When your not sick, hurt, or disabled we don’t think of the importance of moving our bodies. We just move around without thinking about how much our bodies need movement. Our muscles crave movement!
What happens to those muscles when you have to lay in bed for months? Without moving the muscles they deteriorate and shrink. This is not an overnight thing. It takes months. Most of the time while a person is in the hospital physical therapy will work with them to prevent the loss of muscle mass and help keep them stretch and strong.
What happens if the person is not coherent? Physical therapy will not work with a person that cannot participate in their therapy. This was exactly what I was told when I saw that Chris has lost most of his muscle mass in his lower legs.
I do the physical therapy exercises that they told me to do with him at the beginning of his hospital stay. In the 9 months he’s been in the hospital physical therapy has only seen him a handful of times. Anyway, none of the exercises they gave me workout the calf muscles. I didn’t realize they were shrinking so much because they are kept wrapped in the calf cuffs to prevent blood clots.
I just happened to come in one morning while the nurses were bathing him and was shocked at the size of his legs from the knee down. None of the nurses or doctors have even mentioned he was losing so much muscle mass. I read all the doctor notes and it was never mentioned in them either until I asked one of the doctors about having physical therapy come by to work with his legs. This is when I was told that physical therapy won’t work with him since he can’t assist in his therapy. That leaves it on me to help build his muscles back up. I started exercises to do this that day. Below you will see pictures of his lower legs. Hopefully the exercises will build the muscles back up.
It will take months to build the muscles back up. Good thing I’m stubborn and willing to do whatever I need to to help him get through all of this.
-Lori Hulett