Dec 9 to Dec 30
Hmmmmm…for some reason I’m finding it hard to start writing.
I have always been a bit of a procrastinator but it has really shown up
recently. I need an organizer like Sensei Linda to give me a kick in the butt. I
didn’t keep a log for the last 3 weeks so I’ve been looking at a blank page
which could be part of the problem. I had great intentions of sending out
Christmas cards and thank you’s to all of the people that have been so kind and
helpful over the past year. But you know what happens to good intentions and it
was December 23rd before I got going and by then it was way too
late. If this helps a belated Merry Christmas to every one and a Happy New
Year, here’s wishing 2013 is a great year for you and yours.
Rehab has been going well. As I have mentioned, Laura my
Physio at Parkwood is very creative and figured out that I am a touch
competitive. She designed a triathlon for me. The bike is of course on the bike
for half an hour. Also, as mentioned when I pedal everything tightens up, I get
Laura points if I can relax my neck and think about keeping my arms loose. No
matter how hard I think, I can’t relax my trunk. The run portion of the tri is 10 sit to
stands. Each stand must be up tall with bum in, gluts tight, shoulders back
head up and chin in. Once up straight, a weight shift for left to right leg
lifting my foot to put weight on the other leg. Get Laura points for checking
my posture and adjusting accordingly. I can use a performance enhancer, which
is a dirty word nowadays but in this case I’m allowed to use a mirror to check
my posture with no penalty. The swim portion is lying in bed, and while doing
bridging (knees bent, feet flat on the bed, raise butt as high off the bed as
possible), move arms in a backstroke motion or out to the side. This is to get
the brain to try and differentiate the moving of the arms while the legs are
engaged.
I can move my arms quite easily while in a bridge position,
but what is very difficult is when lying flat on my back and lifting my left
leg off the bed. It tightens up my left arm and hand. I mean so tight you can’t
straighten out the arm or open my fingers and the ol’ brain doesn’t get the
message to let it relax. Or I just haven’t found the correct route to tell it
what to do. The right arm is OK when I lift the right leg.
I now have a written work out from Laura and the leg workout
takes over an hour to do. Jody in OT gave me some homework to do over the
holidays since I don’t see her ‘til Jan 12th. Do sit to partial
stands. Sitting on edge of the bed, lean forward with nose over toes to get the
butt off the bed then up almost to a stand, hold and sit down slowly. Do sets
of 10. I can do them but my back tightens up...go figure. I cheat a bit as I need to pull
on a chair to get started…gotta get those quads stronger.
Interesting in the pool on Thursday, I was standing but my
left leg seemed to flop around as if it doesn’t have any weight on it. Yonna
told me to tighten up the quad and she checked it out. Seems the lower portion
of the quad is tight but the upper portion is flaccid. Don’t know what to do to
get the upper part working. This explains at least partially why the leg flops.
I’ve been getting in the pool at Parkwood, once a week and in
the Tillsonburg pool at least once a week. Getting better at standing in the
pool and my left side and left leg seem to be getting stronger. With the assist
of the buoyancy in the pool I can now stand on the left leg and lift the right
one off the bottom and hold it up. Must really get my balance first and stand
very upright on the left leg and consciously think about keeping the muscles tight
in my leg but also in my hips and tummy. The brain doesn’t know it should be
doing it all automatically. Normally the brain would be turning muscles on and
off as needed for balance. Since I don’t seem to have the sensors to turn the muscles
on and off, I turn them all on. Therefore, can’t stand long as the muscles tier
quickly. Don’t knows if the muscles are weak because they have atrophied or if
there isn’t enough nerve impulse getting there to keep them turned on.
Going to miss Yonna and the Tillsonburg pool for a couple of
weeks. She is taking her husband Steve to Hawaii for his retirement gift and
they won’t be back until Jan 14th . When they get back, Steve
will be coming into the pool with us on Thursday’s. With all the programs Jody
and Laura have given me, I should be able to fill my time for a couple of weeks.
The tight back is causing some problems as mentioned many times and I can’t make it
relax…hmmm…is more meds the answer? Pedaling the bike,
standing, or doing anything with my legs, the ol’ back and trunk tighten up.
Well now it’s at the point of interfering with other stuff. For example, I had
a couple good bike rides and then just before Christmas on Dec 23rd
I got an intestinal bug and a bout of diarrhea that made me miss the family
Christmas Eve get together at my brother-in-laws. For most people, a tummy bug
only causes some intestinal 'symptoms' and generally feeling crappy. Spinal cord
injured people get all the normal symptoms but also get muscle tone/muscle
tightness and mine happens to be in my trunk and I also get spasms in my arms and legs as well. In fact,
they are such a bother, I’m taking extra pain pills to put up with it…hydromorphone
and Tylenol together….grrrrr. At the time of writing the intestinal bug is
back. I had to get Darcy up at 3:30 to get me in the commode and to the John.
Even wore Depends to coffee with the guys this morning (Sunday, Dec. 30) just
in case.
