“Hi Ann. I’m Doctor Ramon Sarmiento. What seems to be the problem?”

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30011527@N05/5204575421

Those were the first words of Dr. Sarmiento (Ramon Sarmiento Rehabilitation and PT Clinic) to me as soon as I sat down on the patient’s chair beside his table. I learned about his clinic through Takbo.ph (creator Jinoe Gavan greeted Dr. Sarmiento weeks ago on his birthday. Gavan also wrote about his clinic visit on Takbo.ph previously, too).

I finally got to see him two weeks after my knee therapy. Although he was not the one who made me undergo the said therapy, I braved the rains, long travel, and fear (of everything and nothing) that day to know one important thing: CAN I STILL RUN?

I bet he has been asked that question many times, yet he remained cool. I honestly answered his questions (when and where I got the injury, what was my running routine before I got the injury and the therapy).

“You may already run,” Dr. Sarmiento said calmly.

He may have almost said that matter-of-factly, but to me, it was more than the chirping of gleeful birds.

In fact, even more than the sound of the church bells ringing as I walk down the aisle for my wedding (Ohhkay, I’m not yet married. Where did this simile come from?)

“But…”

Uh-oh.

I heard the birds suddenly paused their singing.

“…Let us not focus on the injury. Let us focus on how you got it. You said that you had no stretching and you have not been running before that happened. That has to be changed,” Dr. Sarmiento said as I listened to him intently.

“Yes, I admit. It was my fault. I really had no preparations,” I said.

Further, Dr. Sarmiento said that I need to check my running form. I should also be wearing the correct running shoes. He also added that there is no need for me to buy knee braces. Although my plan to start walking is good, it is still different with running. I have to inject short runs to know if the knees won’t hurt anymore.

With his aid, he instructed me to bend my left knee. He asked if it hurt. Nothing, I said.

To conclude, he said that I may already run (I imagined the birds singing again), but he’s not discharging me yet. He told me to do fartlek (Swedish word for ‘speed play’) every other day – he suggested two minutes of running and one minute walking – this week. Whatever happens, I need to go back to his clinic the week after.

I still heard the birds chirping as I closed the door of his clinic.

And I hope it will stay that way next week – and the days after.

(Ramon Sarmiento Rehabilitation and PT Clinic is located at Room 606, 2301 Civic Place, Civic Drive, Filinvest, Alabang (in front of Asian Hospital and Medical Center. Telephone number: 659-0550)