As
of today, I’ve been working with physical therapy for nearly 2 months. My left
arm is still limited in motion and flexibility but given where I was when this
process started, I’m quite happy with the progress I’ve made so far. And this physical therapy has had a rather
fortunate side effect: I’ve lost weight.
A
lot of my therapy involves a lot of activity in the upper body area. From the
time of my accident in January, I’ve lost 20 pounds. Part of that weight loss
came from not eating. In the days and weeks following my accident and surgery,
I didn’t have much of an appetite. I wasn’t getting any exercise; I spent a lot
of time sleeping. And when I did get hungry, it didn’t take as much to get me
full.
Then
the physical therapy began and I began to work my upper body while doing
various arm lifts and stretches.
I’m
hardly a health nut but I have tried to make other changes where I can. I’ve
cut way back on tea and soda. If I get a hamburger at the cafeteria grill at
work, I say ‘no’ to the cheese. Just little things to help keep the momentum
going. But I need to be careful that I don’t embarrass myself.
The
other day, I was in the elevator at work; the door has a reflective surface and
I noticed I could see my belt buckle. I was wearing a sweater vest which should
be covering that up. Uh oh! Did I grab
an old vest that was too small? Then I noticed something else: the crotch of my
jeans was sagging towards my knees. My pants were falling off?!
No,
I was not alone on the elevator. Thankfully, my pants were not completely sliding
off and the other people got off on a floor before mine. As soon as I was
alone, I hitched up my jeans and tightened my belt by another notch. Whew!
It’s
not a super-miraculous weight loss. As my daughter so kindly put it, I’ve gone
from expecting triplets to expecting only twins.
Still,
from the pain and trouble from my injury, surgery and recovery, it appears I have
found a silver lining.
Until
next time, remember to be good to one another.
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