May 6 to May 19, 2013

May 6 to May 19, 2013

Monday May 6^th: Spent Monday finishing off the blog. Did my first workout at the gym. Sensei Nancy was there and when she finished her workout she helped me through mine. It gave Grandpa Bob time to do his stuff with no interruptions. Felt good to get back at the weights. Got home and did ½ hour on the bike…tonal overflow is setting in. Did some stretching and it does loosen it a bit.

Tuesday May 7^th:   Physio…very tight from yesterday. Tried to loosen up the ribs. Walked around the gym twice.  First loop went quite well. Almost kept my butt in all the around. Second round not as good…hard to keep my bum in as the muscles get tired.

My friend Ed and Sue, from the Rugby Club came for a visit and we heard about their trip around New Zealand. Sounds like a great place to visit as they are geared for tourists.

Wednesday May 8^th:  Went to the pool and got into the deep end again. Nice to get the legs moving. Hard to bend the left knee with the weak hamstring. Working it in the water is a good way of strengthening it. Can work on the hip abductors and adductors…still need to hang on to the side of the pool or Yonna as the legs want to float up and tip me over.

Went to the gym and was able to do the leg press, leg extensions and some arm work with the pulleys for my arms. Can also do some hamstring stuff with the pulleys. The problem with the weights is that damn tonal overflow. My ribs are very tight to the point of taking pain meds.

Thursday May 9^th:  Physio and did the normal stretching and then walked 4 times around the gym with help from the physios….that’s the record to date. Stephanie wanted me to come back in the afternoon to be a guinea pig for some students. I had an appointment with Dr. McCauley, the knee guy, for the 1 year checkup. Everything is okay for another year. Took an hour+ for the x-ray so we didn’t get out until 4 so there was no time to go back to Parkwood. Still very tight around the ribs and lower back. Doubled up on the muscle relaxants…doesn’t help much.

Friday May 10^th:  A bad night. Woke up at about 2 am. Not realizing that I had forgotten to take my meds, I was a mess. My mouth was incredibly dry as my nose was plugged and I had to breathe through my mouth and everything was dry. Had lots of spasms, big ones that curled up the whole body. I was a bit concerned, thinking it was related to tonal overflow but it seems that the meds do help with the spasms. I also missed the anti-depressants and that makes me feel strange as well.

 Off to Parkwood for stretching and walking.   Stephanie said we’d do lots of walking.  Got the record 5 times around the gym, lap 1 a rest, lap 2 and 3 then a rest, lap 4 a rest and the grand finale. I used the quad cane on all laps. It is strange getting coordinated with the cane. I actually lift it off the ground when it should be on the ground.  The ol’ brain will eventually get it. The walking is getting better and I do better with fewer people hanging on. Today I was able to get ’over’ my left hip for several of steps which meant my butt didn’t go out as far. They also tied my left toe up in the air and that helped a lot. I trip on the damn thing.  Got home had lunch and off to the gym for an hour and 20 minutes. Then got home and went on the trainer for ½ an hour…a good spin.

Saturday May 11^th: Karate tournament in St. Thomas it was a club tournament and there were 130 participants from Tiny Tigers to adults. Felt good to judge again and it was a hoot just watching the little guys compete.

Good to see Meghan and Andrew who came down for Mother’s Day and we went out to Kelsey’s for dinner. Interesting with 2 Shih Tzu’s and one Border Collie in the house. The 2 little guys were never on the floor until the big guy left.

Sunday May 12^th: Still tight from Friday’s ride but got on the bike for another ½ hour.  Here are some stats, since I started riding the bike on June 8, 2011. I’ve ridden 855 k, which has taken 64.4 hours which is 2.7 days of pedaling at an average speed of 18.3 KPH. Hopefully the mileage will go up once I get on the road. Amazing how little bits of mileage add up.

Don’t know what happens but I feel my stomach and chest tighten as soon as I start to pedal. The cranks on the trainer are 100 mm which is very short and I can spin them quite easily. Can’t put the 100’s on the trike, it would be nice if they’d fit. 

