Physical Therapy

I took husband to see a Physical Therapist yesterday. Am I glad we went. She examined him, put a Gait Belt on him, walked around a track, conferred with another specialist, then, came to talk to me.

She told me that his toes are curling inward, the ankles do not move anymore. The knees, when he attempts to walk, have spastic movements, then lock. She said the reason for all the falling down is that his toes don't lay flat, the ankles are locked up and the knees are very spastic, so, he falls. When he tries to bend his knees, they become spastic.

She wants him to see an Orthotist and, together, they will devise a plan to aid in his walking, for now. She did suggest leg braces to wear during the day. She said they would be most helpful.

It's a good thing Susie (Tyler's fiance) works there. Otherwise the waiting list to get in to see a Physical Therapist is 6 months. We got in in 1 month. Susie pulled some strings, that's for sure. The Physical Therapist laughed about that, said yes, it pays to know people, but, she said, husband's condition warranted him to be seen ASAP.

The thought of braces makes sense. She said they use them for people with Cerebral Palsy alot. Husband has some of the same issues as someone affected with CP. The only difference is, his condition continues to get worse.

When the other specialist was examining husband, she was asking him to do the simpliest movements. "The look" is back, so he didn't understand what she was saying. Then Debbie (our PT) whispered and said, "Frontal Lobe Dementia, talk to the wife". Guess it dawned on her there was something wrong, she just didn't know what.

On the way home all he talked about was how they were going to "cure" him. Didn't see that one coming. My brain screamed "WHAT?", while my heart broke. When we got home, Tish had called, so I called her back. He wanted me to tell her that they had found a "cure" for his walking, that he was going to get braces and everything is going to be fine now. Of course I didn't.

Last night, as I got into bed he started in talking about it again. What do you say? How do you react? Good thing it was dark, didn't want him to see my face. So, I did what I thought was right and agreed with him. What's it going to hurt? If he wants to think that, then so be it. If that makes him happy, I can go along with it. Let them "cure" him, I thought.

Today will be a good day, as husband thinks he's been "cured". And I will go along with that. He's smiling today and playing with the dogs.