My physical therapy at home involves heating up my arm, then doing some stretches. The other evening, I decided the warming up part could be done in a hot bath. I don’t take many baths – preferring showers because I would rather save some water and time – and as a result, ThunderCat was very puzzled by my behavior. He stretched up on his back legs to peer into the tub as it filled, looking at me questioningly. Or so I would assume.
When the tub was finally filled, I climbed in and looked forward to relaxing. Instead, I was confronted with tension that would rival any Hitchcock thriller.
Thunder hopped up onto the sink and carefully reached down onto the edge of the tub to investigate. He pulled himself back up – amazingly – and then carefully reached down again and crawled onto the curved edge.
I lay very still as he balance-beamed his way along the edge over to me. There are some cats that actually like water – or so I’ve heard – but Thunder is not one of them. If he slipped and fell into the water… well, he’s still got all his claws and I was naked.
With my left arm heating up in the water, I carefully moved my right hand to cover my “junk” – and waited for him to either fall into the water and ruin both of our days or get bored and wander off.
After stopping to lick my head and reaching down to “bat” at the water, Thunder retreated to the hall to keep an eye on me from a safe distance.
And I let out a sigh of relief. Crisis averted.
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I got back in the pool on Friday – first time since the accident that broke my arm. I kicked off from the wall and hit the first stoke.
And it hurt – like a sharp pain.
As did every single other stroke. I got used to it – sort of – except for once when I over-extended my arm and got a stabbing pain. And then I curled up in a ball underwater until it stopped and/or I needed to breathe.
Twelve laps later, I got out of the pool and into the hot tub for a few minutes. When I was down, I stretched my arm out. It wouldn’t go out all the way – but far more than my current “usual”. So, it’s working and worth the pain.
This week is more swimming and more a trip to the physical therapy again.
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Coming up on Saturday, the 12th Annual (3rd time for me) Portage Lakes Polar Bear Jump. Looking forward to it – but I seriously need to figure out how to relax in water again.