Missed karate workout with the Brown Belts. Gave them the day off for Mother’s Day.

Monday May 13^th: Made it a rest day and just did nothing all day. Couldn’t go lift weights as I had a bit of diarrhea. Not real bad but enough to keep depends on all day….grrrrr! Never had an accident but they were there just in case.  A big bummer is that I lost my Internet connection and I haven’t been on line…I need it…no that indicates an addiction…I miss it…hell no, let’s be honest, I need it.

Got the left arm and left calf botoxed again.  This may help in lifting the toes higher and I won’t trip on them when I’m walking. Getting Botox is interesting with a long needle that he moves around once it is in the muscle. Good thing I can’t see it. According to the physios, Dr. Potter is very good at hitting right muscles.

Tuesday May 14^th: Well rested for therapy and it showed. Was able to go from sit to a good stand the first time, that is bum in, head up, chest out, shoulders back and heels touching the floor. Usually after 3 days off it takes about 3 trys to get up correctly. It was then time to walk with just 2 physios assisting. The one on the left holds my left hand in her left and her right hand helps hold my chest up. The other physio is behind just holding the handles on the belt around my waist to keep the left hip in place. The physio holding my left hand gets a very good squeeze as they have to pry my hand open to give her hand back. I don’t know where the off switch is for the left hand. The brain just sends out signals and everything on the left side turns on. Moving the left foot turns everything on whereas it was any movement of the left leg would turn it all on…it is getting better?

Don’t know if the weights are helping or I’m starting to figure it out but I was able to walk without my bum and left hip sticking out the back too far. Did 5 laps again and did 2 in a row. A goal is to do 3 in a row…ah…perhaps next week. The drop foot on the left foot is the show stopper.  I trip on my toe when the muscles get tired and I can’t lift the foot anymore. They even tie my toe up with a Velcro strap and that helps as well, although the strap did come loss on one lap and I was able to keep the foot up…hmmmm…a placebo effect.  I think lifting weights is helping but I don’t really know if the leg is weak from atrophied muscles or if there isn’t enough nerve impulse getting there to make them work. We’ll find out.

Went to the gym with Yonna. In her younger days, she was a body builder and knows how to lift weights. We did a good arm and leg workout….think I’m gonna be sore tomorrow.

Wednesday May 15^th: Not sore from yesterday’s workout and went to the gym again with Yonna this morning…the workout went well and I got in lots of reps and we were there for 1 3/4 hours.

Went to a first year physio class at the University as a guinea pig in the afternoon. The students were great and did an ASIA test on me. The test measures sensitivity by rubbing a cotton ball across various spots on my body which are known points where the nerves are. For example, if the nerve that comes out the 7^th vertebrae in your neck, known as C7 and runs a sensitivity spot on your neck they know I have damage there if I can’t feel the cotton ball. The whole body is mapped so they can figure out what nerves are affected at what level. They also test with a safety pin. Sharp end and dull end and I have to tell the difference.  I have a very low ASIA score which means I don’t have much sensation and perhaps a lot of damage to sensory nervous system. It is a little strange, I am more sensitive on the left side but have more movement on the right. Today, I had 3 ASIA tests and the results were all different…wonder why that was?  Could have been the student variation or the fact that my sensory nerves are damage. I know my thermostat is broken and I really don’t know if I am hot or cold. I sometimes have cold spots on my thigh and the rest of my leg will be warm and the toes will be cold. Most of my sensation feels like I have a pair of gloves on when they touch my hands. The rest of my body is a little tingley and sensation does seem to change. I guess the nerves get all mixed up during the trauma and may or may not get hooked up right after it.

Thursday May 16^th:  Physio as usual. Did some stretching and then got to walk. Walked with the cane for a total of 5 laps. The show stopper seems to always be that damn left foot. Even with the strap to keep the toe up it gets tired and I trip on the toe. Next week it’s gonna be 3 laps in a row. 

