Here’s what I’ve been doing for the last 2 weeks:
Sunday July 15th:
Rode the bike for 2x15 minute sessions, just a spin ride with the
cadence in the 40’s and hit 50 once. Cadence = Pedal RPM. That becomes the
competition; try to go faster in the second session.Really stiff today. I think
I have a UTI, bladder burns but no cloudy urine. Did some launches, that is,
sit on the side of the bed, put my nose over my toes keeping head and chest up
then lift my butt off the bed like I am standing.
Monday July 16th:Very
tight in the morning before and at physio.
Got up in the standing table for another ½ hour. Stimulation on my left
arm with Dr. Ho as their expensive machine didn’t work all that well.
Disappointed with prone standing which is standing with my trunk over a table
and my face in a face toilet. Couldn’t get my arms out and my legs weren’t
strong enough to keep me up, I have several excuses, oops reasons 1. Legs tired
from the standing table 2. Legs tired from the bike and launches on Sunday. 3.
Damn UTI. Couldn’t get my arms out because they had my left leg stretched out,
remember, left leg bone is attached to the left arm bone.
Disappointed as this was the first time I couldn’t do what
they asked
Saw the respirologist in the afternoon, and I do have sleep
apnea.Need a new machine that records some more measurements. What happens now
is the face mask goes on at 10:30 to 11 and I wake up at 4 or 5 with a dry mouth
and I take it off and snooze and snore ‘til 7. The respirologist can download
the info and see what I have been doing.
Something creepy happened in the parking lot when we were
getting into the car. Darcy was getting me into the car and a guy pulls up in
the next space and asks if we need help, which we didn’t. He got out of the car
and came around behind our vehicle and asked again if we needed help, we said
no again. I got loaded in the car and Darcy put the chair away, and as we
pulled out he drove away. Perhaps he was just a Good Samaritan but we were a
bit leery.
Tuesday July 17th: In the rec pool with Yonna and Grandpa and did lots of stretching of arms and
legs, lots of hamstring stretches then squats, to standing. Just about peed in
the pool but thought I could hold ‘til I got home, made it out of the pool,
then a mad dash to the change room…peed a little on the deck, just a little.
Went to lunch with Grandpa, Yonna and The Sarge at Ambrosia House. Had a
chicken pie and a bowl of fruit,Yonna left without paying…..she did go back and
pay a couple of days later.
Wednesday July 18th: OT worked my arm for an hour
and used Dr. Ho on my left triceps. Then in PTthey put me in prone (lying on my
tummy) and then slid me off the end of the table to prone standing…have to work
very hard at turning muscles on and off. When they stood me up I was feeling
quit nauseous. It is amazing how fast the physios can move when they think I am
going to barf. I now know what Procol Harum meant by ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’….
How many of you remember them? That was the first time I have been nauseous in
a long time.
Thursday July 19th:Another great massage from
Jeanie today. Yonna came over and I got up to almost standing straight up about
7 times…felt good I was a afraid at first to stand with only one catcher but
Yonna reminded me that she is bigger than me or at least as big as and could
easily hold me up and she could probably bench press me as well. Of course I
want to stand more on my right leg and since I can’t get my left heel on the
floor I tend to rotate to the right. Still tight and having spasms, and it
feels like a bladder infection AGAIN. Guess I better see the Doc. Since I sleep
on my back and don’t move all night, I am very stiff in the morning and it takes
a good hour to loosen up. I know I am stiff when the PSW has to help sit me up
on the edge of the bed in the morning.
Friday July 20th:Supposed to go in the Rec pool
but the lift is broken, still waiting for a part. Yonna, Grandpa and Karen came
over. Yonna stretched my left arm and Bob worked my left leg then went from sit
to stand 6 times with very little help,that is I basically stood up with very
little help…yeehaw. The bed was up a bit higher than a normal chair but I got
up straight and then everyone let go andI was able to stand on my own a couple
of times and stayed up for a minute+ even with weight on my left foot.Grandpa
was on the left arm, Yonna was in front holding my hands and Karen was behind
making sure my butt was tight which is a very important part of standing and
walking. Then Yonna stretched my hamstrings, my quads and hip flexors…yikes. It
felt so good when she stopped, but it needs to be done.
