Page 5 of Blinded
Sandra was delighted with the way Dr. Lewis’ workout was going today. She had wondered about letting him skip the warmup, but it seemed that he was ready for more advanced work. He was doing an excellent job with the heel and toe walking. If he kept following instructions and didn’t push himself too hard, they could do more than step-downs today. It was a balancing act to give clients enough challenge without pushing them too far. The goal was for them to succeed and feel confident in their progress, neither going too fast nor too slow.
“Okay. Let’s try some simple step downs. Since you’re doing so well without the crutches, I’ll hold on to them for now. I don’t know if you’re ready to do without completely, but you can probably cut back on your use of them now.” She moved to the aerobic step platform she’d put down at the room’s entrance when she came in. “Try to walk normally over here. We’ll use this to stand in for stairs for the moment. Remember, you don’t want to limp.”
Dr. Lewis came straight to her and Sandra analyzed his gait. He was favoring his left side without the crutches for stability. They’d have to work more on that, but for a first day it was acceptable.
“Holding onto the wall, I’d like you to go up one step, right leg first and then follow with your left.” The doctor moved into position without difficulty. “Good. Now move forward and step down, leading with your left leg. We have a saying in PT. ‘The good go to heaven and the bad go to hell.’ This means when going up, you start with your stronger leg and when going down, you start with the weaker one.”
Lewis chuckled a bit at the metaphor, but stepped down smoothly.
“Now you get to turn around and do it again. Remember, right leg up first, left leg down first.” She jumped forward when he wobbled on the step down. She got to him in time to save him from falling.
“Sorry.”
Sandra inhaled his cool and spicy scent. For a moment her own balance faltered. His scent was masculine but not overpowering and she liked it. “That’s okay,” she said as she saw him regain his balance. “Try your weight on your left leg again.” Once he was stable, she let go and had him step up and then down again. This time he was prepared and didn’t stumble. “Excellent. I want you to do that ten times.”
He followed her instructions to the letter and didn’t complain of boredom when after the ten reps she handed him the crutches and had him switch, stepping up on the left leg and down on the right.
The first step went smoothly. “Good job. Can you do ten of those?”
He took it as a challenge and kept going, although he was breathing hard by the tenth step down. “What’s next?”
“Are you sure you’re up for more?”
“Absolutely. I can feel this helping. Even with the crutches.”
“Okay, one more exercise then. Step up and turn sideways so you can step down with your left leg. Use your right leg to do most of the work here. Bend the leg as you go down. Keep your body straight.” The doctor followed her instructions carefully and stepped down. “Now back up, again use the muscles in your right leg.”
That went smoothly, but his right leg was the stronger one at this point.
“Excellent. How do you feel?”
“Like I’m making progress. Can I start using the stairs?”
“Not just yet. Turn and try it with your left leg. Stick to these exercises for a couple of days. I want you to do them twice a day minimum, three if you’re feeling strong enough. Two sets of ten reps each leg, each time. Friday we’ll add another exercise to it and you should be able to manage the steps next week, if you’re as determined as I think you are. When is your next follow-up with Dr. Owens?”
“Not for another two weeks.”
“Okay. We can work with that. I think the doctor will be impressed with your progress.” She smiled, genuinely pleased with his progress that day.
“So what’s next?”
“Are you sure you’re up for more today? You’ve already done a lot.” Maybe he wasn’t so bad as a patient. He was in good shape and when he wasn’t challenging her, he was quick to learn and eager to do the work.
“I’m good for a while longer. Let’s keep going.”
“Okay, you asked for it.” As if she’d summoned the asshole in him with her thoughts, he proved to be difficult when she introduced the next exercise. She walked over to her bag and retrieved a resistance band. “Have you ever worked with these?”
He wrinkled his nose. “Once. I didn’t like it at all.”
“Well, you’re going to get to know it now, whether you like it or not. The next exercise is called the side walk. I’ll demonstrate.” She stepped into the exercise band and pulled it up over her knees. Then she took several steps to her left and then several back. She took the band off and handed it to him. “You try.”
He took the band like it was toxic, but he sat down and pulled it up over his knees. Then he stood up and started going to his right. He took three steps and stopped. “This is stupid.”
“You’re working to strengthen your quads and the other muscles in your thighs. Resistance bands are a great help at this point in your therapy.”
“I can do my thigh muscles on the universal machine.”
“The machine has its place, yes, but this is more effective at working the entire muscle grouping at once.” Sandra ground her teeth as she struggled to hold her temper. “Try stepping to the left now.”
