Have I mentioned that I love being a physical therapist?
Not only do I have a pretty killer knowledge of the human body and how it works, I love that as a profession we can do so many different things to help people. I also love that when I am broken, I can turn to my coworkers to fix me.
I can teach someone who's had a stroke to walk again, and rehab someone from a surgery or illness.
When my back is out of alignment, I can count on getting it fixed at work. It also comes in handy to be able to provide my family members and friends a quick fix.
When I have a new running pain, I can usually trouble shoot my way through it with some help from a coworker. Last winter we did ultrasound and kinesiotaping to my shin to help with knee pain (opposite knee, go figure).
And this morning, when I woke up at 3:30am and the world was spinning, I knew I had to get to work to get fixed. It was Vertigo.
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How could I tell? I've never had it before, but the room was spinning like crazy and was positional with head movements like rolling, especially to the right side. All those signs I learned to watch for in other people during PT school, I was unfortunately experiencing. I tossed and turned much of the night, knowing I had a 6 mile run planned for the morning. Finally, at 5am I woke Kevin up to get me a puke bucket.
After getting up, I felt a little better. I managed to shower, eat breakfast, and get ready for work. Normally, I would stay home, but a few things were dragging me in. Every thursday, I have Springfield College PT students that I have to organize their learning experience, I also had a home evaluation for a patient in the afternoon, and thoughts that my coworker may be able to fix me, dragged me in.
She did her work, treating me with the Eply Maneuver. I vomited. The room spun. I wanted to curl up and die. I vomited some more. Thank goodness hospitals have those nice pink basins perfect for getting sick in. The third time doing the maneuver, I felt significantly less dizzy. I did still feel incredibly nauseous, probably due to the vomiting. I went home, and have been sleeping on/off since.
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How lucky am I that this stuff is normal to me. If I worked in a business office, or at the mall, I'd probably have no idea what to do with BPPV. I am so thankful that I'm in the business of fixing people. Not only do I get to help so many people, which is amazing, but it also helps me to get the help I need. Thanks Springfield College!
Needless to say, I missed that 6 miler this morning...
Wish me luck on banishing the dizzys!
Related Post:
BPPV
vertigo
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