Nov 26 to Dec 9

Mon Nov 26: PT in the pool at Parkwood. Laura mentioned that I was doing something special on Wednesday but couldn’t remember what it was. We did some stretching and exercises that loosen the trunk and work the arms. The difference between Parkwood Pool and the Tillsonburg pool is about 5 degrees. Does the warm water ever make a difference. It really helps me relax. But I won’t be giving up the Tillsonburg swim as Yonna is helping me a lot.

Laura called as she remembered what we are doing on Wednesday. That was to get up in the platform walker, which is a walker that allows me to put my arm up at about shoulder level as I can’t hang on a normal walker…yet. 

Tues Nov 27: Got Botox in my left arm. Dr. Potter injected in my bicep and my Finger flexors. The idea is that it weakens the flexors enough to allow the extenders to open my fingers. I will know in a week if it is going to work. Dr. Potter explained the he injects a conservative amount the first time to see how my body reacts to it. If it is favorable he may adjust the dose and do other muscles. Seems that Jody had emailed him about doing my finger and Laura had asked about doing my left foot as the calf is always in spasm and pulls my toes down which causes drop foot. I see Dr. Potter in a month to see how the Botox is working. 

I’ve done 352 K on the bike since June. Doing 15 minute sessions with 3 min cool down between sets.  Going to up it to ½ hour and see how that works….gotta catch Byron somehow. Today rode 3x15 minute sets and one 10 minute set = 55 minutes. Longest time on the bike to date.

Wed Nov 28: I got up in the ‘high walker’ and took 3 steps.  Well not the greatest 3 steps and perhaps the last two weren’t even real steps. I try to bend forward to make my legs move instead of moving my hip through first and following with my leg…gotta lot of work to do. Joining a gym is a must to strengthen the leg. A little disappointed but now I have something to work on. But I do think the high walker has possibilities. The left side is just not able to hold my body weight, even with 4 physios, one in front, one on each side and one behind, I couldn’t take a step with the left leg. I can stand on the right leg and take a step with the left. The problem starts when I try to put weight on my left, my left hip slides out and I can’t stand tall on the leg. Very frustrating….grrr! 

Thurs Nov 29: In the pool with Yonna. Did some of the exercises I did with Laura on Monday. Put my feet on Yonna’s shoulders and do leg presses. She’d hold one leg while I’m floating on my back and I move the other leg out and bring it back in quickly which gives resistance and strengthens the hip abductors or is it adductors…one of them anyway. 

After the pool got home and Darcy had taken the Bug…VW bug…to get the lights fix. She drove it to Brantford with no brake lights. She put on the hazards when anyone was behind her. Thought it was going to cost a fortune as there were some lights flashing on the dash for electronic stuff however, it needed a couple of switches and new tail-light bulbs. It’s all working and for 120 bucks, not bad considering it was the dealership.

Fri Nov 30: PT and OT. In PT Emily stretched my hamstrings and quads and got me in prone and did ‘mobs’ on my back…they feel very good. No time to get into the standing table.

Off to OT for 11 o’clock. Jody worked on the left arm and mentioned that the Botox had loosened up the bicep but could not see any difference in the fingers…yet. I should start seeing differences in the fingers by next Tuesday if it is going to work.  We also did some stretching on my back. As mentioned, my back is in tension all the time. Jody had me sitting on the edge of the table and put my forearms on my knees which really stretched my lower back out. With all the stretching it loosened up about 6 inches of my lower back above the tailbone….it felt very good. This is now a stretch that will be incorporated into my workout sessions…like after the bike rides…just hope it loosens up the rest of my back. Once I bend over Darcy will be able to run the vibrator up and down…opps that sounds too kinky, that should be the electric massager not vibrator.

Had a visit from an old rugby buddy, Ed  and his wife Sue. Told us about their trip to Istanbul and there upcoming 6 week trip to New Zealand.

Karen picked up the meds in Delhi, and dropped them off. Friday night just happens  to be veggie pizza night and Karen is a veggie so it worked out great and then she cleaned up the kitchen for Darcy. 

