Sept 16 to Sept 29, 2013

Sept 16 to Sept 29, 2013

Yikes, second day on the treadmill didn’t go all that well. I just couldn’t get into a walking rhythm. Seems the left knee would not bend at all and the physios had to work very hard to keep me walking…they called me peg leg…arrrr! There was a physio filling in for Shannon and she thought it was her fault that I wasn’t walking well. It was just the fact that my left leg wasn’t bending. They even went and got Shannon to come and see what was wrong. I only walked for 4 sessions of 2 to 3 minutes when I should be going for at least 5 minutes. By the end of the session I was all sweaty and just pooped! Not good day at all.

My tires on the manual chair were soft. I asked the Sarge to pump them up. They are Bicycle tires but a very strange size. They are 25 inches. Well the Sarge read the tire and they can be pumped to 80 to 145 PSI. We decided to put in 100 PSI. We got the air in but then there was a little pop and SSSSSSSSSS and the tire went flat. We took the tire off and found there was no rim tape on the wheel. This means the tube had an aneurism in one of the spoke holes.  Since I didn’t have a 25 inch tube to put in we installed a 26 inch one and folded it up a bit. I wouldn’t ride a bike with a tube that is too big but I’ll take the chance on the wheelchair. Took the chair back to the store, seems the Sarge read the wrong number and it is actually a 24 inch tire. As for the rim tape they said sometimes they come with it and sometimes they don’t. You’d think they’d check it…eh?

What a difference a day makes. The treadmill went a lot better today, Tuesday. Before we started Barry and the 2 students did 15 minutes of ‘aggressive stretching’ that got me loosened up a lot. The left leg wasn’t as stiff and I was able get a rhythm going today. Maximum walk time is 4 minutes. Want to get that up to 10 minutes before the end of session 22…the goal!

After the treadmill it was overland walking with a difference. Instead of me hanging onto a walking pole, the poles were horizontal, one on each side with Shannon holding them in front and Barry in the back. While hanging onto the poles they could move my arms in walking motion…first time that’s happened for quite some time…well about 25 months. Every step Shannon made sure I was pushing my left hip forward and standing on my left leg. She wouldn’t let me take an improper step. It is hard work keeping the hip forward but now I can do it most of the time but I must think every step about pushing the hip forward. It is amazing how much better I feel after a good day of therapy vs a bad day…I  know it shouldn’t but it does…sorta like doing a good Kata at a tournament and you know it was your best and it really doesn’t matter where you place….or surviving a session in Bruceter’s Corner. Karate guys will know what that means.

Wednesday in the pool for a1¼ hours. Lots of good stretching and walking. In the pool it is easier to take longer steps. The hamstrings feel very weak after they are stretched…it is a weird feeling. Got home and went on the trainer and rode 13.4 k’s. Good ride and felt strong. Did a little stretching after and there was no AD and my nose isn’t plugging up completely…won’t get too excited about that yet?

Ye know, I think I have a very strange dog. When I feed her, a few pieces of her food land beside her bowl she always eats the ones outside the bowl first…very tidy. At about 7:30, she gets Darcy to put her in her cage, she gets one cookie and we cover the cage with a black towel and she stays there until 8 in the morning…very strange!!!!

No therapy today, Thursday, I think all the physios were away. Just meant another day in the pool. Walked 15 meters a couple of times and then into the deep end for water walking. Some good news. I sent a letter to the Program Manager, the Director of Parks and Recreation, and the Mayor explaining that there is no place for me to change after the swim and for other handicapped patrons. Last winter it was a touch chilly getting into the car with a wet bathing suit. Sent the letter on Tuesday and the Program Manager had a solution on Wednesday. We can come in the back door, go down in the elevator and go through the health club and then through the men’s change room but I need one of the staff guys to push me though the change room. Methinks I can get through on my own as the floors are very smooth and it is easy to push the chair. To move the chair, I pull with my right foot and push with my right hand. I can keep it straight that way. The staff were very accommodating. Did 12.5 k on the trainer when I got home.

Friday, I had a great day on the treadmill. I was able to keep my hip forward and really stand on the left leg. Shannon called Stephanie, my previous physio over to watch me walk. I was between the parallel bars, hanging on for dear life. They pry my left hand open and it clamps on the bar and then they peel it off the bar. Using the bars and a 6” step they had me stepping up with my right foot while standing on the left keeping my bum tucked in…yeehaw! My brain has to pay attention all the time. I sometimes try to move the leg that I am standing on and then wonder why I can’t move it. On the way home Grandpa Bob mentioned that my nose wasn’t plugging up but as soon as I got into the house it was plugged up tight and it stayed plugged for about 2 hours….grrrr!

Saturday there was a good Karate class. Did 2 walks after the class. I was thinking that on Friday it was easy to keep my hip in because I was hanging onto the rail with my hands. Today I was able to walk and keep my bum in so perhaps I have overcome that hurdle. We’ll see by the end of the treadmill program. Thought I was having an AD attack when I got home as I had a little head rush so Darcy checked my blood pressure, it was 129/90. 90 is a little high but will check it again and see what happens.   Did 12.8 k on the trainer and did a light weights workout for 45 minutes…we’ll see how I am tomorrow. Need to get my endurance up so I can walk further at therapy.