Went to lunch with Jack and Beany at the Mandarin. I just don’t eat enough to make an all you can eat worthwhile…but it was still good…note I could have eaten a lot move…I just didn’t.  After lunch it was off to Collingwood to see Meghan. 3 hours in the car went ok. It was Andrews’s birthday and we went to Tesaro’s, an authentic Italian restaurant for dinner. The pickerel was really good and of course so was the Shiraz. Stayed at the Days Inn and they had a well-equipped handicapped room with a roll in shower. The trip wasn’t much fun for Darcy as every time I got out of the car, she had to unload the commode, the luggage to get the wheelchair out and to get the seat back so I can get my legs in the car.   We need the commode to get me to the washroom and for a shower it will be soooooo good when I don’t need it any more. More incentive to walk.

Friday May 17^th: The purpose of the trip was to attend the final day at Meghan’s school of the Rick Hansen walk? The kids walked 10,000+ k the distance Rick Hansen’s Walk of Many across Canada last year.  Oh yes, I got a big round of applause when I stood up and walked for several steps…hey next year I’ll walk a lap. Hmmmm…I guess I must be a pain in the butt challenging people all the time. Although my philosophy is, that I like to win but I don’t mind losing if the opponent has to work hard to beat me.

Drove home for another 3 hours in the car and I’m no worse for wear. 

Saturday May 18^th: Off to Karate class in the morning and to Pedal Power in Woodstock to have the shorter cranks installed in the afternoon. Took a couple of hours but when we got back they hadn’t changed the front derailleur to a triple so that meant another hour wait. The recession is over as the bike shop was very busy…people do have some disposable cash. I may not be Kevin O’Leary but that’s my stab at economics.

Grrrrr…still not connected to the internet. Called the computer store to get a new router and get instructions on how to set it up. Darcy went down and picked it up and he gave her instructions on how to set it up. We got it all going but the keyboard won’t work. We changed the keyboard but that one wouldn’t work either. Going to have to wait ‘til Tuesday to get the damn thing fixed as the computer guy makes home visits.

Sunday May 19^th: I sat in the manual chair yesterday for about 3 hours and it killed my back. Woke up this morning with a very sore back. Went to the Brown Belt workout and they had a very good session. A bad day after Karate class. Back was very sore and I tried to do exercises in bed and that just made it worse. Felt strange, legs started burning and an all over pain. Took some extra meds but that didn’t seem to help. Almost had 2 anxiety attacks but managed to avoid them by going out into the driveway and riding around.  To top it off I didn’t have BM…grrrr. Not a good day!

       

How am I Feeling? 

Again my weight is a problem…grrrrr...105 kilos is way too much that's 231 pounds. I need to be 80 to 85 kilos Gotta lose 20 to 25 kilos…geez that’s 44  to 55 pounds…yikes that is a lot. I had always thought staying thin was easy, just burn off more than you take in…but now I can’t do that of course so I have to stop eating so much. I’m finding that very difficult to do and I can empathize with people who are trying to lose weight. It seems I have developed a sweet tooth. In the past I didn’t eat a lot of sweet stuff and when I did I would just burn it off. Now, I must read the label to determine how much sugar there is in a product. For example, I have eaten Shreddies for breakfast most of the time since I was a kid. Just read the label and there is 2 teaspoons of sugar in a 1 cup serving. Way too much sugar and to think I would add at least another teaspoon of brown sugar to that…yikes…it’s lucky I am not diabetic. I never did drink a lot of pop which has 6 to 11 teaspoons per bottle unless, of course, I was on a long bike ride when I’d go looking for high sugar content. Found out by reading the label that Mini Shredded Wheat has  sugar. Gotta read more labels.

