Feb 25 to March 10,
2013
Mon Feb 25th:
Hmmmmm…all the good things that happened on Friday were missing today. I walked
from the mat to the treadmill again. I still try to go too fast and didn’t get
the legs going properly. The treadmill didn’t go all that well as the left knee
didn’t bend and it was like walking with a peg leg. This makes it very hard for
the people moving my legs. They chalked it up to being Monday. I was very tight
go figure. I can be loose at home but once in the car and hit some bumps in the
road I really tighten up again.
Could be a couple of other things happening. I may not have
been walking all that well before but now I am recognizing what I am doing
incorrectly whereas in the past simply moving my feet was great.
Tues Feb 26th:
Better on the treadmill but not quite as smooth as last week. I suppose I need
to think about the present and what is happening now and what I need to focus
on now and not what I did yesterday or what will happen tomorrow. Shannon, a
physio that hasn’t worked with me for a while noticed some positive differences
in the treadmill work.
When I got on the mat Shannon worked on my left arm a lot.
She felt that my body was working in a much more segmented fashion and not just
one big block. Then Janelle and Shannon got me standing with a difference. The
most comfortable way for me to stand is with my bum out and my head a little
forward and my chest in flexion. They got me to stand with my head over, my
shoulders, my bum tucked under, back muscles turned on and belly button pulled toward
my spine, with weight through my heels not on my toes. Didn’t know you do all
that to stand, eh? Once they got me in this position which by the way is way
out of my comfort zone, they took their hands off me and left me standing
unsupported. I wavered a bit but was able to correct. The real scary part is
actually lifting a foot and moving it in this position. Opps, there I go
thinking down the road. Shannon asked what my home plan was she was ok with
what I am doing but suggested that I stand, then stand then stand some more.
I am finding that I can’t lift my left leg off the floor
very well. I use my hip to lift the foot off the floor. Of course when I try to
lift the foot, the left arm tightens up.
Wed Feb 27th:
In the pool with Yonna. We forgot the neck cushion that keeps my head out
of the water. We tried a noodle and a life jacket but nothing worked. Therefore,
no relaxing floating around, it was right to standing and some aggressive stretching
of the quads and hamstrings. At the suggestion of the physios we tried some
stair stepping. Not really stepping but putting one foot on the step and push
with the other foot by getting on my toes and pushing my hips forward. I did
use my arm to pull up a bit…that is a no…no of course. With the buoyancy in the water I can lift the left leg a
little better. Going to have to get some exercises to strengthen the leg.
Thurs Feb 28th:
It appears that I need a couple of days on the treadmill to get going again.
Mentioned to Janelle about not being able to lift my leg very well. She
explained that walking doesn’t require lifting of the leg and it is actually a
hip exercise. Again I walked from the mat to the treadmill and back. Same old
same old, stand on the right until the left goes through. You would think the
ol’ brain would have that figured out by now…or maybe not.
A strange thing happened on the way home in the car. But
first I should explain the aggressive stretching that happened after the walk.
There were 4 people pulling and stretching each limb. Since my legs are stuck
together, they had me spread eagled on the mat. Barry then picked up my legs
and curled me up into a ball. It felt really good to get that stretch. Back to
on the way home. When I left Parkwood I felt fine, very loose and I had a
coffee, a decaf with my friend Jack. About 10 minutes into the car ride my body
started to tighten up particularly around my chest and stomach. I started to
sweat profusely and got very pale and just felt very strange. This feeling
lasted for about 2 hours. I got into bed when I got home and started to feel
better by about 6:30. Had some supper and it appears to be all gone…very
strange. The only thing different was the stretching…makes you go….hmmmmm!
Fri Mar 1st:
Yikes it’s March already! I asked Jody in OT and Janelle in PT about my
sweating episode yesterday, they both said it could be autonomic dysreflexia. I
won’t go into it here but if you are interested see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomic_dysreflexia
for an explanation. My symptoms were heavy sweating, feeling a little like
fainting and lots of tightening muscles in my tummy, back and throat. Dysreflexia
is a common occurrence in spinal cord injured people. The defining symptom is a
spike in blood pressure. I didn’t check my BP so I can’t be sure if it was.
We did the same stretching today but I didn’t get the same
reaction. Janelle said it could have been my body’s reaction to having all
those muscle fibers stretched to places they haven’t been for 18 months. Although
I did have the usual ‘after workout’ symptoms of stuffy nose, tight muscles in
tummy and back and tingly legs. I have been off the bike all week and no real
difference on the treadmill, in fact this week was not as good as last week. I
think it’s back on the bike full tilt, oops Darcy says 15 minutes but we’ll see
what happens. Of course I will start off slowly and build back up.
Did some walking again today. I just can’t seem to get the
hang of standing on my leg before I bring the other leg through. I always want to
bring the leg through too fast before I’m supporting myself on my other leg.
