loop. Then you pull the loop through the eye, and it threads the needle. When you get older and can’t see as well, you’ll need one.” No way, I thought to myself. My eyes are never going to get that bad.

“Oh, my leg,” moaned my great-grandmother as she came down the steps. “What’s wrong with your leg?” I was about 10 when I asked that. “Things wear out when you get older,” she said. “I hope you don’t get knees like mine.” No chance, of that I thought. I’m never getting old.

Never say never.

Flash forward to today where I regularly remove calluses from my heels, and I now use a needle threader. By the time, you read this, I will be home recovering from knee surgery. I tore a meniscus in my left knee seven years ago, and after babying it and enduring pain off and on, an MRI recently revealed that I now have an acute meniscus tear and insufficiency fractures, for which the surgeon plans to perform a subchondroplasty. The procedure entails drilling into my leg bones (yikes!) and injecting them with calcium phosphate, which will then harden and repair my bones.

As I was limping down the stairs the other day after receiving that diagnosis, I felt a stab of pain in my knee. “Oh, my leg,” I reflexively yelled, and then stopped in my tracks as I flashed backward four and half decades and realized that I have now become my great-grandmother. And not only her but my grandmother and my mother.

But then it occurred to me that maybe that is not so bad. My vows to never to turn into them was a revulsion to aging, which I don’t think anyone embraces, and not the people they are and were. My mom, grandmothers, and great-grandmother were all loving, kind and giving–women who would sacrifice anything for their loved ones.

So yeah, even though I don’t like getting older, I’m okay with turning into them because being them is a pretty admirable way to be.

Happy Mother’s Day!