Fruit juice is a big sugary drink that I like a lot. It does have some good nutrition but the bad sugar really outweighs the good Vitamin C, so no more juice. Drink sugar free cranberry juice and eat the fruit. It still has some sugar but it takes the guts longer to get it out so there is no big sugar blast that is so bad for us. For me, it is a lot harder to watch what I am eating as it was sooooo much easier just burning it off.  I don’t have a lot of ‘won’t power’ when it comes to eating but I was fortunate and had a lot of ‘will power’ when it came to exercise. Now, I understand why people have so much difficulty losing weight. Seems dieting on its own doesn’t work all that well but it needs to be a complete lifestyle change that incorporates healthy eating and an exercise program...hmmm…sounds easy…eh? (Calories in) +/- (calories burned) = weight gained or weight lost.

Very satisfied with how well the walking is going. Yonna is going to help me walk into the gym on Monday and walk between the equipment. Should be interesting. Bob will be there with the wheelchair if it is needed.

Thanks for listening…

Lomotor Program

April 22 to May 4, 2013

The week of April 22 marked the end of the Locomotor Training Program. I am going to miss going 4 times a week to Parkwood. I’ll miss the kibitzing of the Physios and the assistants although if I listened too much, I’d forget that I was doing and I’d screw up. The students from the Health Science course at Western were very good. They finished their course and handed in their project report and still came out to help out. The program wouldn’t be able to function without them and they werte6 a great addition to the program.

The question is what did the program do for me? I had an assessment at the beginning, half way through and at the end. We improved on all of the indicators. The ones that stand out are: at the end I was able to stand unassisted for 2 minutes and stand for 10 seconds with my eyes shut. Brings back memories of Karate training, standing on one leg with your eyes shut. Tough to do but it ensures that you are using all the muscles in your legs and the pressure sensors on your feet need to be working. The thing I wasn’t able to do, was to hang in the harness and walk on the treadmill with no-one holding my hips. I could do it with just a light hand on my butt, but not unassisted….drats. You need very good trunk control to keep from swinging back and forth. I was able to lay on the matt and sit up unassisted with my abs of steel. Can sit to stand unassisted. I can sit and lean over to each side and return to the center. Seem some patients with a SCI can’t find the middle. I have trouble on occasion, when I am walking that I lean way over to the right when I think I am standing straight up. I was able to walk around the gym with 2 physios helping. On one occasion, I was walking with a quad cane…one with 4 feet on the bottom…and I was able to walk with assistance. The big problem is when I step with the left foot I can’t keep my butt forward and it sticks out and I bend forward to take the next step which throws everything off. My left hamstring is so weak I can’t pick up my foot for very long. It gets tired and I trip on my toes. Just can’t lift the front of the toe very well and that doesn’t help either.  My left heel is always off the ground so I am always walking on my toes. The left ankle does have a good range of motion and I don’t know if it is frozen or the muscles are too weak to pull it back all the way.

Overall the program was fantastic and started me on the way to walking. It pointed out things that I need to work on to walk properly. I won’t be able to use a walker as I can’t hang onto it with my left hand. Next week at Parkwood, we are going to work on the quad-cane so I can start using one at home.

The next good thing that happened is I got the trike. Darcy and I drove to Grand Rapids on April 26^th. Grandpa Bob and Shirley also drove. Went to the Olive Garden for dinner. Nice to know that the Olive Garden has lighter fare. If the Olive Garden’s in Canada were like they are in the States, they’d still be here. Got to Terra Trike head office at about 9:30 AM and spent the next hour and a half getting the trike all sized up and ready to roll. They took the time to set me up properly. At first I couldn’t flex my left knee enough to turn the cranks but after a few minutes, I was able to pedal and did a few laps around the warehouse. What great customer service. When we left, Luke came out and made sure the trike was on the rack properly. To be riding again was a great feeling, needless to say…hmmm…so why say it...lol.

However, riding has one bad side effect. It causes tonal overflow. As mentioned previously, my back, ribs and arms tighten up for a couple of days after a ride. Something it seems I’m going to have to live with…so a few pain meds will be in order. I am on muscle relaxants and anti-spasmodic but they only give minimal relief. The physios say that exercise will make it dissipate but for me exercise initiates it. Yonna’s neighbor is 7 years out from his accident and exercise causes tonal overflow for him…grrrrr! Perhaps it is because there is knee pain on every pedal stroke as there seems to be a relationship between pain and tonal overflow.

