Coming off the cliff

Sorry Mo - the rest of the story....
Physical Therapy is both wonderful and brutal. I do feel better afterwards, but some of the treatments are quite painful. The therapist has taken to massaging one particular tendon that is very!!!! tight --- and that requires certified torture techniques.
First visit I felt great, second time around I felt awful (that is when the torture began).
I have homework stretches to do, that I am being good about doing. I am noticing an increased flexibility, but my sciatic nerve in the injured leg is competing for attention. So sometimes sitting or laying down is worse then the pain of standing and walking.
But I am able to go longer stretchs without serious pain or discomfort now.

My biggest problem is that I'll feel pretty good at the beginning of the day, but by the end of the day there is no relief. Yesterday I felt good enough to go out and run some errands with Ronni - but by the time we were done, I was regretting it. I couldn't sleep last night because of the pain.

With all of this I am still having to go into my classroom daily to set up for a sub - so I'm not totally goofing off.
I need to go back to work next week. I was worried about how I would handle the afternoons (figuring I could survive the morning), so I asked the PT about crutches. Turns out the school district has a policy not to allow teachers to work on crutches. Makes sense for insurance/liability reasons --- so he suggested a cane instead.

After today's treatment, I hobbled down to the medical supply place and picked up a pretty little cane. This thing is great!!! I can walk with no pain. I can walk even faster than I do on my own. I see this as a serious answer to some of my issues. I also bought a new heating pad, with is a nice change from the ice bag therapy -- almost feels like a spa in bed :).

I'll still have to be careful not to overdue, but I think things are going to work out. My leg is getting stronger, and flexibility is increasing. And this has only been one week of therapy. 3 more weeks of torture and I should be good as new (I hope).
(oh and I'm starting to lose weight -- after the injury I gained 7 lbs, I'm hoping mostly in water weight from the swelling. That is starting to subside)