Zoe Davito has joined the Bedlam Farm Health Care Circle. She’s a physical therapist who has cheerfully taken on the challenging task of getting my legs back into shape after years of flat feet troubles and the inactivity caused by my recent foot surgery.

It’s the first time in physical therapy for me. Still, Zoe, who is very lovely, direct, and knowledgeable, told me my legs are basically in good shape, intense suffering from some arthritis.

She said some daily exercises would help. She said I didn’t need a gym unless I wanted one and added that my walks and movements around the farm should help me.

We did some practice exercises, and I could see and sense the stiffness that had set in after months of enforced inactivity due to my food wound and surgery.

Zoe was thorough. She went over my legs carefully and tested me very thoroughly. She said I could help if I could walk without pain – there is no pain when I walk, then everything else was treatable and manageable.

I left sore and hopeful.

I agreed to come twice a week for a month, and we’ll see what happens. I admit to being health care weary this year, but I also have learned the larger picture, everything in my body, from the heart to legs to breathing at night, is connected to everything else.

If you treat one, you need to treat the other. So far, so good; I feel healthier and stronger by the day. It’s time for my legs to catch up. It’s the whole package.

I was lucky if you call it that; I never dealt with my health care much until my heart attack, and I was pulled into the notorious health care system. It’s a wild ride; I keep meeting one nice person after another. I see it as a puzzle and a creative challenge.

I’ve got my paper drawings of exercises, and I’m glad to know my legs are strong.