PMR and only PMR

Today is Sunday, June 25, 2023 and it’s going to be a very very short week. With the Eid vacation coming up there will be 6 days of holiday where I won’t be having any appointments whatsoever. I honestly don’t know how I feel about that…part of me is excited to take a break from it all and have little time to relax and unwind, but another part feels like I don’t want to fall back on any of my physical therapy and occupational therapy progress. I will be given a home program to work on for those 6 days from both of my therapists but being with them and doing the exercises there is completely different. It’s definitely more challenging, and in return, more rewarding when they’re pushing me to my maximum potential. Speaking of…I was pushed to a new limit through a new experience with my PT today…she put me in the hydro pool for the first time! There was something so relaxing and therapeutic about being in the water today. Because of the feeling of weightlessness in the pool, I shocked myself when I was able to do some moves I would never be able to perform outside of the water. We spent a total of 30 minutes in the pool, performing back-to-back exercises and my body felt fantastic. When I got out of the pool it was a different story…I could start feeling the effect of the workout on my muscles, plus the whole process of showering and getting dressed again was really tiring. Next up, occupational therapy…we only had around 30 minutes in our session today because pre-swimming, swimming, and then post-swimming took quite a bit of time (and effort!). The 1/2 an hour session was more than I could handle as my energy levels were depleting by the minute…But overall it was a great session spent working on my upper-body strength and endurance. Both my PT and OT told me there’s no homework today and I should just go home and rest. Yay! I heard back regarding my pelvic and abdomen CT Scan that was done last Wednesday. Thankfully everything looks good and there’s nothing to worry about. ألف الحمد لله. My doctor did mention that I do have a slightly fatty liver but they’ve known this from the beginning and they’re monitoring it. She also mentioned if I knew that I had diastasis recti, which I knew I had. To quote Cleveland Clinic, “Diastasis recti is a common condition in pregnant and postpartum people. It occurs when the rectus abdominis muscles (six-pack ab muscles) separate during pregnancy from being stretched. The separation can make a person’s belly stick out or bulge months or years postpartum. It can be repaired with special exercises that help to close the separation.” Months after my last delivery in 2014, I noticed that I may have diastasis recti and when I saw a doctor about it in 2015 he had assured me that my case did not require any surgery and that I just needed to be careful moving forward and be mindful of how I use my abdominals since some movements can worsen it. Fast-forward to today, my doctor recommended someone from the surgical department sees me just to make sure there’s no cause for worry. So you guessed it, one more appointment added to the upcoming list of appointments post-Eid holiday. انشاء الله خير يا رب وماكو الى العافية.اللهم ارزقني الرضى وراحة البال، اللهم لا تكسر لي ظهرًا ولا تصعب لي حاجة ولا تعظم عليّ أمرًا، اللهم لا تحني لي قامة ولا تكشف لي سترًا.