Sat Dec 1: A day off. Didn’t sleep very well as there is trouble with the CPAP. When my nose plugs up I can’t use the nose faceplate and the full faceplate doesn’t work. I slept 2 nights without it and I don’t sleep well without it as I keep waking up. Today I kept falling asleep while I was reading. In fact I was tired when I got up and missed Karate as well.

Sun Dec 2: Since Saturday was such a bust it was time to get the butt in gear. To start, went out to the Mall and had coffee with Grandpa, The Sarge and Uncle Vern. We solved several of the world’s problems but it is the same as solving them over glass of wine but not as much fun. Then home for lunch, an hour reading then 10 sit to stands at the side of the bed. Got into bed for 45 minutes to do some bridging, leg lifts, bicycling and some trunk stretches. Got on the bike for an hour and did 19.2 K. Did another 10 sit to stands with the PSW. Legs were a little pooped when I got into bed.

Back on the nostril CPAP breather but had trouble keeping my mouth shut. Having some strange dreams about fighting through the house doing MMA stuff but always end up pinned and I can’t move…go figure! The CPAP may have something to do with it as it makes a loud hissing sound when I open my mouth as the air blows out of my mouth. Is there an oneirologist out there to interpret my dreams? Yes I looked up oneirologist in Wikipedia.

Mon Dec 3: PT at 11 and was in the pool for an hour and did lots of work loosening up my trunk. The back stretches are helping, I think. Got home at about 1:30 and had lunch…then the Sunday workout kicked in and I had a nap from 3 to 5. Thought it might mess up me up at bedtime but went right to sleep at 11 o’clock. 

Oh yes I am off the sleeping pills and had been cutting then back for a while and was down to 2.5 mg a night so we decided to stop it completely. No withdrawal symptoms to date and I fall asleep relatively quickly. I do 3 sets of exercise before I go to sleep, 10 finger taps with my left hand, 10 shoulder rolls frontwards, 10 shoulder rolls backwards, 10 pelvic tilts, 10 glut flexes holding each for 10 sec, 10 leg flexes tightening up the quads and gluts alternating legs and 10 foot flexes alternating feet. Do it 3 times. Sometimes I fall asleep before it is completed.

Tues Dec 4^th:   To the pool with Yonna. Incorporated more of the exercises we did on Monday in the pool with Laura. Must do longer stands to get some endurance in the legs. Can stand for about 3 minutes need to extend that to 10+ and more. Working on that with the PSW’s at night before bed, try to stand for 3 minutes, the goal is to get to 10.

Biked for 55 minutes, the legs just didn’t get going. Couldn’t get the cadence up and the legs and body became very tight.

Laura, my physio at Parkwood asked if I’d be interested in writing an autoethnography which is according to Wikipedia “a self-reflection exploring personal experience connecting the story to wider cultural, political and social meanings/understandings.” Checked on the internet for examples and how to write one. It would involve a lot of research and I would like to do it. Not ready to put that much time into it. It would be a qualitative report and I’m of a quantitative guy…numbers are better.

Wed Dec 5^th: OT and PT. Jody did lots of stretching of my arm and loosened up my trunk. Yonna drove me to Parkwood and we were discussing what happens in physio and the how it would appear to an outsider. For example I need to turn on my gluts for standing and walking. To make sure it is on the physio will grab my ass and say, “Make it hard!” while I am lying on my stomach. Now what would that look/sound like if someone just walked into the room.

Did some standing with Laura and got into prone and had a great back mobilization of my vertebrae in my back by a student. He mentioned I had about the tightest back he’d ever worked on.

Got another great massage from Jeanie. The face cradle that we use doesn’t really fit me all that well. The hole that my face goes into opens up and my head slides through the hole and my throat rests on the edge. Think we need to put a pillow under my chest to get my throat off the base. We’ll try that next week.

Darcy was having a nap and I woke her up for a pee. She went into the washroom and brought out the drinking mug…we had a good laugh. Perhaps I should start doing it myself which would be less work for Darcy.

