Mon Jan 27th: Went
to the pool with Darcy and did lots of walking. Just wish I could transfer pool
walking to overland. I should be walking more at home but I am afraid of
falling with just Darcy hanging onto the belt. I know it is silly; Darcy walks
me at Parkwood with no problem.
Tues Jan 28th:
Off to Toronto at 10 for a 1:30 appointment. Left early to make sure we
made it with the Sarge driving. It was -19 when we left and the Sarge got very
cold fingers filling up the window washer fluid. Turned out to be a great day, the roads were
clear and the traffic was reasonable. Note they have a lot less snow in Toronto
than we have here.
Got into see the Dr. at about 2:30. The resident came in and
did some tests to see how my arms and legs where working. He went out and
discussed his findings with Dr. Fehlings, the surgeon. They came back in and we
reviewed the MRI and everything was ok. The problem with my arm is not
neurological...yeehaw...he thinks the weakness in my right arm is from not
having physio on it. The simple solution is to start rehabbing it again. I
think I should have got that in writing to take to Dr. Potter in London.
Hopefully a report will go into my file for Dr. Potter. He also said that I
have some old age issues happening...grrr...like arthritis that is affecting a
lot of my joints. I was then discharged
and I don’t need to see him again.
Natalia, an Epidemiologist was also there and she was still
trying to recruit me for a research project for a functional MRI. They trace
the nerves from the spinal cord to where ever and they may identify the broken
ones. This is a research project and not a clinical study so the results would
not necessarily help me. I’d like to do it for the research but I’d have to
overcome my claustrophobia. We’ll see
but I doubt it.
Wed Jan 29th:
Today was interesting. Got up this morning and I was having trouble peeing. I
peed only small amounts and it felt like my bladder was full but I couldn’t pee
and it was painful. Went to emerg and they did an ultrasound and there was 484
cc in the bladder. They put a catheter in and drained it. The Dr came in and
said when they take the catheter out they wouldn’t let me go until I peed.
Darcy got me a bottle of water and the nurse brought me glasses of water. I did
pee in about 5 minutes and I was free to go.
Got home and started drinking and was able to pee a couple
of times but the flow wasn’t that strong. Then the light bulb went off, the
problem is not my bladder the problem is the enlarged prostate that is
squeezing the ureter and stopping the flow. The pee that I had at the hospital
was due to the fact that the catheter opened up the ureter momentarily. Now this is Urologist, Dr. Steen doing the
diagnosis so it is time to see the real urologist in Hamilton.
I rode the bike for 20 minutes, the first 10 wasn’t too bad
but the 2nd session was very difficult, the legs just wouldn’t go
around. My lower abdomen is very sore.
The rest of the story....for
some reason I stopped keeping a daily log so the rest of the blog will be from
memory.
Therapy: It has
been going very well. Stephanie loosens me up on the matt and the time it takes
depends on how tight the body is. We then do a few sit to stands to get the leg
working and some stepping up on a step both in front and to the side. I put my
right foot on the box that is 6 inches high and straighten up as tall as I can
get. This stretches my hip and quads in my left leg. Note this is done with no assistance;
Stephanie is there just in case. A two inch step is sometimes placed at the
side and I step up laterally. All this done to get my hips forward and my back
straight so I don’t walk bent over. It also is training my brain to trust my
left leg and letting it know that the left leg can hold me up. When I walk I
move very quickly to get off the left leg. My brain needs to have the
confidence that my left leg can hold me up. For balance, I stand on a piece of
foam that is about 2 inches thick. It is difficult to stay up when I get back
on my heels but I’m getting better at balancing on it. There have been several
quick sit downs.
Walking has been getting better. I am now walking without a
walking pool. Seems when I have the stick in my hand I put the death grip on it
and tend to lean on it a lot. Without the pole, I must lift my left foot to
take a step. The left ankle not bending is causes all the problems with
walking. I walk about 10 m before my leg gets tired and me and can’t lift up
the toe anymore. I sit and rest for 2 or 3 minutes and do another 10 m. This
repeats 3, 4, 5 or 6 times dependent on when the left leg won’t work anymore.
