World's Best Physical and Mental Therapy

Twice in my life I have suffered neuromuscular injuries resulting in paralysis of the area. And twice Tango has come to my rescue - restoring not only my sanity and self-esteem, but almost complete rehabilitation of my injuries.

The first time was almost exactly a year after I started dancing. I had a "non-trauma" back injury which resulted in the complete loss of use of my left leg. My foot just hung, and I dragged my leg behind me like a sad, Tanguera Quasimodo. The doctors shook their heads and said I'd be fortunate if I regained 60% use of the leg. They clearly did not know with whom they were dealing.

At the time, I had a wonderful tango partner, who in essence became my cheerleader, therapist, trainer. He patiently waited while I regained strength in my leg after surgery. Then, once I could to take tiny steps, came over twice a week so we could "practice". I both looked forward to and dreaded these sessions: on the one hand, it was a chance to enjoy that embrace, that music. On the other, I felt like a newborn staring up at the mist-hidden peak of Mount Everest, barely able to sustain my own weight on that leg.

Without any training as a therapist, he instinctively knew when he could push me to do increasingly more demanding moves. The day he tried a molinete I thought I'd die, it was so awful. But he slowly raised the bar on me, and within three months after my surgery I'd already surpassed the 60% limit the doctors had fated for me. By the end of the year I was close to 85% healed. Today, it is close to 95%. The final 5% is permanent nerve and muscle atrophy, which nobody but me can detect.

Now, here I am again, struggling with nerve and muscle damage which resulted from my cancer treatments. While the damage is not nearly as extensive or severe, it again affects my left side: this time my shoulder area, which makes it difficult to raise my arm. As anyone who dances knows, this is critical for any embrace. It was difficult enough to endure almost a year without Tango. But for the past 3 months I have been unable to raise my left arm due to this injury. Much less keep it raised.

And once again, Tango has come to the rescue. Once I became strong enough to return to dancing, I slowly modified my embrace as strength slowly returned. This modified embrace has an added - unexpected - benefit as well: since I have such limited strength and mobility in that shoulder and arm, my balance must be exceedingly good. I am practically dancing without holding on to anything.

It is now almost a month since I have returned to dancing on a regular, once-a-week basis. Progress seems excruciatingly slow, but there certainly is progress. I would say that between physical therapy and tango therapy, my improvement is about 30%.

Clearly, I still have a ways to go, and I may likewise have residual atrophy in this area of my body. But I cannot underestimate the extraordinary healing powers of Tango.