Abbott Northwestern Hospital
Fibromyalgia Treatment Center
*** My First Appointment ***
On Monday, July 20, I attended my first appointment at the Fibromyalgia Treatment Program. I met with a nurse clinician first, who checked out how many tender points I had (16 out of 18) and asked me tons of questions. She was very kind and empathetic. Then, she told me that she had fibromyalgia. I was stunned. She said that seven years ago she had been pretty much disabled, but after years of following this program she only had symptoms once a year or so. Incredible, eh? She really gave me some inspiration. Some of her recommendations included listenting to relaxing music while doing diaphragmatic breathing, keeping a journal of how I feel each day (so that I can see when I start improving), taking calcium supplements, and checking to see if my health insurance would cover biofeedback.
Next, I was off to the occupational therapist. She asked me tons more questions, and then did some tests to measure my upper body strength and flexibility. She performed some tests to see how strong my hands were and then some tests to see how strong my fingers are. I was told that my results were "pretty poor".
Then I was off again to the physical therapist, where I had my most thorough physical examination. After asking me even more questions, she checked out my feet and how they looked while I stood. She also checked out my range of motion and flexibility. After that, she lied me down and had me attempt to do certain exercises. I was pretty much unable to do much of anything because I was in too much pain. She helped me to find a couple of relatively simple exercises to start with.
Finally, I met with the three of them all together. They gave me their recommendations and told me how many appointments were suggested. I was excited to find out that I'll be doing work with the physical therapist in their warm pool which is 92 degrees! Sounds wonderful!! They stressed the importance of following their direction to the letter. I ensured them that I would.
The nurse clinician also gave me a great resource book of information about fibromyalgia and pamphlets regarding two conferences that are coming to the St. Paul area. I plan on attending both.
In addition, they have a resource library available to their patients. They have just about every book that is written about fibro, books about chronic pain, stress, chronic illness, etc. They also have video and cassette tapes available for rental.
So far...I'm pretty impressed with the program and am anxious to get going with my PT and OT appointments. I will update this page periodically about my progress.
BTW: I did check with my insurance. Biofeedback is not covered by Blue Cross/Blue Shield unless it is for treating incontinence. Aren't HMO's wonderful? Growl.
***My progress so far: (September 14, 1998)***
Well, things are going pretty well for me so far. I saw my occupational therapist and physical therapist recently and received many stretching exercises, which I am to do once a day. I also started pool therapy in their 92 degree warm pool. I never would have guessed I could say I love to exercise, but in the warm pool...it's heaven. It feels good to stretch my muscles in an environment where no stress is placed on my sore body. The only bad part is getting out of the water! I realized that I'm not doing the best job updating this regularly, so from now on, I'll only post important information regarding my treatment.
I do want to say that I'm EXTREMELY pleased with Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota for this program and the staff involved in it. I can say I would recommend them to anyone.
Abbott Northwestern Hospital
Sister Kenny Institute
800 E. 28th Street
Minneapolis, MN 55407
(612) 863-4400
Email: dwalsh@isd.net
