 |
Love these two!!
I can never thank them enough for
bringing my life back!!! |
I am addicted to physical
therapy. I totally love it. Never in my life did I imagine I would enjoy
the pain and torture of arm manipulation and strength building as much as I
do.
When the staples came out of
my arm in December, the realization hit hard that my left arm was little more
than a dead weight, and I begrudgingly prepared for a year of rehabilitation to
get my arm back to normal. When we
arrived home in Madryn two months after the accident, it had little movement and demanded
work to be brought back to life.
 |
Sonia and Claudio
with a signed jerseys in the background!
They are loved by ALL! |
I met Sonia and Claudio
at Centro Integral Kinesiologia, aka CIK, a ten minute walk from our house in
the center of town. They were overwhelmingly
recommended by the doctors in Buenos Aires as the best therapists in the world, and every day I am astounded
by their incredible dedication and work.
Their gym and clinic is filled with framed soccer jerseys scribbled with
dedication notes of appreciation, trophies, and a plethora of gifted
mates.
 |
My buddy with the exact same injury, on
the exact same shoulder. He was run
over by a truck in 2015 and remembers
the WHOLE experience, including the
SOUND of the bones in his shoulder breaking
and moving his head out of the way of the
tire. He was on a motorcycle and had on a
helmet when he was hit on AR route 20.
No Joke. |
They oversee my exercise
routine as I build strength and flexibility.
There is a mountain of stretching designed to separate my shoulder from
my homoplato – shoulder blade - which after two months of immobility are united
and move as one. Sometimes I extend the
arm myself by pushing it as high as it can go with a cane and more recently I
have graduated to hanging from a bar and letting my 52 kilos pull and disconnect
the muscles.
As I lay on the table on my
back or side, Claudio physically divides and splits the muscles. He is no joke and super strong, but I
completely trust him. I am always amazed
at how he can use his hands and body to manipulate my arm into positions I
never imagined necessary. I am astounded
by his knowledge. I would never think of
half of the motions he comes up with, but ultimately, they make sense. He takes the time to strengthen my wrist,
elbow, arm, and shoulder. It hurts so
good when he sticks his elbow in my axila – armpit - to hold my shoulder blade
down while forcing my arm up and away from my body.
 |
| Always smiling, and yes that is the mate too! |
The best part of therapy is
the atmosphere. It is friendly,
tranquilo, focused, and entertaining. Whenever
our strengthening exercise group is crying in pain from Claudio’s commands, he
cheerily reminds us to do everything, “Con uno sonrisa! With a smile!” The mate is passed around, and I savor the
conversations about dirty politicians, mother-in-laws, and life. It cracks me up that I will be laying on the
table with Claudio torqueing my arm to a 7 on the pain scale, while he is sipping
a mate and casually conversing with his buddy who comes in every morning to
socialize. When it is my turn for the
mate, I sit up, savor every drop of the hot amargo yerba and 15 seconds later I
am flat on the table again, smiling with joy and holding back tears of
pain.
I know the day I walk out of
CIK for the last time, I won’t be able to hold back the tears.
Oh Bariloche…. 