I have done 5 laps of the crescent on the trike. Again I couldn’t bend the knee far enough to turn the cranks on Thursday. What I need is shorter crank arms. The ones one the trike are 170 mm. I called pedal Power in Woodstock and they were going to order me a 165 mm crank. I then went net surfing and found a Recumbent bike shop in California that has a 155 mm triple crankset, they are ordered and on the way. I should be able to turn the 155 crank. Shipping is expensive from the states. Since it is a double up front now, I am going to need a triple shifter and a triple front derailleur. I know too much tech talk. Hey…soon I’ll have bike grease on my hands and clothes again.

Got right back into therapy with Stephanie, a physio that has been working upstairs in the stroke gym. She and Barry stretch me out then I get up and do some walking.  My walking is getting better but I am a long way from walking on my own but getting closer. Next week, Stephanie is going to get me walking with the quad-cane so I can do it at home.

Stephanie wants me to come in 3 times a week so it’s Monday, Thursday and Friday at 10 AM.  Almost as good as the treadmill program. With Stephanie, I’ll be doing a lot more overland walking but I may get on the treadmill once every so often and eventually back into a 22 sessions perhaps in September if they think it will help me. We may also do a day in the pool. Yonna takes me to the Tillsonburg pool on Wednesday’s. With a little coaxing, she got me to go into the deep end to do some water running. Note, Yonna was holding me tight. It was a little scary at first but once I got used to it, I was ok. I think the fear is not being able to kick and keep the ol’ nose above water. There was one big difference, before the crash, if I stopped moving in the pool I would sink. Now with my few extra pounds of adipose tissue, I float. If I stop moving, my legs float up behind me and I must fight to keep them down and stay vertical. That was the first time in the deep and it won’t be the last. I think it will help to strengthen the legs and core. I’ll be able to work on hip extensors, flexors, abductors and adductors. It opens up a whole new workout regime.

Speaking of workout regimes, on Friday, May 3^rd, Grandpa and I joined Anytime Gym out at the Sobey’s Mall. They have lots of machines and some free weights. It is very wheelchair accessible. We had an assessment with a trainer and he showed us the machines and how to use them. He also gave me some ideas for me to work me arms and legs. I can get on the leg press machine and will be able to use each leg individually…that’s a big yeehaw. It will help build my quads and gluts. I got on the leg extension machine and can use it easily  and I’ll be able to build some muscle to stabilize the knees. I really need to do hamstring work but I can’t get my legs into the machine and that’s a big…grrrr. Maybe down the road I’ll be able to make it work. The trainer did show me exercise using the pulleys to work my hamstrings. For my upper body, I can use the pulleys and work my arms and shoulders. As my arms get stronger, I may be able to use the machines if I can get the left arm moving a bit better. Grandpa and I will be working out on Monday and Friday at 2 PM and on Wednesday’s at 9 AM. Should be interesting.

How am I Feeling?

Feeling good about the treadmill program and how much progress I made with it. Not only do I know what works but I also know what doesn’t work. Now, I’m looking forward to the overland program and to start using the cane at home. One strange thing that happens when I stand I cannot move my feet without holding on to something. Every night before bed, I have the commode about 3 feet away from the bed. I stand without any assistance and can stay stand without hanging on. If I hang onto the commode, I can take a step with either the left or right. With no hands, my feet just won’t move. They feel like they are bolted to the floor. Don’t know if it is a balance issue or what. My friend Jack has the same problem. He can walk all over with his walker but his feet won’t move without it.

The bike is great and I’m looking forward to some good riding…the goal is the 40 k ride at the Tour de Norfolk in July. Anyone interested in riding with me????

Feeling positive about the therapy. Tonal overflow from riding the bike is a bit of a concern as muscle relaxers just don’t seem to work. If exercise is the answer, riding the bike, weight lifting and the pool should help that...we’ll see.

Thanks for listening…