Guess that is a little confusing. When you walk, you step with your right leg
and push off with your left. Your right leg is straight as your left leg goes
by to take the next step. If the right leg isn’t straight there is no room for
the left leg to get through to take the next step and you would trip.
I think the ol’ body is starting to loosen up as there are
parts starting to creek and crack that haven’t been cracking for a long time.
Both hips have had some good ones and there have been several in my back which
makes you go….ahhhh. My shoulder cracks a lot and of course the knees crack a
lot. The knee cracks may not be all that good.
Sat Mar 2nd:
Went to Karate class and got to work with Frank again and we have a good time
doing it. A restful day. Didn’t do much of anything. Having some bowel
problems. Since taking the antibiotics there’s been a lot of constipation and
aggravation of the hemorrhoids. I tell you this because any pain that I have
increases the muscle tone in all parts of my body. I was so tight I couldn’t do
anything, no stretching, no biking no exercise routines of any kind. To try to
remedy the problem we upped the laxative and started eating more ‘laxative’
foods such as probiotic yogurt, strawberrys, Kiwi, and milk of magnesia.
Hopefully it works.
Sun Mar 3rd:
A Sunday morning workout with the Brown Belts. I felt crappy the whole morning
as the hemorrhoids were creating a big problem. There is a joke about the whole
body shutting down when the ol’ butt hole doesn’t work…its very true. Got home
from class and was in a lot of pain, laid down in bed ‘til 4 and got up and got
on the computer but was still in pain. Preparation H and pain pills didn’t seem
to work. Couldn’t eat supper and went back to bed at 5:30. Then it felt like I
needed a BM. Darcy got the commode and off to the can. First time a BM without
a suppository, which is a good thing. I was dreading it because of the pain the
last few nights and how sore I was to start. Well my worries were all for naught,
the laxatives worked and all the pain went away and everything came out pain
free. I know I probably shouldn’t be talking about this stuff but hey this blog
is about a day in the life of and this stuff has a huge effect on not only how
I feel but how my body functions. Thanks to Darcy for all the unpleasant work
she does at that end of the bod.
Mon Mar 4th:
Off to London for OT at 11 and PT at 1. OT is going thru some changes in
staffing. Jody is going back on inpatient and she, Gary and Mani will be
sharing outpatients. I won’t know who I will have for another week.
I was a little leery on how I’d preform in PT given the
weekend episodes. Everything turned out ok. I was able to walk and put weight
on my legs at the right time.
My right arm hasn’t been feeling quite right. It feels very
heavy and it’s hard to lift up high. Perhaps it is because I am not lifting
weights any more…should start back on the weights to see if that will help. Janelle
worked on it and she thought it was working ok.
Tues Mar 5th:
Got PT and I was all toned up. The treadmill must be causing tonal overflow.
Everything was hard to do. I walked from the matt to the treadmill with Barry
and Janelle holding me up. I do not take very big steps and I don’t stand on my
legs. I try to take the next step before
my leg is straight as mentioned several times before. Today my right leg was
giving out. I felt weak and I couldn’t get my leg to stay straight. Once on the
treadmill it wasn’t much better, it was a lot of hard work compared to Monday.
Just don’t know what is going on with the ol’ body. I feel that sometimes I’m
regressing but it could be just the tonal overflow. Although they say that
exercise decreases muscle tone. That certainly ain’t the case with this body.
Wed Mar 6th:
Oh good a rest day and an hour in the pool with Yonna. Coffee at 9:30 with Grandpa, John and Yonna. Again a lot of tone. Got in the pool and did
some relaxing but the tone didn’t go away. Did do a couple of laps of walking,
a lap is probably about 25 feet. The buoyancy really does help. Concentrated on
standing on each leg and taking my time with each step. I have bad habit of
putting my left foot to close to my right so my stance becomes too narrow. Did
some more steps on the stairs. One foot on the first step and then go up on my
toes on the other keeping my butt in and being straight over my leg.
Thurs Mar 7th:
Before we left for Parkwood I did a stretching and leg exercises to try and
loosen up the tone in my trunk. It was very tight when I got up and a little
looser after the exercises. This is session 22, half way through the locomotor
program so it was an assessment day. Janelle tested the strength in my legs
measured the flex in my knees and ankles. Then it was off to the treadmill.
Even with a tight torso I was able to walk a lot better than on Tuesday. Today
my legs felt a lot lighter than Tuesday and I have no idea why. After the
treadmill they got me walking in the walker and then ¾ of the way around I
walked with Barry and Janelle. I think I was standing on my legs a little
better. I can now feel my left hip giving out and I can compensate sometimes to
keep it in. Back on the mat, Barry got me stretched out I really know where my
hamstrings are. After stretching he got me sitting on the edge of the mat with
my hands out front. I have that bad habit of pulling with my arms rather than
pushing with them when I stand. He ensured that I was pushing and I did at
least 20 sit to stands with very little assistance and some with no assistance.
