PT & OT

July 1, 2022 - Every weekday, I engage in both physical therapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT) here at the physical rehabilitation facility, where I have been living. PT involves strengthening the lower body, specifically the legs, by riding a stationary bicycle and by walking with and without a walker. OT involves strengthening the upper body so that one can regain the ability to take care of oneself, specifically dressing, putting on shoes, using the toilet, brushing teeth, etc. This involves strengthening the arms. OT also involves being able to sit up for a while, which is extremely difficult for me.

This afternoon, I engaged in PT, and then OT. For PT, I was only able to walk about 75 feet with a walker. I then felt weakness in my legs and lightheaded, and I was sweating quite a bit. For OT, I struggled through several arm exercises while lying in my bed using two one-pound weights (photo) and one two-and-a-half-pound weight.

While I do not have either therapy on Saturdays and Sundays, I do attempt to exercise by myself in bed on those days.

Why I Am In Physical Rehabilitation

Prior to arriving at my rehab facility on June 3, 2022, I was in the hospital since May 13, 2022, enduring and recovering from two (more) surgeries in May 2022.

I had quadruple coronary artery bypass surgery on March 9, 2022, and two plastic reconstructive surgeries in/on my chest in May 2022. For my surgery on May 19, 2022, my plastic reconstructive surgeon removed metal sternal plates from within my chest due to an infection. For my surgery on May 25, 2022, he cleaned out the remaining infection from within my chest, and he partially closed my chest by first clipping off the tips of my ribs and then by reattaching my chest muscle flaps to my body.

My surgeon used seven spaced-out sutures to close the eight-inch-long, vertical incision in my chest initiated by my open-heart surgery in March 2022 and made worse by my two subsequent surgeries in May 2022, leaving me with seven deep holes in my chest to heal. My sutures and my wound vacuum, which was sucking discharge and infected blood through the seven holes in my chest, were removed on June 20, 2022.

While the wounds in my chest are healing well, I am still struggling to regain my strength.

(My occupational therapist took this photo.)