We also do side stepping left and right. I side step for about 6 meters rest
for a couple of minutes then go the other way. This does two things, teaches me
to lift my left foot and to stand on my left leg.
There is a set of stairs at Parkwood and we have been using
them more often as I have also been climbing out of the pool in Tillsonburg
which has 6 steps. I’d climb in but you are required to enter backwards and I’m
not that good at going backwards. Stephanie took Darcy and me into the pool at
Parkwood to see if we had a good pool program. We have, and she showed us on
additional exercise to loosen up my trunk. The pool at Parkwood is about 93
degrees and it feels real good. Oh yes, I was able to walk in and out of the
pool.
Keith, a Karate student who works afternoons, is taking me
to the gym on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 9:30 now that Grandpa Bob is in
Florida. We work out for about an hour to an hour and a half. Work on both legs
and arms. Darcy tells me not to overdo it. But last Wednesday, I was feeling
very good, not a lot of tone and did add some extra weight and some extra sets
on the leg press and knee extensions. Working the arms is hard as the lightest
weight on the pulley machine is 7 pounds. Keith is very good at assisting and
moving my arms through its full range, this particularly valuable for my left
arm. I walked hanging on to Keith’s arm between stations.
After the gym it was
off to the pool with Darcy. Felt good to be in the water after the weight
lifting. Got some good stretches in and walking. I can now walk quite
comfortably in the pool with no assistance and away from the wall which was my
security blanket. I also do some side stepping and I am able to keep more upright
than on dry land, the buoyancy helps a lot most of the time. Whether on dry
land or in the pool after a few minutes of walking it feels like there is a
knife stuck in my lower back on the left side.
It’s the show stopper and I need a couple of minutes to stretch it out
and get going again. After the pool it was home for a late lunch, some painting
and a ride on the bike. I was starting to get toned up. Legs and back were very
tight. Bowel care time rolled around at 7:15 and my butt was so toned up Darcy
had trouble getting the suppository in. Then onto the commode but there was no
BM, everything was too tight. Woke Darcy up at 4 to get me over the toilet,
(she was not a happy camper and threatened to cancel my gym membership) and it
was the usual diarrhea. On with the Depends and off to therapy.
I was so tight, I could hardly move. Had difficulty getting
in and out of the car. Darcy explained to Stephanie what I had done the day
before and I was chastised by Stephanie because it was interfering with my
therapy. However, after a few stretches, some sit to stands and step work, we
walked to the standing table and even though I was very tight it was one of my
better walks. Didn’t have the belt on and walked without the walking pole with Stephanie’s
hand on my arm. 10 minutes in the standing table and 2 more walks. We spent
some time adjusting my cushion in my chair. Seems every time I sit in the chair
for any length of time in my back gets very sore. I had been moving the cushion back and that
seemed to help a bit. According to her that was makes my hips slouch and if I
put the cushion all the way out my hips are in a much better position and I sit
up much straighter.
Stephanie corrected my standing technique. To stand, I have
always moved my body forward and curled my back in a ‘C’ shape, rock forward
and used the momentum to get up. Sometimes it would take 2 or 3 tries to stand.
She had me tilt up my hips forward which arches my back and I use more of my
quads to stand. It is the same technique that all of you use to stand. I have
to think about doing it. It turns on my core as well and makes standing so much
easier.
Another thing that happened when I had the Depends on at
Parkwood. I was straining to straighten up in the standing table and the
inevitable wet one occurred. Darcy said it wasn’t noticeable but now I know why
kids cry when their diapers are full. Note the Depends were far from full as we
found out a little later. I didn’t feel good just the same. Darcy had brought
some extra Depends so into the washroom for a change. The toilets in Parkwood
are a little taller than domestic ones and there was a handrail. I got on ok.
Interesting sitting on a toilet for the first time in 2½ years. Now the
problem, how to get off something this low? Even with my new found standing
technique, we knew it would be difficult. Darcy held my hands and pulled and
after 2 tries I was on my feet. Not only is she the love of my life she’s a
strong little Lady.