Christmas was great with Meghan and Andrew. We had fun
opening presents and had a nice turkey dinner at about 3:30 on Christmas day. The
gifts arrived on time from Kelly in Australia and I got to talk to her on her
Christmas day. The tummy bug left long enough to allow me to enjoy Christmas dinner.
Meghan brought Ashlu, a Border Collie who is big but very friendly even to Myah
our Shih Tzu, but Myah was very happy to see the Collie leave.
Had a massage on Thursday, Dec 27th and I usually
get into prone and get my back done which feels real good, but got into prone
and the lower back went into spasm. Had to get onto my back right away. Even
when I sit at the computer now the back is a ‘pain’. Don’t usually complain
about the pain but it is interfering with other stuff now. The only thing that
seems to relieve it is sitting in bed with the head of the bed up at a 30
degree angle. I also found that if I sleep flat on my back I have big problems
in the morning. Most of that is from lying in one position without moving for 10
to 12 hours.
Just being in bed is getting to be a problem. The PSW’s come
in the morning to give me a shower, I can do most of it but need help to get
all the parts and drying off. They then get me dressed and they do all of that
before I go back into the washroom and shave and brush my teeth. Then it’s
breakfast time and medication time…17 freakin’ pills so I need to take them with food. Some workers come a 6:45
which is great some come at 8 or 8:30 which is not so good as I don’t get my
meds ‘til around 9:30. It also means that I am in bed for 12 hours which is way
too long. We are trying to get it worked out that the PSW’S come in at 7 or
earlier, it’s hard to change scheduling once it is in place. There are a couple
of reasons why I need the meds early as possible. The anti-spasmodics wear off
at night so I need them earlier in the morning to keep the blood levels up, and
if no meds ‘til 9:30 that’s only 2.5 hours ‘til lunch time pills. Too short of
a gap.
Had some good outings over the past 3 weeks. Went to the
Martial Arts Canada Christmas Banquet. It was great seeing all the kids and OMG
how the kids have grown. Nice to see them get excited about winning trophies.
Then a house party on the weekend and saw a lot of good friends. On the 21st
went to Brantford for the old rugby guys Christmas get together at the Polish
Hall. Good to see that gang again doing the ‘I remember when!’. I know my
claustrophobia is gone after riding in the Polish Hall elevator. It was just
wide enough for the chair and just long enough for the chair and Darcy to stand
behind it….made it with no problem, mind you it was only a one floor trip.
I’ve been spending quite a bit of time on the internet
looking for a bicycle well actually looking for a trike. I was looking for a trike
with 1 wheel in the back and 2 wheels up front that are used for steering. Found
a recumbent tadpole tike which has the drive wheel in the back and steers with two
handle bars connected to the front wheels. Brake levers and shifters are on
each handle bar, right side has the right brake and rear wheel shifter and the
left has the left front wheel brake and the front derailleur shifter. There are
a couple of issues that need to be looked at. The higher the seat the easier it
will be for me to get in and out of. I’ll have to slide in and out from the wheelchair
or if I’m walking I may be able to able to get in and out of it easily. Searched
many companies and found Terra Trike in Grand Rapids, Michigan has a tadpole
trike with the highest seat at 14.5 inches (36.8 cm) from the ground…it’ll take
a little work getting down there and more work getting up….hmmmm…now there some
incentive to do Jody’s sit to stands. Must set the goal of getting up from a
chair that is 14 inches from the floor…yikes. A little quad, opps a lot of quad
strengthening is in order. Other considerations were that the brake lever on
the right handle bar could run both brakes and also install the front
derailleur shifter to the right handle bar. Sent an email to Terra Trikes and
it’s all doable. If ya wanna see the bike opps trike it’s at: http://www.terratrike.com/sportster.php
It’s the SL version. They are presently
9 speeds but they will upgrade to a 10 speed and that would be 30 gears. It was
a lot of fun researching all the bikes and components and reading reviews on
the different bikes. Nothing beats consumer reviews. It appears that the
tadpole bikes will keep up with upright bikes. Another change would be to put a
700 cm wheel as the drive wheel on the back which is up from the 400 cm that is
standard. This not only provides better gearing but will also raise the seat a
little and every silly millimeter helps. I think I’m excited…Can’t ye tell?
How am I Feeling?
Now this is a tough one. I think this back pain is getting
me down a bit. I missed my night meds a couple of times and I take the
anti-depressant at night. That may account for some weird dreams and thoughts.
I start thinking about what is going to happen 10 years down the road. Darcy
won’t be able to keep up at her present level and a retirement home certainly
is not an alternative…just gets me down a bit thinking about that stuff in the
wee hours of the morning. Keep trying to think positive and that I WILL be up
and walking in a few months. It just nags on me a bit. Perhaps I need to see
the psychiatrist again in the New Year.
Other than the nagging thoughts at night that I may not get
much better, I keep doing all the rehab stuff. Just don’t know if I should stop
riding the bike until the tummy bug is gone or just put up with the spasms. I
need the bike for some cardio fitness and to strengthen the legs….hmmmm…think
I’ll keep riding, perhaps at a lower tension.
Belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and thanks for
listening…
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