That's A Wrap...

Written: 3/8/23

I am one week from my next scheduled Ocrevus infusion (March 16, 2023). Has it really been 6 months since my last infusion? Time sure flies by when you are having fun and living life to the fullest. The past few weeks have been the hardest with reoccurring symptoms and leg pains, but I am trying my hardest to be positive. There is quite a bit going on to prepare for the trip to Bend, OR and how I best prepare myself for an infusion. I will definitely be writing a blog post about it all very soon, but this post has another topic of discussion.

Physical Therapy was a success. I had my final and last session a week ago. Since my last post I have hiked up a trail, took a tap class, rode a bike and went for a short jog to the corner of my neighborhood and back. There has been a lot of progress since day one. With my experiments and the knowledge that my PT provided I felt like we broke ground. I was scheduled to have one more session and our goal was to push my body to the limits and do a full workout. With the increase of pain and walking difficulties I felt like I needed to take it easy and let my body rest since we are just a few days out from my infusion. 

In the last few sessions, we have found some more interesting discoveries....

TENS UNIT MUSCLE STIMULATOR:

For an entire session we spent the time experimenting with a TENS machine. We attached the pad to my thigh for a few exercises (step ups. squats and side to side jumps over a line) then switched to the calf to see if there were any different outcomes. The muscle stimulator has several different settings and we tried about 3 to 4 different ones for each part of the leg. The first few just were a constant buzz with select tensions and the 4th one would turn off and then back on every few seconds. I can successfully complete step ups and squats with the muscles being continuously stimulated but once I started jumping, I went into a spasm. The setting with the intermittence muscle contractions we tried just doing the exercises when the machine was activating the muscles which was a success. Once I started to do the exercises continuously then I went into a spasm. My therapist was confused as to why I could do select exercises with the TENS machine and a few exercises not. Many individuals use the units to help activate their muscles after a surgery. I use it to accomplish exercises. In the end we decided that it wasn't worth the expense and not a successful trial so I will not look at using it for future workouts. 

ACE BANDAGE CALF WRAP: 

Our last session I felt like I was on top of the world. We went over what I was able to do over the week and what was still challenging me. After another tap class I found out that doing movements quickly make my leg spasm. I mentioned that when the leg pressure feels uncomfortable, I wear leggings to keep compression on the area. My physical therapist asked if I had tried to wrap my leg. I used to wear a compression calf sleeve on the right leg to keep pressure on the leg but never thought to do the same with the right. The office didn't have an ace bandage, so we improvised with a TheraBand. We wrapped the calf down to the ankle. I instantly felt relief and for once in a long time have felt stable. I was able to jog a little, do 18-inch box jumps, squats and jumps. I had tears of joy rolling down my face. Since that session I have experimented with wrapping my leg and seeing what I can do. I do have to make sure it's not too tight and that I am not cutting off circulation but so far, I find the wrap to be better than wearing my weighted vest that is now set at 36lbs (my body has adjusted to the weight). Wearing the wrap is definitely less noticeable but I am prepared to add a weighted vest to my wardrobe. 

All in all, I feel like the step to attend physical therapy was a positive experience. My physical therapist was honest with me at the start and even at the end. We both felt like we hit a roadblock and that things just didn't seem to be moving forward anymore so we came to an agreement that it was time to close the case. I am thankful for the time and patience of everyone in the physical therapy office. I felt welcomed and supported throughout my entire program. I did shed some tear of joy and of course endured some pain which was more from fatigued muscles like you would experience from doing a workout. I now have a few new things to add to my toolbox of knowledge. 

I still have a long way to go, and I believe that I have some guidance on what to do to be semi productive while working out. Also be preventative when it comes to keeping pain under control. I am still going to look for new ways to strengthen and prevent my spasms. For now, I am going to take a break, rest and prepare for this next week as we battle through recovery after the infusion. 

I chose to NOT GIVE UP!

I AM ME!

I will continue to GROW!

I am STRONG!

I can LIVE my DREAMS!

#RENITASTRONG

I am the INEVITABLE MS DEFYER

WATCH ME!!!