Rehabilitation Day 18 - What I Learned from Throwing a Ball and Watching the Rehabilitation Equipment September 14, 2026, Sunday, Reiwa8

Today was my 18th day in the hospital.

As I continue my rehabilitation, I have started to notice many things that I had never paid attention to before.

There are so many different kinds of equipment in the rehabilitation room.

For example, there is a large height-adjustable treatment table that can be raised and lowered by using a foot control. There are also many different types of walkers and canes. Some people use a type of cane that supports the forearm rather than simply holding it with the hand.

The height and the position of the handgrip are also different depending on the person.

I have also been watching a person who had hip replacement surgery. At first, this person could only walk with a walker. Then, through rehabilitation, they progressed to using a cane in one hand. Now they can walk without a cane, although their balance is still slightly uneven.

Watching this has made me realize how much rehabilitation can change a person's ability to move.

And today, I noticed a change in myself as well.

Yesterday evening, while walking, I tried moving my arm backward a little. I was not using an exercise band, but afterward I felt that the pain had decreased slightly.

Today, when my therapist checked my shoulder movement, my range of motion had improved.

The therapist said, "It looks a little better today," and decided to move on to a new exercise.

It was throwing a ball.

The ball was smaller than a volleyball but larger than a baseball, like a soft rubber ball that you might find at a 100-yen shop.

The therapist stood about a meter or so away from me and threw the ball to me with both hands, from below.

I caught it with both hands and threw it back in the same way.

But my ball did not travel straight very often.

My left hand still does not have enough strength, and the balance between my right and left hands is different.

After doing it many times, however, the ball occasionally went straight.

"Oh, that one went straight!"

Those moments made me happy.

Then we tried throwing the ball from above my head downward.

That was more difficult.

We also practiced throwing the ball from the left side and from the right side, using both hands.

It was interesting how much the difficulty changed depending on the direction.

But fortunately, I did not have much pain today.

The therapist said, "This is good. We can move you forward a little sooner."

Because my range of motion has improved, I can gradually move on to new exercises.

That makes me very happy.

Until recently, I was mainly thinking about how far I could raise or move my arm.

But perhaps I am now entering the next stage: learning how to actually use the arm that has become more mobile.

Throwing the ball straight back to another person.

Coordinating both hands.

Using just the right amount of force.

It is not only about the shoulder.

The entire arm, both hands, and the balance of the body are involved.

Another exercise I have been doing is putting rings onto a plastic bottle held by my therapist.

I jokingly say that I feel like a monkey in a monkey show, and the therapist laughs.

But of course, it is not just a game.

At first, the bottle is close to me.

When I can do it, the therapist gradually moves it farther away.

How far can I reach with my left hand?

In which directions can I reach?

How much has my shoulder movement improved?

All of these things can be observed through what looks like a simple game.

There is another exercise where five containers are placed in front of me and I put something into them in order.

There is also an exercise where I slide a towel across a surface.

Forward, sideways, and diagonally.

The purpose is to see how far I can move the towel using my arm, without compensating by moving my whole body.

When I think about it, rehabilitation exercises are fascinating.

At first glance, they may look like playing with a ball, putting rings onto a bottle, or sliding a towel.

But each movement has a purpose.

Instead of forcing me to do something I cannot do, rehabilitation seems to work by finding the small things I can do a little better than yesterday, and then using that improvement to take the next step.

Until recently, I did not even know the names of many of the things in the rehabilitation room.

Was it a height-adjustable treatment table?

A walker?

A walking aid?

There are so many different types of canes.

There are so many things I had never seen before.

But when you spend every day in a rehabilitation room, you naturally start thinking, "What is that?"

And then you see people using those devices and gradually becoming able to walk again.

I also experience small improvements in myself every day.

Perhaps rehabilitation is not only a place where we work to heal the body.

It may also be a place where we can watch, right in front of our eyes, how people gradually regain the ability to do things they could not do before.

Today, the ball left the strongest impression on me.

A ball that would not fly straight.

A ball that sometimes flew straight after many attempts.

That one successful throw made me very happy.

Perhaps the feeling of "I can do it" really does begin with something very small.

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