Yonna had parked facing the wrong way in front of the house. I mentioned on the way out that it was a parking offense to park that way. Yonna wanted to know if she should go back and change it. I said, "the cops rarely come around here." On the way back, when we turned the corner onto my street, there was a yellow ticket on her windshield. She was quite upset that she got a ticket. When we got in I asked Darcy if she had seen the police, "Only when they drove away" she replied. She asked Yonna to get the ticket. The Sarge and Grandpa had been helping Darcy get the VW in the garage and the Sarge wrote a ticket on yellow paper, "Offence, parking the wrong way, Fine $50, Send money to George and Bob."

Thurs Dec 6^th: In the pool with Yonna and worked on more exercises from Parkwood. Did some stands and weight shifting. I can stand on the right leg and lift the left knee up in the pool but I can’t do it on dry land. It seems that the knee is too stiff on dry land but in the pool the buoyancy helps lift the leg.

Did some biking, as Byron is off there is a little less pressure. Byron is having surgery tomorrow and hasn’t ridden this week so there will be no swelling in his ankle when they take the pins out tomorrow.

Fri Dec 7^th: Off to Parkwood with the Sarge for PT and OT. PT with Emily and did some hamstring and quad stretches and then at the standing table for 20 minutes. It was a good stand as I stayed relatively straight without leaning on the supports or on my arms. Got a good calf stretch while standing on an incline board.

In OT had a good discussion with Jody. Most of my damage is at C5 andC6 with some at C7. The problem is not that there is no nerve impulse it is the brain is confused and sends signals to all the body parts and doesn’t differentiate between parts. The physios and Occupational therapist are trying to make my brain selective in turning on different parts. But when I stand my entire body becomes tense. A drill I am doing is when I am in prone they have me in superman position that is push with my legs to turn them on,  pull my shoulders back and down, then lift my arms and then my head. Once up I turn them off one at a time. Let head down arms down, shoulders down, relax legs and then repeat. Trying to get my brain to turn on separate body parts by themselves.  

At home did some biking and did 1 hour with tension of 20 minutes at 5 to 7, 20 minutes at 3 to 5 and 20 minutes at 5 to 7 and did 20.7 K, most mileage yet.

Sat Dec 8^th: Really feeling the effects of my bike ride. I’m tight all over and had several spasms today. My lower back does loosen up when I sit and bend forward in the chair. Darcy ran the massager up and down my back and that seemed to help. 

Was getting ready to go to Karate but had some diarrhea…grrrr. The better part of valor was to stay home. I put on depends but didn’t need them. I have a dinner to go to tonight and hopefully it doesn’t act up there…I’ll keep the depends on just in case. The dinner worked out very well and I even had some wine and Scotch. Got home at about 1 o’clock and then an hour to get ready for bed so we didn’t get there til 2 o’clock.

Sun Dec 9^th: Got up at 8:30 and went for a two hour coffee break with the guys. A little tired and had a nap in the afternoon. Since there was no bike competition, didn’t need to go on the bike…good thing.

How do I Feel?

The tight body after riding for an hour is something I am going to have to reconsider. Now here’s the catch 22, riding makes my legs stronger and gets the heart rate up which I really need the catch is it tightens up my body for a couple of days after and it may interfere with my therapy. Seems the more tension I put on the tighter I get. Perhaps limiting the ride to 30 minutes with a lower tension may help. Disappointing as I may have to give up the races with Byron. OR perhaps taking some pain meds will help? I’ll just have figure out what will work. In discussion with Jody, she mentioned that when I plateau or stop progressing I will stop therapy but will begin again when I need it and it could go on for years.

I must admit I have been down a bit because of the slow progress but it seems that’s the way it is. Just keep working at it. I have a very enthusiastic physio and she keeps me going and doing new things.

Thanks for listening...

Nov 11 to Nov 26

Nov 11 to Nov 25

Holly shit it’s the middle of November and it’s dark by 5:30.

Mon Nov 12:  No therapy as it is a stat day. Did my own stuff...1/2 hour on the bike and my exercise routine for about an hour. Went for coffee with Grandpa and got caught in the rain on the way home. Darcy brought over a rain coat and we had some plastic bags to put over my feet and the wheelchair  control. The weatherman was wrong. It was supposed to start raining at noon and it was only 11 o’clock….grrr. Wasn’t too wet but did get a little chilly.