Last Monday was a loss on the treadmill. I couldn’t do anything. This Monday was great. There is no explanation.I was able to walk and got up to 4 minutes. Then I got off the treadmill and walked overland attached to a walking machine. I am on wheels with straps around the legs…Easiest way to describe it is a walker that I can sit down in if needed. It works great as I can catch my balance if I go to fall. I was even kicking a ball. This helps my balance as it requires me to stand on one leg while using the other. Gets my legs doing different things which my brain has trouble doing. I now walk keeping my butt in for the most part. Shannon says it is my brain that has created that pathway. I say I now have enough strength in my core to keep the hip forward…hmmmm…Shannon is the physio so who’s correct. It was a hard workout and I was sweating a lot. My legs, back, neck and face were all tight when I finished. I figured my nose would plug up on the way home but it waited until I got home and 9:15 and woke up at 10 feeling very strange with my quads burning, my ears ringing and getting sweaty and anxious…yup dysrefleia. I was very uncomfortable for about ½ hour. Darcy took my Blood pressure and it was 155/106. In half an hour it was down to 129/86. As dysreflexia is caused by pain, I was assuming that it was the pain in my legs causing the problem. The only way to alleviate the pain is to take pain pills…I guess it worked. Just wondering how worried I should be about the high BP? I am sure I got it up a lot higher during sparing in Karate or bike sprints or cranking it up on the cross trainer when my heart rate was up around 170. Perhaps that is a question for the Doc at my next visit.

Shannon asked how I was after my hard workout yesterday. I was very tight and had some dysreflexia.  Her comment was we probably went a little too hard yesterday but we went ahead and basically did the same workout again. The nose plugged up at about 5:30 and we’ll see what happens with the other stuff. Just wondering if I can build up some tolerance to dysreflexia?  Just keep doing it and perhaps I can workout longer without it happening.  We’ll give that a go. Right now I think it’s the harder I push the worse the dysreflexia is. For example I can ride the bike at tension 3 to 5 for 40 minutes and not have nose plug up or the BP go up. If I put the tension up to say 5 to7, I suffer big time. Hmmmm…what should that tell me…eh?

Tuesday night went well. No aches or pains and no problems all night. Stiff as usual in the morning. Had arranged to have breakfast with one of my old cycling buddies, Etienne. He fell off his bike and broke his neck almost a year earlier and about 100 metres from where I crashed.  He has different problems than I have. For example, his upper body is always warm to hot and his legs are cold all the time. My body is different temperatures all the time. Sometimes my legs are cold and the feet are warm or one foot is cold and the other is warm. We had breakfast at the Tillsonburg Airport. Nice having breakfast watching the planes land and takeoff. There was actually one of those small private jets from the states that landed. After breakfast we got Etienne to ride on Darcy’s trike….I think he will be getting one. Good to see a smile on his face after doing 2 laps of the crescent on the trike.

Shannon suggested that I take it easy on Wednesday to see how well I function on Thursday. Just did 45 minutes in the pool, then a massage by Jeanie at 2:30 and that was it. For some reason my back was very sore and I was concerned about the treadmill. Barry did some very aggressive stretching when I got there on Thursday, to get me loosened up…and it worked. I am up to 5 minute walking sessions on the treadmill. The goal is 10 minutes by the end of October. Got into the walking device again and did some laps of the gym, walked backwards and played some soccer. Moving around correcting balance while kicking the ball are all very good for getting the legs moving independently…it pooped me out.

There was no therapy on Friday. I rode the trainer for 12.6 k in 40 minutes. Didn’t do any walking. I try to get out of my chair every hour to stand and just to get out of the sitting position. Don’t always stick to that timetable.

Saturday, went to Karate class as usual and I walked across the gym and back for a walk of about 30 m. For some reason I was a bit unsteady and they had to catch me twice. My right leg, the good one gave out twice and Sensei Willmott had to grab me both times to keep me from falling…yikes! Did a 40 minute bike ride when I got home and pushed it a bit. Did some good spinning and then I paid for it. My back tightened up and my nose plugged up and I pretty much felt like crap…but it was worth it…got 13 k in 40 minutes with the highest RPM’s to date…64 RPM! Had to get up at night for a BM which means waking Darcy up at 2:30.

Off to the pool on Sunday morning for a swim. The pool loosened me up a little butt the back was still sore after the swim. Down to Cultures for a coffee and then home to rest.

The new shorter cranks had arrived on Thursday and Terry came over and installed them on Sunday afternoon. It is a triple chain ring and Terry couldn’t get it to shift properly.At 3 AM when I woke up, the light bulb came on the front derailleur is for a double crank not a triple!

How am I Feeling?

Strange that I get on little plateaus and then I get off them and start upwards and then I plateau again. Couldn’t keep my left bum in when stepping and have been on that plateau and as of Friday I am able to keep it in a lot better…it still pops out sometimes. The work I have been doing in the pool, I think is paying off and the weights and the treadmill and the bike are all helping. In the pool when I step up on the first step and hold my bum in with my hand on the rail. Water walking in the deep end also helps as I can practice bending my left knee. It is very stiff but I think if the leg keeps getting stronger, I’ll be able to lift it easier…go figure!

Mentioned a couple of blogs ago that the hemorrhoids were causing problems and causing Dysreflexia. Haven’t had that happen for a while as we are using more Preparation H and that is helping a lot. I know too much information. Which reminds me…Do you know the Italian word for Preparation H? …Innuendo!!!!!!...hee…hee…hee! Yes I can laugh at my own jokes!

Shannon wants me to stand and do something with my hands. She wants me to stand and brush my teeth. Haven’t tried it yet. As I am starting to walk better and keeping my hips forward when I walk. Shannon says it is my brain making those connections…I say my back, gluts and hip adductors are getting stronger and I am able to hold my hip forward…do I dare tell her what I think…we’ll have a discussion!

Just don’t know how to go about training. To train of course you push yourself a bit then recover and do it all again. I want to do that now and I am wondering if I push it and get all tightened up will it get better as my body adjusts to the inputs or will I always tighten up after exercise, regardless how hard I go. Better wait until after the Locomotor Program is over before I start to mess around and see what ‘over doing it’ really means.

Thanks for listening…