I have been seeing the same Massage Therapist, A.B., for the last 2 years and I LOVE her … but she moved out of state at the end of the year. WAAAAHHHHH!!! She listened to me and to my body. She’d start each section with a light touch and gradually increase her strength so as not to cause me more pain. She was the one that told me that a massage should never be the cause of pain … It was hard not to love this girl!! She (not the company she worked for) did research on RSD so that she could continue to help me. She was a gem and I will miss her more than my gall bladder!! Yesterday, I called the mass-massage factory, where I found A.B. back in ‘09, to begin arduous task of finding someone to replace the irreplaceable … this is as grueling of a process as finding a new pain management doc, and heartbreaking to boot!!
I requested a massage therapist with a gentle but firm touch. What I got was anything but!! The woman that came out to greet me and introduce herself was a bitty little thing. She glanced over my paperwork, looked up at me (literally) and said, “So you need a deep tissue/sports massage?” My response? “Um NO!!! Where does it say that?? I need a Swedish massage with desensitizing techniques and a focus on the knots and spasms in my neck and shoulders without causing flares” (my standard request). She didn’t ask what a flare was or glance back at my chart to see what I might have been talking about. As a matter of fact, her tiny personage bowed up to me. “Oh, ok!! I can do that!!“ She was too agreeable (RED FLAG!!) and actually told me, to my face, that she could “fix me right up” (RED FLAG #2!!). We meandered through the maze of open and closed doors to treatment rooms until we got to our destination. She asked me all of the standard, first meeting questions and when I told her that I have RSD and that I usually scare therapists once I’ve told them what it is, she replied, “Well that don’t scare me!” (RED FLAGS #3 AND #4!!!) ... FYI … If you are any kind of medical professional and RSD does not scare you, you are an ignorant, cocky, egotistical, self-centered braggart that only cares about the paycheck, not the patients. And if you have poor grammar on top of that, you are only making yourself sound more ignorant and, yes, I’ll say it, stupid!!! But the audition process had to start somewhere, and I do believe in not judging people and giving everyone a chance to prove themselves.
OMGosh … My hand to God, this woman was evil!! After 10 minutes of desensitization work … and after 15 minutes of what I can only describe as “hellish abuse,” I stopped her and asked her to leave the room. Even after I had asked/told her not to use her elbows along my spine and shoulder blades, she kept doing it, telling me that this was the only way she was going to able to get through the knots. I don’t have to lie there and take that!! As soon as the she shut the door behind her, I started bawling. I couldn’t help it and I couldn’t stop it. She tried the 2 minute check-back, still crying … 5 minutes, still crying … 10 minutes, she checked on me again. I had dried my eyes and gotten dressed. Her jaw dropped so much I could’ve sworn that if I made just 1 can-can kick, I would have lost my size 10 shoe in her mouth … without pointing my toes.
Not wanting to hurt her feelings (ima softie like that sometimes) I chose my words carefully and said, “You did the best you could.” I paid the $49 and gave the hillbilly harpy $3 for a tip … the 10 minutes of desensitization did feel good. I also spoke with the supervisor and explained that if the pain didn’t subside, I would be calling back the next morning for a refund … GUESS WHAT!?!? … I’ll be calling her in about 30 minutes.
Even though I was relegated to the prone position on the heating pad for the rest of the day, I have to give a HUGE shout-out to some friends for just making me laugh through the pain … Cali Angel (even though it started out as crazy-a’d drama -very glad the Kid is ok tho, btw- it turned into almost peeing my pants laughing), Houdini (he appeared just in time to help distract me and he left when he knew that I just needed to cry alone … unplanned … unexpected … unbelievable!!), Warrior Mama (even when she’s stressed, she’ll say something at which I can’t help but giggle … frozen shoebox!! Haha ... still going on that one too!!), TTO - The Tall One (who just can’t make up the stuff that happens in his world!!), and Kiva (that marathon version of “take a dummy for a walk” was freaking hysterical!!) ... ok, Take A Dummy For A Walk is when she chases her tail, catches it, barrel rolls with it, and side steps through the whole house ... with her tail in her mouth. I'm sure that it's some form of doggie dementia, but i just can't bring myself to stop her!!
Pain, heartache, and confusion could have ruined my day yesterday, but I am sticking to my resolution of letting my mood fight my pain and it’s working!! I’m still dragging my heating pad around with me this morning (along with 2 extension cords) but I have faith that the pain will ease in time. Today’s goals are to take a shower, stay affixed to the heating pad, and fold 6 loads of laundry … notice I said nothing about putting the clothes away … I’m not looking for a miracle today, honest!! :D
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