Episode 135 - My Physical Therapist Story (year 2010)

When I hurt my neck in exercise class, I go to physical therapy for six weeks. The therapist and I begin to chat, and he shares with me a very interesting story.

Music – "Learn to Fly" by Josh Woodward. Free download: https://www.joshwoodward.com/ 

Episode Transcript

(00:07):
Hi, this is Debbie. Thanks so much for listening to
my podcast, Deb's Memorable Moments, where you'll hear
original short stories that eachtell a memory of mine.
To the best of my recollection, I wrote them all.
I read them all. I live them all.
Let's get started. I hurt my neck during exercise

(00:31):
class and spend six weeks in physical therapy.
The therapist and I have a very interesting conversation.
This is the story. I call it my physical therapist
story. Here we go, my physical
therapist story. I love to exercise and I do it

(00:54):
daily. Not only does it make me feel
strong, it keeps me feeling happy.
So I'm very upset when I hurt myneck during one of my strength
training classes. I was lying on my back, holding
the bar above my head and bending my elbows to bring the
bar a little beyond my forehead when I feel it.

(01:15):
Oh, I say to myself, bring the bar down to my belly and take a
deep breath. When I lift the bar again, I
know I'm done for the evening. I leave class early and go home.
After dinner, I take a shower and go to bed.
Within minutes of lying down, myneck and the pain shooting down

(01:36):
my left arm feel much better andI sleep comfortably for the
night. However, when I wake up in the
morning, the moment I sit up, it's back and I decide to skip
exercise for the day. And to make a Long story short,
this intense pain disappears every night when I lie down, but

(01:58):
comes back every morning when I sit up.
I finally go to the doctor and he refers me for physical
therapy. At my first appointment, the
therapist asks me, on a scale of1 to 10, how much does it hurt
and how much does it impact yourdaily life?
Can I choose a number greater than 10?

(02:19):
I ask. He smiles at me.
Got it, He replies. After a few more questions, he
examines me, demonstrates a few exercises, and then has me lie
down on a table. He then begins to softly massage
my neck and it feels great. At the end of the appointment,

(02:39):
he tells me to come back twice aweek for six weeks and do the
same exercises we did today at home twice a day.
As the weeks go by, he and I begin to chat.
I tell him about my family, thatI'm very happy in my second
marriage, and that I have two sons in college.
My older son is studying math and plans to go on for a PhD.

(03:04):
My younger son is studying acting and hopes to perform for
a living. Those are certainly 2 very
different talents, he says. Yes, I answer.
And to be honest, supporting my younger son's decision is
difficult sometimes. Both my husband and I are very
practical, analytical people. He's an accountant and I work

(03:27):
for an accounting firm. But my son loves acting, and
he's determined to give it a shot.
I can tell you something interesting, the therapist
responds. I come from a very creative
family. My mom's a dancer and my dad's a
professional musician. My sister has a degree in

(03:48):
illustration. I also have some creative
talents, and when I told my parents I wanted to be a
physical therapist, they found it equally difficult to support
my decision. Really.
I ask. Yes, he answers.
They said. Why would you want to spend your
life as a physical therapist when you could spend it creating

(04:10):
beautiful things? I told them I could still create
as a hobby, but that I found physical therapy fascinating.
So here I am. It's been 15 years since my
physical therapy appointments with him, and this conversation
still resonates with me. I guess all parents have doubts
when their children choose pathsso different from the ones they

(04:32):
chose. When I get home, I share my
physical therapist's story with my husband.
He and I both give it a lot of thought and I have to say, it
does make being supportive of myyounger son's career choice a
little easier. If you are enjoying my podcast,
please share it with family and friends, give me a good rating

(04:55):
or review and subscribe. News stories are coming out each
week on Fridays. Next week's story is called
Where Are You? My brother's in town for a
business trip, and he's supposedto meet us for dinner at 5:00.
Except he isn't here. Follow me on Instagram and
Threads at Debs MMM 61. That's Debs MMM as in memorable

(05:19):
moments 61. My husband drew all the
pictures. You can find the link in the
general podcast description. Learn more about me and how the
stories were organized at my website, Debs MMM 61 dot com.
And for those of you without Instagram or threads, you can
also see my husband's drawings there that links in the general

(05:41):
podcast description too. Before I go, I want to thank my
entire family and all my friendsfor being so supportive during
this project. Specifically, though, my husband
for drawing all the pictures from my podcast, my children and
daughter-in-law for encouraging me to continue writing even
though I'd never done it before,and my younger son for taking

(06:04):
the time to teach me how to turnmy stories into audio and
inspiring me to find that creativity I never knew I had.
Story music from my physical therapist story is called Learn
to Fly by Josh Woodward. The superficially edited.
The link is in the podcast description.

(06:25):
Intro Opshow music is by MichaelPerry Junior.
His contact info is at my Instagram account Debs MMM 61.
His link is at my website debsmmm61.com.
Debs Memorable Moments is the production of Creative Debbie,
LLC.