The secret is to get my nose way over the toes almost to the point of falling
over and then standing is relatively easy. I did another 10 before bed…
Fri Mar 8th:
I was very toned up this morning and had several leg spasms in bed and a couple
of full body ones. Had a shower and that seemed to settle things down a bit.
The quads and trunk were really tight. In OT, Jody stretched me out a lot and
by the end of the hour I was a looser. Didn’t think I’d have a good walking day
due to the tone. Barry really tightened up the jolly jumper today. Usually I
slide down a little when they hoist me up, today there was no sliding.
They finished my assessment today on the treadmill. Seems I
have improved in a lot of areas in posture control and the ability to stand
unsupported. The scale goes from 2abc to 4 abc. I some areas I’ve progressed
from 2 a to 4 b’ and c’s…yeehaw. But not only does an evaluation show what I
need to improve which is sit to stands and of
course walking. After the treadmill it was onto the mat for some
‘advanced’ stretching. Sure feels good when it is over. They got me on my feet
and it was time for another walk. Barry on one side Janelle on the other. I got
going but then I’d get stuck, one foot out front and one behind and just can’t
get enough momentum to take a step, that is I don’t push off with the back
foot. Did a lap of the gym and the best steps were on the back stretch where I
was able to get some momentum up and put a whole bunch of steps together. Don’t
know when the ol’ brain will slow down the steps so there is one leg straight
before I take the next step. Guess practice makes perfect. Then back on the mat
for posture correction and sit to stands. Did 5 with Barry holding my hand,
then five with no assistance. Now able to get from sitting to a ‘tall’ stand
with bum tucked in, shoulders back, head
up and chest out all on my own…a little progress. Now just gotta get taking
that first step on my own. Janelle did mention when I was walking that I have
some bad habits that need to be broken.
Sat Mar 9th:
1st anniversary of being home.
Can’t believe it’s been a year since my escape…ah that should be discharge
from Parkwood. Did 2x15 minute sessions
on the bike and it really tightened me up. I was still toned from yesterday’s
treadmill and the bike added a bit to it. Took some pain meds for my ribs and
back.
Good Karate Class. Frank did very well again. He keeps doing
kata and I’ll keep walkin’ on the treadmill.
Sun Mar 10th:
Made it through the spring forward daylight savings with no problem. Off to
Brown Belt training and my Instructor came out to take the class…it brought
back a lot of good training memories. Had planned on doing the bike but my ribs
and back were extremely tight, the better part of valour was to give it a rest.
Byron will have to pick up the slack, I’ll pick up the K’s when I get outside..
We’ve ridden 696.7 K which puts us just past Corner Brook, NL. We should be off
the Rock in a couple of weeks. Don’t know how to measure the K’s on the ferry
to the mainland but hell we’re on trainers anyway.
Coffee with The Sarge, Grandpa, Steve and Yonna. Sarge is
reading a book about the Air India bombing in the 80’s and how the perpetrators
got away with killing 278 people. It appears the Canadian judiciary could not
handle the conviction of terrorists and basically let them go scot free.
How am I Feeling?
I am feeling real good about the progress on the treadmill
and the ability to walk albeit with lots of assistance. I do get a little
frustrated about not being able to stand on my legs to take the next step, but
it will come…22 more sessions to go. A bummer is the fact that exercise
produces so much tone when exercise is actually supposed to reduce tone…grrrr.
As soon as I do anything with the left leg the left arm tightens up. I have
tried to consciously tell the left arm to relax but I haven’t figured out the
route. The problem is I must concentrate on moving the left leg I can’t
multitask and keep the left arm and hand relaxed. Something to work on.
Just have to accept the fact that there will be good days
and bad days. I find when having a bad day they will last a long time. Must get
rid of that thought process and look forward to the next day.
Let’s see a little downer is that I’m in the process of
selling my Merlin Titanium bike. It was my bike for life but now it has to go
to help pay for the new trike. I had to get new wheels for it as the ones on it
wore out with about 100,000 K on them, I guess they don’t owe me anything.
Trying not to get to nostalgic about it, it just has to go.
Oh yes, as mentioned, March 9th was my 1st
anniversary of being at home. Can’t believe a year has gone by so fast. A lot
has happened and I’ve made an incredible amount of progress with the help of a
lot of people. Darcy and I have learned, well are in the process of learning
how to handle each other 24/7. Seems I don’t ask for her input or discuss
things with her very much, I just do them. Example, purchasing $500 wheels for
the bike. No discussion just ordered them.
Another interesting thing about being home for a year is the
fact that I have only been back to see the nurses on the 4th floor
once a couple of weeks ago. I thought I had bonded with them and they were my
best buddies. They still do mean a lot to me just can’t figure out my
ambivalence…out of sight, out of mind it seems.
Thanks for listening….
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