It's been a Year

Well I guess I’ll keep this format for a while…

Sunday Aug 12^th:A rest day, for the most part. Spent most of the afternoon writing the blog, takes a little while to type, I use the Columbus system, first you discover the key then you land on it. Watched the closing ceremonies…the Brits did a great job. Did the usual routine in bed…that is exercise routine!

Monday Aug 13^th: PT at  11:00 had me standing and I found it a little confusing as there was a Physio, a Physio Assistant and 4 students with most giving me direction…relax your hand, chest up, relax shoulders, tighten the gluts, tighten your left quad, straighten your left leg, put weight on your left leg etc.etc. Just a little confusing for the ol’ brain that is trying to think the signals through to the right parts. Don’t get me wrong the Physio is fantastic.  Felt very strange after PT, body is all tingly but, missed noon meds perhaps that was it.Don’t even want to go on the bike as it would tighten me up even more.

Tuesday Aug 14^th:Good session with Yonna and Grandpa worked left arm and doing sit-ups and standing at the commode. Don’t get quite as straight as at PT as there aren’t enough people to keep my legs straight, bum tight, but I try.

Did ½ hour on the bike in the afternoon, first time at tension of 12 watched and the legs went around okay.

Wednesday Aug 15^th: No physio as Laura was away, the nerve of her taking vacation, only had Occupational Therapy. Way back when, I signed up for 4 studies and one was the GRASP Study and it is to determine if the tool can predict how well hands will work after a SCI. I’ve done it at 3, 6, 9 months and 1 year after my injury…yikes the anniversary is coming up. The test is very simple, pouring water from a bottle into a jar, taking lids off 2 jars, putting a key in a lock and turning it, putting coins through a slot, screwing nuts on threads from ½ inch, 3/8 inch ¼ inch, 3/16 inch and then moving 9 small pegs from one side of a board to the other. I did better with the right than the last time but lefty still can’t do any of the tasks.

Still felt crappy, did only 15 minutes on the bike and couldn’t spin and the RPMs were way down. Really getting into the Curiosity Rover on Mars…absolutely amazing…I even opened a twitter account to get tweets from the rover. Interesting the conspiracy groups are already seeing UFOs in the pictures being sent back. It is going to be an interesting 2 years as Curiosity looks for past life on Mars.

Thursday Aug 16^th:Went to Cultures for coffee with Darcy then to the Optometrist, Jonathon Arnel to get my glasses fixed. Then coffee in the afternoon with the guys. My trunk was really tight and the bike tightens it up more so I had an easy day.

Friday Aug 17^th:  Had PT with Emily who I thought was a student but she is permanent fulltime PTA. Laura, was still on vacation and left instructions for Emily. She did very well and to boot she is from Tillsonburg and Yonna taught her in Grade 7 PhysEd. Felt great today came home and did 2x15 minutes on the bike and matched my best times. Guess it is just like everything, all days are good, some are just better than others, the legs and body just felt tight and tingly. The OT said it could be some nerves coming back to life…hope so.

Saturday Aug 18^th:The Karate Club, Martial Arts Canada had summer camp where students get some seminars on Mai Thai kick boxing, Judo and Kubudo (weapons-Bo, Sai, Tonfa). The participants were broken into five teams and competed in ‘gladiator games’, a quad pull and some mind games. One accident occurred in the Judo seminar when Byron got his foot caught and ‘snapped’ his knee and broke a bone in his ankle. He will need Surgery to bolt the bones back together. Wish Byron a speedy recovery.

There was a fundraiser, an anonymous person donated a treadmill, and Minuteman Press in London printed the tickets free of charge. The tickets were distributed to the Karate Club members and the Silver Spokes Cycling Club.As mentioned on FaceBook thank you to all the sellers and buyers the $1209 will be used to replace the patio doors so I’ll be able to get into the back yard.

Some friends that I played Rugby with a way back when in Brantford dropped into see me. The surprise was Russ Cairns, a Kiwi who was on a world tour in the 70’s and stopped in Brantford played some Rugby and stayed for about 12 years. For those who don’t know, rugby in New Zealand is like hockey here. The Harlequins Rugby Club had the Annual George Jones Memorial Golf Tournament and they also did some fundraising and I got a cheque for 300 bucks that will go towards the door. Thank you Quins! Oh yes, Russ mentioned that he still has a picture of my moon.

