At physio I am really focusing on my body parts and not
kibitzing with the therapists. They like my progress but I have to concentrate
on not tensing my left arm every time I move my left leg. If I try to move
anything my traps (neck muscles) turn on. I was in the pool at Parkwood on
Wednesday, July 11 and the thing I heard most was ‘Glen relax your neck!’ I
must consciously think about my neck as well as what I am doing with my
legs. It takes a lot of energy for me to
multi-task. For those of you who saw the video of me walking in the pool I
found out there was quite a bit wrong with it. It felt great to be moving on my
own but my bum was out and I was not over my feet. To walk I must turn on my
gluts (bum) first and then put my weight on one leg and step with the other
with my butt under my shoulders and this is where I must concentrate on
relaxing the rest of my body. That’s the kind of rewiring the ol’ brain needs
to do. The brain ain’t got it yet.
I was in the pool with one of my old, oops, former
roommates. He was told that he would never walk again as he had an infection in
his spine and had several vertebrae fused in his lower back. He drove in from
St. Mary’s and walked in unassisted, talk about encouragement. He mentioned
that he was where I am 3 to 4 months ago.
Grandpa Bob was in the pool with me at Parkwood and one of
the physios showed him what I should be doing in the pool. They seem to be
pleased with the way I am standing both in and out of the pool. I need to do a
lot of core work and get my bum back…do lots of pelvic tilts…I am doing them
right now.
Got a great email from a friend’s mother, I’ll call her
Marj. Note I have never met her and we
just started communicating via FB when I fell off the wagon in January and
February. She would send me these subtle notes just at the right time, now I
find out that she was/is a psych nurse. Now I’ve had 4 professionals, 3 psych
nurses and a psychiatrist telling me to stay on the antidepressants. Marj
explained it the best, I am good at healing my body but my mind and brain have
taken a beating in this whole event and I have to take meds and give my brain
time to heal as well. I have to let the people who know how to treat my brain do
their job. I am on the meds until they
say I can come off. Marj gave me the perspective
that I understand. I need to heal my brain, simple as that. Perhaps if I had
sought help for my claustrophobia, anxiety and panic attacks prior to the crash
I could have been cured a long time ago.
Things you learn along the way. We thought it would be great
to get one of those nice curved, ergonomic pillows that would keep my head and
neck in a comfortable position with a notch in the side so I could lie on my
side and use the CPAP…the face mask that I wear for sleep apnea. After several
tries it just didn’t work. The reason was a Homer Simpson ‘Doh’….my neck is
fused and doesn’t bend so the curved support becomes a pain in the neck.
Someone was also being a smart ass, since I can’t drink wine she bought me a
bag of wine gums.
Last Monday, the 9th, I stood at a standing table
for ½ hour. The standing table is just that, a table that you stand up to. The
interesting part is getting up. Wheel up in the chair and belts are strapped
around my butt and the machine pulls me up to a standing position and I put my
arms on the table and stood like that for ½ hour. They also tried stimulating
my arm but the unit didn’t work very well. I took my Dr. Hoh unit that I used
to relax my legs after a hard ride, to the physio for her to see if it’ll work
on my left arm. I’ll find out on Monday.
My left quad is very weak and I was told to put a ball under
my knee and straighten my leg and hold for 5 seconds and do 3 sets of 10. I
cheated a bit, put a ball under my knee and did 5 sets of 10 with a 5 pound
weight on my foot and held it as long as I could.…yup as Darcy says, I overdo
everything. Speaking of overdoing, on Wednesday, July 11th, I had OT for an
hour to loosen up my arms and then an hour of physio in the pool. I was invited
to watch Le Tour de France at John’s with The Sarge and Grandpa Bob. Came home
from London at
1:30, ate lunch and went to John’s at 2:30, but of course we had to wait for
The Sarge. Oh yes, Grandpa Bob came to my place and pushed me over to John’s in
my manual chair about ½ a K. Needed the manual chair so they could get me into
the house and I had to train them to do that. John taped Le Tour and we watched
it commercial free. It was good time watching them drink wine and eat snacks
while I drank water…just kidding it was great to be out. Since I don’t move
around too much and burn any calories, I watch what I eat so no snacks. I
digress. About ½ way through le Tour I started to tighten up, my arms and legs
started to tingle and I was very uncomfortable but stayed for another two hours
got home at 6:30.When I got home…again Grandpa pushed me home, I was absolutely
pooped, had trouble eating supper and getting into bed. I will never learn.
If I did every exercise that PT and OT wanted me to I’d be
working out from 6 to 6. I do work out and I was on the trainer for ½ hour and
did 8.3 K at an average speed of 17.3 KPH, average heart rate of 102 and a
maximum of 125. The trainer helps my left knee a lot as it bends the knee from
about 15 degrees to about 95 degrees and it strengthens my quad and gluts.
Hopefully this will get my bum back!
I was in the pool again on Thursday the 12th, and
Yonna had me floating around to try any relax my body from my Wednesday
escapades. The water helps a lot. I was standing at the edge of the pool hanging
on to the edge trying to shift my weight from one leg to the other. An older
lady who I see in the pool told me I am getting better every time she sees me,
that was great encouragement. I got home at 12:30 ate lunch and had a great
massage from Jeanie who comes to the house once a week. She loosens up
everything with a deep muscle massage, painful at the time but feels good
after.
How am I feeling?
I am feeling good about OT and PT. The pool is working well
both at Parkwood and at the Rec centre and as mentioned the massage is helping
a lot. The email from Marj was uplifting as she says, ’Acceptance is not
defeat!’ Marj was very active as a runner, cyclist, yoga instructor, loved
working in her garden and as mentioned a psych nurse. Marj is in a power chair too and she helps me
out a lot.
Constipation is gone for now and you don’t know how good
that makes me feel. I am eating a tablespoon or two of hemp hearts and then I
smoke some and that makes me feel real good….just kidding.
I am not feeling depressed as things seem to be heading in
the right direction. My mood is good and
Darcy and I have had a good couple of weeks.
Thanks for listening….
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