-
Physical Therapy and LEMS, Getting Evaluated
Finally. Finally, I got to a good physical therapist to do a proper evaluation of my perceived weakness around my left shoulder. I’d reported this to my neurologist over a year ago, and she said it was probably a rotator cuff injury. She blew me off. The only evaluation I got was the subjective, “chicken wings” assessment.
After months of worsening and more frequent weakness to my left shoulder, I finally got my Primary care physician to do a PT referral. It happened this past week.
The first thing I did when meeting Wendy, my physical therapist, was sit down and explain my Lambert-Eaton disorder, how it works, and the physiology of the disorder. She understood! I provided a good history of my weakness and my suspicions it was caused by LEMS, not a physical injury. If you have an injury or mechanical problem, the weakness would always present, right? Yes, of course. With LEMS, weakness doesn’t work that way. The severity can ebb and flow. Mine does this! I’ve experienced terrible weakness, but this past week, it hasn’t been bad. The good news, she was picking up on all this. She got it! (this isn’t always the case)
We next took a look at a diagnostic X-Ray of my shoulder, and she went through it, pointing out my past injuries. Those include a broken collarbone on the left, as well as a Grade 3 separation. Those both happened in the early 90’s when I was bicycle training and riding in Oklahoma and Colorado. Though the problems were easily seen on the X-Ray, she assured me they had nothing to doing with my current weakness.
After educating her about LEMS weakness, we talked about goals for therapy she would prescribe. Wendy and I both acknowledged physical therapy isn’t going to magically cure the LEMS problem. The goal is to improve my muscle muscle tone and strength in the affected muscles, as much as possible, being careful to not overtrain them. Overtaxing a LEMS affected muscle can cause it to “crash” and, as I told her, when that happens there can be extended time for the muscle to recover. That is a problem. We would do a program mindful of the effort needed, and be watchful for adverse muscle reaction to the workload.
I hope this has helped you understand a good outcome when meeting a new physical therapist. Let me know if your experience differs, or if my experience is helpful to you. In my next post, I’ll discuss my evaluation results and fitness program.
-
0 Replies
Sorry, there were no replies found.
Log in to reply.