When I was working in a lab type of setting, I had to lift the full glass water bottles. The case was an awkward size to pick up, particularly when it was full of water. It probably weighed around 60-65 pounds. There was really only one person there strong enough to pick it up without any issues.
At some point, my back became an issue. I don’t remember if it was an accumulative issue or injured during lifting one of these cases, but I ended up injuring my back. My employer back then fought the worker’s comp process, but the x-ray showed a herniated disc. I was prescribed physical therapy.
I had never been to physical therapy before, so this was a new experience. This occurred before I knew about the others. I was in therapy during this time, and I had my therapist contact my physical therapist to give her some background information about my abuse (though I did not know the extent then).
I went to physical therapy, and my back was fitted (molded) with some sort of hard plastic brace. As the weeks went on, I found the back support becoming uncomfortable. I mentioned this to my physical therapist, who took a look at the brace and was very surprised to see that it no longer fit like it did before.
My therapist must not have told the physical therapist about the other personalities. I did discover that while “I” had suffered a back injury, not everyone inside did. As a result, there were time when I was pain free. That’s multiplicity in action.
Coming up next: how the body changes when others are out.