On Jan 15th I had an EMG on my left hand and
right arm. My Family Doc ordered it and we don’t know why. The EMG Doc called
and wanted to see me again last Thursday a 3 o’clock. That meant hanging around
at Parkwood for 3 hours after therapy. We went up to my old stomping grounds,
the lounge on the 4th flour and watched Canada beat Austria. Sitting
in the wheelchair hurts my back, I got out and sat in one of the lounge chairs.
Don’t remember chairs being that low...ha! Getting into it was easy, getting
out was another thing. After several
tries Darcy was able to get me to my feet. I was assuming that the EMG Doc was
going to do some more testing but no. It seems on the 15th he was in
a hurray and didn’t make proper notes to write his report to my Doc. Needless
to say I wasn’t too pleased to waste the whole afternoon for his incompetence....grrrrrrrr
Had another appointment with Dr. Fabre the hand specialist.
They really wanted the MRI of my right shoulder that hasn’t occurred yet due to
a mix up at my Dr.’s Office. Interesting what happens being a Guinea Pig at a
teaching hospital. Two Resident Drs. and 2 students come in and the Resident
does the assessment. He was very
thorough. They leave and have a discussion with Dr. Fabre and Dr. Sequora, a
Parkwood Physiatrist, then they all come back in and the Resident goes over his
findings in medicaleses and the Doc’s agree or disagree. The bottom line is the
resident didn’t think surgery would be beneficial on my left and may in fact make
it worse and we should continue with the Botox which seems to help and the Docs
agreed....yeehaw. As for the right arm the resident thought that physio was the
answer and Dr. Sequora said he’d write the order to OT and they would be in
touch....another Yeehaw. Once I get the MIR they may reassess the right
arm. Two hours well spent, I missed the gym and the pool but I did get lunch at
Angelo’s.
I am taking it a little easier on the bike and I’m doing 2x10
minute sets with a 3 minute cool down between sets and 3 minutes at the end.
I’m getting 3 k in 10 minutes with an average speed of 18.3 kph. I’ll be upping
that to 2x15 minute session soon.
How am I Feeling?
It is a bother that I can’t do gym in the morning, swim at
noon and ride the bike in the afternoon on Mon, Wed and Fri as that seems to
create too much muscle tone. Although Dr Steen may have another explanation for
the muscle tone. Theoretically, exercise is supposed to relax muscle tone and
visceral things like bladder and intestines increase it. I am taking a lot of
laxatives and two of those laxatives irritate the large intestine. Perhaps that
is causing the tone. Another Catch 22, if I don’t take the ‘irritant’ laxative
I may get impacted again as there is nothing to move the stuff along. When I
take them the irritation causes muscle tone. I’ll consult with Dr. Potter when
I see him next week to see if he agrees with my diagnosis. This muscle tone is the bane of my existence.
Ah yes painting!!
Getting very frustrated painting, seems the table is a little low and I
am all bent over the table and it really hurts my back and increases my tone.
The real pain is the paintings aren’t coming out the way I want them to...you
know they aren’t a masterpiece...lol! I can only paint for 45 minutes to an
hour which really isn’t long enough to get into it. I have found this website
called ‘Paint my Photo’. Photographers upload pictures and artist paint and
post the paintings. I tried painting one of the landscapes and I keep comparing
my painting to the other 4 paintings which I know I shouldn’t do....grrrr
It’s the little things that get me upset and this is really
silly. While I was at Parkwood Darcy had to go and get a parking pass. She
parked me in front of a big fish tank in the main lounge. There was a little
hatchet fish swimming vertically. Dr. Steen the vet diagnosed the problem as an
air bladder problem and he had to get to the surface to gulp some air to fill
his bladder. Try as he might he’d get about half an inch from the surface and
run out of gas and sink back down about 2 feet. After a little rest he’d try
again. If I could I would have helped him out but after the 3rd
attempt it bothered me so much I had to move...guess I am a big suck.