Sunday Aug 19^th:A rest day. I hope all this tingly legs and body is nerves coming back to life. Don’t know if I should be taking pain meds or not. As mentioned before I dropped the hydromorphone from 15 a day down to 9 mg per day perhaps I should put it back up. I see the Physiatrist, Dr Potter in September; perhaps he can shed some light on this condition.

Monday Aug 20^th:This is the anniversary of the fall, I’ll talk about that in How I Feel

PT with Janelle…did side lying with a bolster under my right side…had my left arm straight, Barry worked my left leg, a deep massage in my IT band…felt good when he stopped…need to break up the facia holding the muscles together…body still working as a block but the brain is ‘starting’ to differentiate the difference between my shoulders and my legs…my traps are big because I turn them on for everything I do

Tuesday Aug 21^st:  Yonna came over and did her thing, stretching and getting me standing. Trying to get weight on left leg. Legs feel tingly as mentioned several times …no bike. Perhaps the tingly is the new norm.

Wednesday Aug 22^nd:   Started off with a session in OT that loosened up my left arm which I really needed then to PT where they re-enforced the need for me to sit up straight 24-7. They never want to see me with my head down and my back not straight, must keep my chest up all the time… I’m trying, sitting here typing.  They also want my left arm away from my body so the brain gets the idea that my arm is actually an appendage and separate from the body. It is a lot of work trying to sit up straight all the time when you must think about every move and keep checking to make sure the arm hasnot  moved back to its original position beside my body.

Met with the psychiatrist today and everything seems to be going ok. She says I can start weaning off the sleeping pills. I take 15 mg of zopiclone (Imovane) and I am going to cut it back to 10 mg for a week or 2 and see what happens. She also mentioned that I shouldn’t be in ahurry to get off the pain meds as pain may lead to depression and I don’t that to happen. It’s back to 9 mg of hydromophone in the morning and 6 mg at night…don’t want anything to do with depression.

Thursday Aug 23^rd:Yonna stretched my hammies and then I stood up without using my hand to pull myself up. I managed to stand by just using my legs and was able to balance without holding onto the chair…yeehaw….then I was able to stand for almost 2 minutes without any support and then sat down with no arm support…yeehaw again. It was by no means a perfect stand, the left knee was still bent, left heel wasn’t on the floor and the bum was sticking out a bit…the good things were my back was a little arched and my gluts, both left and right were turned on and I was standing unassisted…wooo hooo. Hey all this and it wasn’t even noon yet. I haven’t been able to repeat it, but I keep trying. Told the girls and they immediately put it on FaceBook. So much for old news.

Friday Aug 24^th:Grandpa Bob and the Sarge drove me down to Pt. Rowan for a coffee with the guys from the cycling club. My friend Etienne was there…he did the same thing I did on the same trail about 150 yards from where I fell. He was looking good and is walking with a cane and was able to walk into the coffee shop on his own. Thanks to Ken for bringing him down.

Saturday Aug 25^th:Went to my first Karate class in over a year. Just sat and watched as Sensei Linda put the class through their paces. I’d like to teach but I’ve always taught by leading, it will be a little difficult not to lead by example…guess I’ll have to figure that out. The inspiration is that Frank, 78 years old is still taking Karate. It seems that he has a little trouble remember his Kata and self-defenses and gets a little frustrated, but who cares…and then there is Godelieve who at 79, still rides with the cycling club.

How am I feeling?

A good feeling was standing unassisted, which I haven’t been able to repeat, close but not quite. Another good feeling was standing at PT, when Barry, a hard-assed PTA said ‘good job’ when I stood up. Ya know it’s hard not bonding with the OTs and the PTs as they do so much for you, then you remember it’s their job…but what the hell, I’m going to bond anyway!

First anniversary of the crash on Aug 20^th…it’s seems a very short time ago yet, it seems very remote…things I remember the most…the 2 hours spent on the trail preparing to stay all night…being found…8 hours on a spine board…being in ICU for 5 days…then 20 more in acute care…the move to Parkwood…most of all I remember the support from friends…and how Darcy, Meghan and Kelly were always there…all my friends who came to see me…and have kept in touch…writing this blog…little did I know how therapeutic it would be...it seemed when I a first started writing it was a connection to the ‘outside’ world and probably said some silly things…going into depression...coming out of it…trying to figure out how I got there in the first place.

