"There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.” – Albert Einstein

Imagine this:

You wake up one day after 60-odd years of life and are exhausted from dealing with chronic back pain. You go to the doctor and he recommends a spinal fusion, your 2nd one at that. You get the surgery done, and wake up the next day and you can no longer walk on your own. You lose coordination, balance, and now are limited to using a walker. They do MRI's and X-rays and can't figure out why. Maybe you threw a clot during surgery? Maybe you suffered a TIA? Or, even worse, maybe the surgeon made a mistake and nicked your spinal cord.  However, nothing shows up on the MRI's, the x-rays, the EMGs. Years of suffering, multiple doctors, research (by you and trained medical professionals) and no one can tell you why you still can't walk, have trouble going up and down the stairs, and continue to have back pain.

You invest in braces for your ankles to prevent your foot from dragging. You invest in bracelets that claim that with their "ionic" energy they can restore your balance. You invest time and money in months and months of therapy. Slowly but surely, you can move without your shoulder jumping up towards your ear and your arm bending. You can pedal a stationary bike without intense clonus. You can pick your feet up to get into bed without using your hands. You can go up the stairs with a handrail without having to stop on each step. You can get up off the floor without crawling to the nearest chair. Milestones and improvements, but you can't see the improvement because the most important thing is still missing, you still can't walk. You have to use a walker if you are going more than 5 feet. You can't turn around to sit down without your feet dragging. You can't go grocery shopping or go to a movie without your walker and 45 minutes of extra time. You are frustrated, and annoyed, and wonder why you can't function like you used to anymore? Why can't anyone figure out what is wrong with you? Why are you like this? You understand about proprioception, you know the lingo, the AFO's, the clonus, the research. You've looked everything up and now have 5 physicians working on your case. You are terrified you will never walk again, and you have no idea why.

Until today. Today your therapist let go of your hand when you were walking to a chair. And you walked without dragging your feet, without holding onto a walker, a cane, or the hand of a therapist. Slowly, shakily, one step after another - 8 feet became 18 feet. You sit down and your therapist looks at you and simply says "let's think about that for a minute".  As tears spring to your eyes, you mutter "wow" and struggle with the emotions. "Now that was something" you say, " there may be hope."

This was my day today. Today a patient's hard work and determination payed off. He walked again, but more than that, he gained hope.

This is why I'm a PT. These are the moments that matter.