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I was about 15 minutes late for my 8:45 appointment with Dr. Feelbetternow this morning, but it didn't matter - he was about 2 hours behind himself. Little Nursette and I sat in the waiting room /exam room making what was akward small talk for me. I'm not much of a conversationalist on a good day, much less when I don't feel well. Little Nursette was still just as cute and sweet as she can be, but eventually the waiting got on her nerves too. She had other business she needed to tend to.
(It was kinda funny that Nursette didn't see me come in the building, and called Mother to see if I'd left yet. Mother's got a great personality and she loves to talk, so I'm sure Nursette got an ear full. Anyway, I was sitting there in the waiting room and my cell phone rang - an unusual occurrence for me. A little voice said, "Ms amx?" Turns out she was at the other end of the huge waiting room.)
Finally Dr. Feelbetternow came in the exam room and released me back to work. Short and sweet, and I thanked him for taking care of me, etc. As we were leaving Nursette told me to call her if I had any recurring problems with my shoulder. I thought that was wonderful, because as I had already told her:
I'll never subject myself to this kind of ordeal again. This particular Comp carrier and it's Orthopedist labeled me as crook from the beginning. The Claims Adjuster tried to trick me into going back to work when I wasn't able - while they got the Panel together. The Claims Adjuster cheated me out of any kind of compensation during that time. Etc., Etc., Etc.
And so it's wonderful to know I can call Little Nursette and skip all that insult and humiliation.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Post 30
Post 37
My Truckalogue
I called Little Nursette yesterday to tell her about being sick. Told her I was worried about what Workers Comp would think about my not going to PT this week. In a nutshell, she said it was probably not a good idea to spread whatever I've got to the people at PT; and it was more important for me to be well enough to go back to work when Dr. Feelbetternow releases me next Tuesday. At least that's the impression I got from her.
She suggested I try to see my own doctor - do I have the flu?; and said she'd contact all those who needed to be contacted. She ended up saying it would be ok - the thing I was listening for. It's important to me for everybody to know I'm not trying to rip anybody off. I just feel too rotten to do much of anything - even here at the house.
My Truckalogue
I called Little Nursette yesterday to tell her about being sick. Told her I was worried about what Workers Comp would think about my not going to PT this week. In a nutshell, she said it was probably not a good idea to spread whatever I've got to the people at PT; and it was more important for me to be well enough to go back to work when Dr. Feelbetternow releases me next Tuesday. At least that's the impression I got from her.
She suggested I try to see my own doctor - do I have the flu?; and said she'd contact all those who needed to be contacted. She ended up saying it would be ok - the thing I was listening for. It's important to me for everybody to know I'm not trying to rip anybody off. I just feel too rotten to do much of anything - even here at the house.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Post 29
Post 34
My Truckalogue
The first thing I do at PT is get on a machine kinda sorta like this one:
The machine I use has an adjustable seat built in - a big piece of equipment. I hand pedal forward for 5 minutes, then backwards for 5 minutes.
Then I do two kinds of exercises with the pulley deal - 30 of each so far:
Then I go to the giant rubber bands:
There are 4 types of exercises I do here - I try for 30 each. On the first two types, I'm facing the wall where the band's anchored. First I pull the band towards me, bending my elbow so that my forearm is perpendicular to my body. Then I pull the band down to my side, keeping my arm straight. I can do 30 of each of these with only a little discomfort.
In another type of exercise I stand sideways - like the girl in the picture - and pull the band out while keeping my elbow to my side. 30 of these is an extraordinary effort. The muscles in my upper arm eventually feel like they're gonna burst into flames from the inside - somewhere close to the bone.
And then I face the other way and do just what I did above. Same results. Just barely made 30 today.
I need to point out that the girls don't want me to aggrivate the injury, and don't push me to do 30 of these (or any other exercise). But I'm a firm believer in "no pain, no gain." In my mind, that burn means I'm accomplishing something.
I do several other types of exercises with various equipment, but another one that hurts is this one:
All I do is lift the weight from the table to where she has it - not very far. But I had to quit at 24 today.
I uploaded a couple of other pics to my Photobucket account, but I'll post them the next time I talk about PT. It's 8:30pm now, and I want to wrap this up. Gotta go to Dothan and back tomorrow....
In other news, I took Mother to get her drivers license renewed today.
And that just about covers today, I think.
My Truckalogue
The first thing I do at PT is get on a machine kinda sorta like this one:
The machine I use has an adjustable seat built in - a big piece of equipment. I hand pedal forward for 5 minutes, then backwards for 5 minutes.
Then I do two kinds of exercises with the pulley deal - 30 of each so far:
Then I go to the giant rubber bands:
There are 4 types of exercises I do here - I try for 30 each. On the first two types, I'm facing the wall where the band's anchored. First I pull the band towards me, bending my elbow so that my forearm is perpendicular to my body. Then I pull the band down to my side, keeping my arm straight. I can do 30 of each of these with only a little discomfort.
In another type of exercise I stand sideways - like the girl in the picture - and pull the band out while keeping my elbow to my side. 30 of these is an extraordinary effort. The muscles in my upper arm eventually feel like they're gonna burst into flames from the inside - somewhere close to the bone.
And then I face the other way and do just what I did above. Same results. Just barely made 30 today.
I need to point out that the girls don't want me to aggrivate the injury, and don't push me to do 30 of these (or any other exercise). But I'm a firm believer in "no pain, no gain." In my mind, that burn means I'm accomplishing something.
I do several other types of exercises with various equipment, but another one that hurts is this one:
All I do is lift the weight from the table to where she has it - not very far. But I had to quit at 24 today.