There are friends, whom I have not met that became very supportive, Marj who helped me through the bad time and JerryAnn who wrote notes about the blog and Meghan’s and Kelly’s notes to name a couple. Not going to start naming more names as the list would be 10 pages long. Then there was the fundraising by Martial Arts Canada, The Harlequins Rugby Club, Tour de Norfolk, Silver Spokes Cycling Club, several individuals and most recently the Karate Club with the draw on a treadmill that was donated anonymously and thanks to the printer…Minuteman Printing in London…who did the tickets for nothing, and Sensei John who put it all together…humbling indeed!

Meghan and Kelly probably said it best on Facebook on Aug 20^th.

copied from Facebook:

One Year ago today, my dad was riding his bike, as he loves to do, when something unimaginable happened.  He fell of his bike. A stick got caught in his spoke and stopped him in dead in his tracks, he flew over his handle bars and landed on his head, a stick, so small, yet life changing…. 

He lay on the trail unable to move.  My dad suffered a spinal cord injury. Instantly his life was changed, and so was our family’s.  But, in true Steen style, a style learned from my mom and dad both, we have marched through this crazy year, tough times and rough times, we have seen trial upon trial, only to see that perseverance and dedication really, truly pays off. 

Good things don’t come easy, progress doesn’t come easy.  My dad has worked his a$$ off, every single day.  He gets up and keeps on getting up when most would say screw it, and when he felt like saying screw it because there were some tough days, really tough days, my mom was there saying don’t you dare… you get up and get going, and when she felt like saying screw it, friends were there saying don’t you dare…keep going.  And although we are only a year into this long journey, we have only just begun; learning, growing, and becoming stronger. Day by day, inch, by inch.  Dad remember

 

because after this year you have turned all of those problems into opportunities, opportunities to grow, to teach, to adapt, and to learn.   That’s what you always taught me, So make sure you remember that.

This past year was a year where I learned how important it is to have good friends, because my dad has some pretty amazing friends.  And all I can say is THANK YOU, to everyone!

   

                           

                                               Keep growing dad,

                                               And we will ALL

                                               Grow with you.

Love you, Mom, Dad, and Kelly.

~Meghan Steen                                               

                                           

I’d like to say to Marj, stay strong as you possibly can, thinking about you always. 

Another Two Weeks

Another 2 weeks:

Monday July 30^th PT this AM worked left arm while in the standing table, stayed up for 20 minutes.   Worked on opening my left hand…they say the movement is there to initiate the finger straightening and moving the wrist back so it seems there is some nerve impulse getting thru. Meghan makes fun of me when I write the ‘problem is’, but the problem is as mentioned previously my knee bone is attached to my left arm bone. When I stand on my left leg my left arm, hand and fingers are so tight it is very difficult to open my fingers…they do work hard to get the fingers open, the wrist straight and the arm extended.

They are trying to arrange another time slot so I get 3 sessions per week. It would be 2 with the physio and 1 with a physio student, Monday, Wednesday Friday….yeehaw and a woooowhoooo

At home did some launches off the bed and the usual exercise routine and Dr Ho on the finger flexors, triceps and quads.

Tuesday July 31:  Yonna and Grandpa came over and they warmed up my leg and left arm did stretching on hamstrings and then I stood up several times. Can get from sitting to standing by myself the hard part is getting in the proper standing position…you know the drill bum in, chest out shoulders back and head up chin in.  Grandpa mentioned that there was some separation of left arm from left leg.

Have Dr. Ho on my forearm while typing this and the fingers are opening a third of the way and I close them and they open again don’t know why it is working today.

Taking a urine specimen to the Doc today and hopefully get some anti-b’s. Used norfloxicen the last two times, want something different this time. Would also like a sensitivity test done to see what anti-b will kill the little suckers.

On the bike for ½ hour and it tightened up my arms.

Wednesday Aug 1^st:  In PT did prone lying to prone standing…stretched legs wide apart, haven’t been that far apart for a long time a good stretch of the hip abductors or is it adductors well anyway a good groin stretch. Stood straight up for a minute from prone standing which is very hard on my tight hamstring and there is a little relief if they/I tuck my tail bone in and my butt under. They say I am getting better at standing and my arm is starting not to tighten up as much. I guess that is like Sir Winston Churchill’s statement about the war….’it is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps the end of the beginning’. Hmmmm….perhaps I shouldn’t be using Sir Winnie’s quotes in this blog.

Anti-b hasn’t kicked in yet, as my bladder is still burning and cloudy and burning pee.

