I did eight sessions of PT (2x a week x 4 weeks) not because I had too or even because the therapist thought it would help which he didn't but because social security is on the line. I get a copy of the reports and give them to the Veterans Administrations ENT. In a nutshell that PT ruled out (BPPV) on the first visit and said "it is your time and money and I don't want to waist it so it is up to you if you want to continue". After insurance it cost a little over 500 out of pocket (ouchie). The VA ENT, for some reason, thought it would be a good idea for them to send me to one of their therapists. My first visit was basically routine assessment. I was scheduled for eight sessions but only one per week total of eight weeks. I live in a town of 18 thousand people so needless to say these two therapy offices know each other. I told the VA contractor what the other office had said and done and he kind of scoffed about it. He thought my neck was stiff (which it is more often than not) and maybe loosening the neck would help with the dizzies. I noticed an absence of a biodex machine in the contractors office which concerned me a little. For those that are not aware the biodex can determine a person's LOS or Limits of Stability. Essentially how good or bad your balance is. It can also do exercises to help retrain certain areas of balance systems to help compensate for areas that are failing (in our case the ears). Alright, the therapist said he could do all of that without the fancy machine. Time for the second visit. It was a complete coincidence that on my second visit I happened to be wearing a t-shirt from the other physical therapy place. To be nice I put on a hoodie to try and cover it up. The therapist said he had received my file from the Veterans Administration so he was intending to work on my legs. I started on a bike for 15 minutes as this is a warm up exercise. When I get off the bike he has me standing on a piece of foam and tells me to close my eyes and he would push me around. We do this for a little while then he notices the t-shirt. I guess the zipper on my hoodie came down a little after the bike keep in mind only a little he said hey that is from the other place in town. I moved the zipper up all the way and said yeah I almost forgot about my appointment so I threw this shirt on over it. The therapist gets the attention of another therapist and says he is wearing a t-shirt from the other place. Giggles are heard around the building, I blush a little and we moved on to another exercise. More work on the legs on three different machines, I was an avid bicyclist so my legs are relatively strong. I wouldn't show it in front of the therapist but WOW it was starting to get too me. I was sweating like a whore in church. I really wanted to ditch the hoodie but felt it was in bad taste to wear that t-shirt in their business. The therapist said "hey we got ya to sweating" o yeah did you talk to the VA? Well I talked to my primary care Dr. about something the other day but it wasn't anything about physical therapy. The therapist said they changed the order from eight sessions to five. I was thinking "thank god" I got two down and three to go.
