Day 91 - Half Foam Roller Exercises

Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013 - Week 21

I had a great week of recovery! I found another way to describe what I feel in the ankle. So when you squeeze you arm, that's pretty much how I felt everyday. Then every step I take, it would be an added squeeze to the arm. Just a lot of pressure really is what I feel now. The bruising feeling has narrowed down even more and almost gone. I'd say I have about 10% of this feeling left. My limping is also going away. I am able to get out of bed without stretching now, but it is still a bit stiff. 

It's been a week since my last Physical Therapy session! I came in thinking, this is my last 2 scheduled appointments! I hope I don't get anymore. Again I was 5 minutes early so I stepped on to the Elliptical to warm up. Colleen came to fetch me and went straight to a bed to get my shoes off and jumped right in with my usual survey on how I am doing and feeling. Next I did some of my usual balance exercises and I've clearly improved on standing on just my right foot bearing all of my body weight. I was able to balance and hold my body up longer. Colleen said that I may be able to join in on some balance type classes they hold there. She would decide after my entire session to see how I am managing with these new balancing exercises. I was asked to stand on my right foot alone to do some toe raises. I was not even able to do 1 just last week. This week, I was able to sort of do 10! My bending motion is still stiff on the top of my foot. Next she had me do toe squats and I was able to hold my body up with her supporting my hands. 

One fun new exercise she had me do was the Half Foam Roller exercises. This was all new to me and it was the first time I've seen anything like this. It was so interesting to me. One of the exercises, I placed my heels on it with socks on and did squats. I also stepped on it, flat side under my one foot and held on to a ski stick for support to balance. Then alternated sides I felt the stretch around the ankle and it felt good. This actually relieved a lot of pressure off my heels. It felt good and very comfortable. I liked this one a lot. 

After my entire session, sadly I was still struggling with a bit of balance and needed more leg strengthening exercises. She preferred I continue to see her so I can get more personal 1:1 time. I felt sore after all these exercises and got my bag of ice. So I left and went to the front desk to schedule in 3 more weeks. I wonder what new exercises I will get to try for next week. It was a really fun day today. Colleen was very impressed with my progress and said that I will heal up just fine and will eventually be able to go back to playing Softball if I wanted. I said, probably not haha!

I got home and continued to use my Chinese Medicine (Dit Da Jow) my grandma gave me. I've already used up more then half the bottle. I feel like it has removed the aching for me. I guess it really works!