Thursday Aug 2^nd: As mentioned the lift is still broken and they won’t have the part for another 2 weeks. The outdoor splash pool is like the beach, the water depth goes from zero to 4 feet. They have a small wheelchair and they wondered if I could transfer to it from my electric chair. I’d stand, by holding Yonna’s hands and they pull my chair out and push the little chair in…it worked. In case you don’t know The Sarge and I are always zinging each other. The Sarge took great delight in rolling me into the water very slowly as it rose to chest depth…yikes! Note the outdoor pool is several degrees cooler than the indoor pool. Once into the 3 foot depth they tie the float on and I float for about ½ hour with Yonna moving my legs to stretch the hamstrings, quads and hip muscles. It is then time to stand up in 3 foot water which isn’t very buoyant and off comes the float. I have found that standing in the pool is hard on my feet as I have no calluses left on them and my toe next to the big one rolls under. Yonna and The Sarge both say the pool bottom is smooth…well it isn’t to my prissy feet. I think I’ll look into some aqua shoes. Oh yes, we share the  pool with about 25 ladies doing aqua fit and they are very supportive and some come over at the end of class to give me some encouragement.

I think the anti-b is starting to work

Did ½ hour on the bike in the afternoon once finished I stretched the left arm by getting Darcy to open my hand and slide it on the handle bar and then I sit back and it straightens the arm out as it is very tight even though I did the chicken dance. Did 4 sets of 10 launches…had to pull with my arm very hard to get a foot off the saddle, oh yes, I am still on the bike then again I realized I was doing it wrong. To stand I must put my nose over my toes, keeping head and shoulders up…surprising what a difference it makes…almost stood up straight about 2/3 of the way up quite easily. I must remember that while sitting here typing, to bend from the waist and keep my head up and not be all hunched over the keyboard

Friday, Aug 3^rd:Coffee with the guys at 10 this morning, then another massage by Jeanie at 1. Then lying on my right side for 45 minutes, which stretches me a different way than lying on my back. Should actually sleep on my side for 4 hours and then go on my back, not going to happen as Darcy would have to get up and help me get on my back. Friday we were told that we would have 3 new people coming in on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Being a long weekend and vacations, it is understandable they would be short staffed. However, no one showed up on Friday night so Darcy had to do my bowel care…oh joy oh bliss. We managed ok but Darcy hurt her back lifting my legs into the bed. The workers not only do bowel care they have been trained to do 8 exercises on my arm back and ribs so I missed the exercises, which I need.

Did 2 sessions on the bike, first one for 15 minutes, then 25 minutes. As Darcy says, I always overdo and 40 minutes was just a tad too long and really tightened up my arms and trunk.

Anti-b’s are working, pee is clear, not the kind of clear like when you drink too much beer…eh Marnie!  I mean not cloudy, no burning bladder, no burning pee and fewer muscle spasms.

Saturday, Aug 4:   Woke up very tight with lots of muscle tone everywhere, arms legs and back muscle spasms are back...not as bad but there. Hope it is the hard workout that caused it all and not the bladder infection acting up…still on anti-b’s ‘til Monday. Did a very light workout on the bike and still tightened up. No worker showed up at 8:15 as stated and no phone call to say they weren’t coming. Darcy had bowel care once again, sore back and all.

Sunday Aug 5^th:  Again too tight to do much. Didn’t ride the bike as it tightens me up more. Did some leg extensions and pelvic tilts, and lying on my side…pretty much a rest day.

A worker actually came in at 8:15 and did the bowel care and she had only been on the job for a week. She asked for direction and people tell me I am pretty good at giving direction, Darcy calls it being ‘bossy’. She did a fine job. The regular workers have been trained to do 8 exercises on my arm, back and ribs. The operative word is trained so no training, no exercises, even though I could walk them through it quite easily.

Monday Aug 6^th: Woke up looser or should that be less tight. Rode the bike for 40 minutes, 2 sessions, one for 25 minutes with a 3 minute cool down and an easy spin for15 minutes. I am really missing therapy and the exercises from the workers. A regular worker came in at 8. Note she usually does mornings and even though she had been trained several months ago I had to direct her through all the exercises…hmmm…why can’t I do that with new workers. I understand there are rules but there is the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. The supervisor of the agency says she is going to get more workers trained but she doesn’t know the exercises and I will have to train them all…what a waste of time and money when I could do training on their first visit…grrrrrr

Tuesday Aug 7^th:  In the splash pool with Grandpa Bob and Yonna. Did stretches for ½ hour with grandpa working on my arm and shoulder. Then off comes the float and I do squats by sitting down on Grandpa’s and Yonna’s knee and then stand up and hold it. Again, my feet are tender my feet hurt when I get up. I tend to twist as my right side is so much stronger than the left. Must work on standing straight.