I uploaded a couple of other pics to my Photobucket account, but I'll post them the next time I talk about PT. It's 8:30pm now, and I want to wrap this up. Gotta go to Dothan and back tomorrow....
In other news, I took Mother to get her drivers license renewed today.
And that just about covers today, I think.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Post 28
Post 33
My Truckalogue
I was beginning to think Nursette wasn't gonna show up, but Dr. Feelbetternow was running behind anyway, so it didn't matter. I had already been taken to an examining room when she got there. I gotta say "Little Nursette" fits her more and more. She's fun to be around, and will laugh with you at the silliest things. Very personable.
I was sitting in a chair with my feet on the ... roller legs? of his stool when he walked in. We shook hands, but it didn't occur to me let him have his stool back. Or maybe he just wanted to sit on the exam table.
Anyway, he asked how my shoulder was, etc. etc. etc. and asked if I was ready to go back out. I told him that I'd really like to finish out the 4th week of physical therapy - that tomorrow's session would complete 3 weeks. And I told him, "The first couple of visits we just did dinky little stuff (everybody thought that was real funny), but now we're getting into things that I think are really making a difference." He said, "I have no problem with that...." And I'm supposed to see him again on 3/3/09.
So that means I'll be able to finish what he prescribed in the first place, and take care of personal matters at hand. Is God good or what! I really prayed for guidance on this one - what to do about everything.
My Truckalogue
I was beginning to think Nursette wasn't gonna show up, but Dr. Feelbetternow was running behind anyway, so it didn't matter. I had already been taken to an examining room when she got there. I gotta say "Little Nursette" fits her more and more. She's fun to be around, and will laugh with you at the silliest things. Very personable.
I was sitting in a chair with my feet on the ... roller legs? of his stool when he walked in. We shook hands, but it didn't occur to me let him have his stool back. Or maybe he just wanted to sit on the exam table.
Anyway, he asked how my shoulder was, etc. etc. etc. and asked if I was ready to go back out. I told him that I'd really like to finish out the 4th week of physical therapy - that tomorrow's session would complete 3 weeks. And I told him, "The first couple of visits we just did dinky little stuff (everybody thought that was real funny), but now we're getting into things that I think are really making a difference." He said, "I have no problem with that...." And I'm supposed to see him again on 3/3/09.
So that means I'll be able to finish what he prescribed in the first place, and take care of personal matters at hand. Is God good or what! I really prayed for guidance on this one - what to do about everything.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Post 27
Post 30
My Truckalogue
Each visit to PT gets more intense. The exercises are getting harder, and now I feel like we're really getting somewhere. I told Carrie, the therapist, that I wanted to do the whole 4 weeks that Dr. Feelbetternow had prescribed, because.... She finished the sentence for me - "You want to be 100% when you go back to work."
Little Nursette had mentioned something about doing it in 3 weeks. She doesn't have the slightest idea how strenuous my job is, or how much I need this therapy. If I don't get it right now, I never will.
Source Even when the components are not "frozen" by accumulated grit or excessive force applied in locking the apparatus, in excess of 120 pounds of force is often necessary to open the fifth wheel, therefore, a degree of physical prowess is required to operate the device.
I was looking for confirmation of the force necessary to pull the 5th wheel open, and stumbled across this: JOB DESCRIPTION: JOB TITLE Truck Driver III: JOB CLASSIFICATION: Truck Driver III: DOT TITLE Truck Driver, Heavy.
15 pounds. Yeah, right.
Source
So it's 60 pounds just for a lightweight 5th wheel - like for towing a camper with a pickup truck.
Nursette called this afternoon to confirm our appointment with Dr. Feelbetternow on the 18th. So it's the 18th instead of the 19th??? At 9:30AM. Well.
My Truckalogue
Each visit to PT gets more intense. The exercises are getting harder, and now I feel like we're really getting somewhere. I told Carrie, the therapist, that I wanted to do the whole 4 weeks that Dr. Feelbetternow had prescribed, because.... She finished the sentence for me - "You want to be 100% when you go back to work."
Little Nursette had mentioned something about doing it in 3 weeks. She doesn't have the slightest idea how strenuous my job is, or how much I need this therapy. If I don't get it right now, I never will.
Source Even when the components are not "frozen" by accumulated grit or excessive force applied in locking the apparatus, in excess of 120 pounds of force is often necessary to open the fifth wheel, therefore, a degree of physical prowess is required to operate the device.
I was looking for confirmation of the force necessary to pull the 5th wheel open, and stumbled across this: JOB DESCRIPTION: JOB TITLE Truck Driver III: JOB CLASSIFICATION: Truck Driver III: DOT TITLE Truck Driver, Heavy.
The truck driver must push/pull 15 pounds of force while inserting and removing the fifth wheel pin. The employee may have to pull with a force of 20 pounds on an occasional basis for 3 minutes at a time for up to 1 hour total per shift while pulling the fuel hose while performing fueling duties. On a rare occasion the employee may have to open or close the hood of a truck with requires 40 pounds of push/pull force
15 pounds. Yeah, right.
Source
... a spring may be utilized that requires less pulling force to be applied to release handle 86. As a result, the pull force required to release the lock may be reduced to as low as 30 pounds, which is half that required for conventional release handles.
So it's 60 pounds just for a lightweight 5th wheel - like for towing a camper with a pickup truck.
Nursette called this afternoon to confirm our appointment with Dr. Feelbetternow on the 18th. So it's the 18th instead of the 19th??? At 9:30AM. Well.
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