Getting There is Half the Fun

I went to Aqua again this morning and to therapy in the afternoon. In therapy, the intern worked on the capsule a bit, then we worked on straightening again, to little effect. Paul then brought in a blood pressure cuff, pumped it up, and put it under my leg. When I pressed down we could see the amount of pressure I applied. I got up to six pounds of pressure. Then he used it on the right ("good") leg and I did ten pounds on there. When it got back to the left knee I was pressing about eight, as I recall. Later, at the end of my time there, I got the stim machine on again and was again pressing ten seconds, resting ten seconds, for however long it was set.

Work on the flex showed that I am clearly up to 120 degrees, which compares to 125 degrees on the right leg, and is a functional number. I may not get much past that - but I'd like to.

I then did some step-ups, which were similar to what I do on the stairs outside every day, but which did not require that I use my left leg entirely to raise my right leg. I could let my right leg do part of the work, spring off some. The intern noticed that I was working on perfecting the move, that I was actually "enjoying" it. I guess I was. I then did leg extensions, using a machine, and leg curls on another. All strengthening work. From there to the bike for 15 minutes, then some calf stretches, and finally the stim machine.

I have come to expect a couple of things from therapy: one is at least a portion of the time I will be dealing with fairly intense pain. Another is I expect to be corrected on form and alignment. I didn't get as much pain this time and I was focusing on alignment myself so perhaps I was doing a decent job. In any case, I have to take full responsibility for form and alignment all the time now. I do not want to slip. I find myself looking for my reflection when I can to see if I am doing things correctly.  More and more it's on me to do this right.

I honestly don't look forward to being set entirely free. I believe I have three more weeks with Paul and that's going to be that. However, I can extend the work on my own if I learn what I can do at the gym. I really want to have a good plan for afterwards, working with Clara at the gym.  I have not had a chance to discuss this with Paul, but I started to bring it up with his intern. I'll try to remember to bring it up at the start of the next session.