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…