PT, done and gone

March 8, 7PM: I was playing softball. Not good. I hurt my back.

March 9, 3AM: Woke up with severe back and leg pain

March 9, 8AM: I left for the doctor and would be there until 430. Not good. I hurt my back.

"You shouldn't go to China." Tears. Yet rebellion. 'I'll be fine,' I thought, 'I can shake this off' 

March 10, 6AM: My flight for China leaves, I'm still in bed. At this point, I've cried so much that I'm not sure if its my back that hurts worse or my head. I'm not moving well and I'm playing the what if game. 

March 10-14: I stay in bed in Tuscaloosa. I left the house once. It was to get medicine. I was miserable.

March 14 2PM: By the power of God's grace and strength, I flew to Ohio to be at home. I needed someone to take care of me, so home is the best place to be. I also went to see another doc there. 

March 14-19: The pattern stays the same, lots of bed time and not much else. I shift from laying to sitting but that was about it. A little more time out and about, but not much. Still miserable. Alllll I could think of was what everyone was doing in China. It was a time of grieving. 

Then a lot of other things happened...and I got back to Tuscaloosa, and began PT. When I started PT, I was expecting it to be the kind of thing I could go once a week for a few weeks, and do my stretches at home and be done.

Well, after a short exam, no such luck. They wanted to see me three times a week. I was there each time for nearly two hours. It was painful and hard. I was doing things for balance, my back strength, hamstrings, hips, you name it. For the first few weeks, dating back to April, it was hard to tell if I was even getting better. I could argue I was getting worse. The pain was still there and flaring up a lot, so it was frustrating to put in all that work and not see any results. 

Then about a week and half ago, something started to shift. I began to really excel at PT and things became easy there. I was all of the sudden 'good' at the exercises. Its like balance was my gift (which is so far from the truth) and I was doing great! 

Sure I was doing PT to get better, but in my mind, PT had an end goal. China. I leave on May 10. So as I got better I kept praying for this to continue!! And it did.

This week, were my two best sessions. John (my therapist) has been great and feels confident in how I'm doing. He thinks I'm ready to go beat some Chinese students in bball. I'm a little more timid about that, because I don't want to get hurt, but its great to be released.

Thursday was my last time at PT, God willing!! Its a beautiful story really. Who would have ever known that three days before I left for China I would be finishing up healing from the injury that prevented me from going the first time. God's timing far exceeds mine. He is in control and I need his control in my life.

I'm so thankful for the way my back has healed in the last few weeks. Last night i couldn't sleep and had flashbacks to the night I woke up at 3 with pain shooting into my legs. God is good. God is good in all things. God is good even in pain, disappointment, and loss. 

I still have a little ways to go with my back, but I'm done with PT, and tomorrow I'll be gone to China! Blessings