More good news, the indoor Rec pool is closing for the month
of August not good news,but there is an outdoor wave pool that has an adult
swim period,with no waves.They will take the lift over, if and when the part
comes in, so I won’t miss a month out of the pool…another yeehaw
Saturday July 21st:A rest day, went to Karen and
Terry’s for a BBQ, felt good to get out. Again everyone drank wine and I had
water…should have taken some wine gums…. hee,hee.
Sunday July 22nd:Peed on Darcytoday. You know how
baby boys sometimes create a fountain when gettingtheir diapers changed, well
it was something like that as she was positioning the urinal.
Rode the bikefor ½ hour. Watched the great escape on TCM.
Did exercises in bed, pelvic tilts, leg extensions, crunches and used Dr.Ho on
my forearm and on my triceps. I usually do about an hour exercise routine in
bed in the evenings.
Monday July23rd:No physio today as Laura is away.
Yonna came over and did some massage and stretched the hamstrings and stood me
up 5 times. Stood just holding Yonna’s hand and then I let go and stood by
myself with Darcy making sure my bum was tight. The legs got tired and form
fell apart so we quit. My heel was on the ground but it doesn’t hurt the calf
as much as standing in PT. After lunch went on the computer and watched several
episodes of Cosmic Journey…neat stuff.
Tuesday July 24th:A rest day, watchedmore stuff
on the origin of the universe. Did exercise routine at night in bed.
Wednesday July 25th:In PT did prone standing,
need to take some more pain pills so I can straighten out my knee and flex it
more. Straightening my knee hurts the calf and hamstring and when they hurt I
tighten up my left arm and it won’t come out to the side. They want me to
actively sit up straight, that is, head up shoulders back, chest out. I have
never sat up so straight.
Rode the bike for ½ hour in the afternoon and tried moving
my arms like in the chicken dance and kept pedaling. Trying to separate the
body parts and have the arms and legs move independently. The brain needs to
figure out what to move. I don’t stop pedaling when I do the chicken dance but
the cadence does fall off.
Thursday July 26th:Rode the bike for ½ hour did
chicken dance and the arms and legs were moving independently. It’s like
rubbing your tummy and patting your head
Friday July27th:PT got me sitting straight up and
got me thinking about separating movementsand I must do it all the time, move
the left arm without tightening shoulder. Must move left leg without moving
left arm. Same as sparring when I move, I must not lead with my head must start
to lead with my chest.Had fastest speed to date on the bike, first time over 20
kph in a 15 minute ride and distance over 5 K.
Saturday July 28th:Thanks to all the Karate club
members who came over and weeded the gardens and trimmed the shrubs etc., it
looks great. Wow can Marianne chug a beer.
Backvery tight and sore did 30 minutes on the bike…easy
spin. Tired and I slept most of morning…damn UTI, must see the Doc.
Sunday July 30:Went to Coffee Cultures and met Sensei John
and some guys from the cycling club. I drove the electric chair and Darcy rode
her bike and I knocked her off it. No she wasn’t hurt…much. I was in front and
turned to miss a pot hole and hit her front wheel and she went down and got a
little road rash on her knee.Did ½ hour on the
bike and kept the speed up over 20 kph
How am I feeling?
Went surfing for spinal cord injury (SCI) and perhaps I
shouldn’t have. The literature says what you have at 6 months is what you get
and after 9 months you plateau. I’m now at a little over 11 months and let’s
see what I have. Right arm has about 40 – 50% function and I have to see what I
am doing as the sensory is not all there i.e. can’t feelwith my fingers. Left
arm moves a bit but it is very stiff at the elbow and I can’t straighten it
out. The wrist won’t bend much and stays at about a 30 degree angle most of the
time. The index finger and thumb move a bit and there is very weak pinch
strength.The other 3 fingers are usually curled up in my palm. Sometimes they
are soft and can be straightened easily, other times they are very stiff and it
takes a lot of work to straighten them. When they are soft I can wiggle them a
bit but nowhere near opening my hand. Since there is some movement it means
some message is getting through…perhaps it means I need to get the extender
muscles on the back of my arm stronger. Sensory on the left hand changes and
some days it is numb and sometimes it is hypersensitive…very strange. Sometimes
when I connect Dr. Ho (electrical stimulation) the fingers open a bit and
sometimes they don’t move at all….again very strange.
The legs are getting stronger and they tell me all the motor
muscles are there, I have to stop moving as one big block and strengthen my
core. The goal is to walk, the question is ‘When’?
I guess it is like any training plateau you just have to
work harder to get off it.
Thanks for listening to two weeks in the life of….
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