Learned a new trick. As mentioned, Darcy hurt her back putting my feet into bed. She has to lift my legs from the floor and push them into the bed. I haven’t been able to lift my legs and swing them into the bed as my butt sinks into the bed. I had a brain wave that I could sit on my slider board that I use to slide in and out of the wheel chair. I sit on the board and can easily lift my legs and swivel my butt on the board and put my legs into the bed. It even gets me in the right position so I don’t have to slide up in the bed so my feet don’t touch the bedboard. The PSW’s appreciate it as well.

Wednesday Aug 8^th:  Wow got back to phyisio with a bang. Laura and Marion were working on my arm and posture and I mean head up shoulders back chest out, sit and stand tall, all the time…then we got into standing with 4 physios, one in front keeping my arm extended, one on my right making sure my leg was straight, one on the left stopping my left side from collapsing and keeping my leg straight as possible and my heel on the floor and one behind making sure my tail bone was tucked under and my gluts were on. When I stand, my right leg does all the work and the left goes along for the ride. If I put weight on my left leg the whole left side collapses, knee, and hip. They said I must do 8000 reps a day of putting weight through my left leg and tighten my left glut (bum). The work Yonna and I have been doing on stretching the hamstring is helping as I can get the knee straighter without pulling the hamstring i.e. no pain. They like my ‘stamina’ as I was able to go from sit to stand many times without a rest.

Darcy and I have a standing bet of 25 cents depending on whom is right. As physio wants me to stand and practice putting weight on my left leg I needed something to stand up to from the bed. I need to be on the bed as I can raise it up higher than a chair. Darcy suggested I use the handle bar on the commode. I said the commode was too light and wouldn’t work…she won the quarter. With a PSW standing beside the commode and Darcy sitting in it, I grab the handlebar, keeping my chest and head up, put my noes over my toes I stood up, 5 times. I was a little wobbly but managed to stay standing for a couple of minutes each time. Darcy doesn’t feel comfortable doing it alone as I wobble to the left and she is afraid I’ll fall….note I’m not afraid as if anything gives out I’ll just sit on the bed.

Thursday Aug 9^th:  No swimming pool as it was quite cool and raining. Yonna did lots of stretching of hamstrings and the hip flexors. Did some stands from the bed trying to tighten my butt and tuck tail bone under and putting weight through my left foot. Hard to keep gluts tight. Must get a leg press machine to work the legs and get the butt working. I was not so wobbly this time and my left side did not collapse when I put weight through it. Darcy now feels comfortable doing itby herself.

Friday Aug 10^th:  PT today as a replacement for the civic holiday…yeehaw. They had me standing for45 minutes at the standing table. They put some weights under my toes to lift them up that really stretched my hamstrings. I could only tolerate it for ½ hour.  Again trying to keep my legs straight and pressure on my knee, again my left arm bone is attached to my left knee bone and the ol’ left arm tightened up. They tried to get my fingers open and they did extend my arm with a lot of difficulty. Then they got me into side lying and stretched my quads i.e. bent my knee and pulled it back to stretch the quad and the hip flexors, feels good when they stop.

Came home and had another great massage from Jeanie and she commented on how much more flexible my ankle was.

I would be remiss if I didn’t thank the Tillsonburg Rec Department for all they did in getting me into the pool.

How am I feeling?

The long weekend was not good. It was too hot to go outside and there was no therapy for a week. Rode the bike but even with the air conditioner on, I was sweating a lot. Started to doubt what I am doing but the therapy on Wednesday got me over that hump. Being able to get my legs into bed is great and standing at the commode is fantastic.

I have stopped setting goals for when I am going to walk. I’ll keep doing what physio says and I’ll walk when they tell me I am ready. There is so much that has to happen before I get there. There is the whole balance thing and just picking a foot up with the weight entirely on the other foot must be learned all over. Then there is stepping. I know I was walking in the pool, don’t get me wrong, that was a great feeling but, two people plus the water were holding me up as I have no balance and I need to stand straight and shift my weight from one foot to the other all the time keeping my leg and butt muscles turned on. It’s tough to have the brain send the signals to the right spot at the right time, that’s the unknown learning variable which may take time…will take time.

Oh yes I watched a lot of the Olympics…yeehaw Canada…well done. Some great performances, Damian Warner in the decathlon and our only gold and the soccer team and last in women’s triathlon… and…and…and…and damn about the relay, rules must be followed…oops did I say that.

Thanks for listening….