Tues Nov 13: In the pool with Grandpa and Yonna and after stretching, got up and did some walking. I was really tight in the trunk and twisted to the right when I was floating. Grandpa had to keep me straight.  Yonna stretches my legs by getting in between them and pushing them apart to stretch my hip flexors. Sounds kinky eh? It’s not! Do you know how hard Yonna can push? I am supposed to say ‘when’ when it is far enough but Yonna has learned that I shut my eyes when it hurts. I get even if I have a spasm and if she is between my legs it squeezes her ribs. She stretches the hamstrings by holding one leg down with her legs and pushing the other one over her head…yikes!

Wed Nov 14: OT and PT in the morning, again the trunk was tight and we did a lot of stretching to try and loosen it up…didn’t work too well and I was tight for PT. My right leg is the strong one and it started to give out while I was standing…don’t know what was going on there. 

Thurs Nov 15: In the pool with Yonna and Grandpa, trunk was very tight but loosened up a bit. Got some bad news…Grandpa called and said he couldn’t go in the pool anymore as he is allergic to the chlorine. I am really going to miss him as he and Yonna worked very well together.

Had an interesting event on the way home, had a big pee AFTER I got out of the pool…it was a big one more than 600 ml. There was nowhere to dump it. Darcy put the lid on the urinal and put it in the bag, loaded me in the car and took me home. At home the bag came out of the car first as it had been sitting on the back of the wheelchair (note: the back rest comes off to get the chair into the car.) Darcy wanted to know how we got the back wet implying that we somehow got it wet at the pool. It wasn’t until we got into the house that we realized that the urinal was empty…it was strip the covers off the wheelchair back, take the cover off the cushion, change my pants and get everything in the bag and the bag into the washing machine…just another day in the life of…

Fri Nov 16: PT with the physio. Laura works Mondays and Wednesdays but if there is a stat Monday, she comes in on Friday. Did some stretching and got up in the standing table for 15 minutes.

Sat Nov 17: The PSW was here early enough to give me time to go to Karate class. I got to look at and critique some of the katas. I was very nervous about doing it as I hadn’t done kata or instructed for a while. I must learn how to instruct verbally to get across what I want. Demonstrating was so much easier. Then it was off to a Black Belt workout which I just observed the class. Very interesting to watch the Black Belt technique.

Sun Nov 18: Went for a 2 hour coffee break with the guys…almost like being back at work. Did some reading and ½ hour on the bike. Did some more reading. One of my friends who broke his leg is using a bike trainer to recoup and rides most days. Being a competitive nut I challenged him to a competition of total miles per week. We report every Sunday night…I’ll let you know who wins the first week.

Mon Nov 19: PT with Laura. Usual stretching and standing. Good news, I will be getting another hour of OT on Fridays from 11 to 12. 

Wed Nov 21: OT, PT and a massage. First time Jeanie, the massage therapist got me over on my tummy. Jeanie brought a satin sheet. I got on the sheet and rolled onto my right side and she pulled me to the side of the bed. Darcy got the ‘face pillow’ and put it into position. Then Darcy and Jeanie flipped me over and I got a great massage on my back for the first time in a year+.

Thurs Nov 22: Swimming pool with Yonna...stretching, standing.  Stand on right leg and put left back to stretch the quad then switch legs. Mimics walking.

Fri Nov 23: PT at 10 with Emily got there a little late. The ol’ left arm got a workout. Shannon got hold of it and put my arm in positions it had been in for a long time. All this while lying on my tummy with my face in a face pillow.  Felt good as Emily was moving up and down my spine pressing hard on each vertebra. The left arm was much looser than it has been for a while. The pillow is soft material with a plastic base. When they push on my back the cushion moves out and the cheek hits the plastic and my long nose hits the bed. When I get up I have red cheeks and a red nose….just in time for Christmas.

Then off to see Jody in OT. As mentioned, I am now getting an extra hour of OT a week….5 hours of therapy a week...yeehaw. Jody worked on my left arm and again was able to get it into positions it hasn’t been before. That was partially due to the fact that Shannon in PT had loosened it up quite well.

Sat Nov 24: Got to Karate class a little late but got to look at some of Brown belts. This time I looked at them one at a time and it was much easier than working with them as a group.  Thoroughly enjoyed the class. Need to get better with verbal instruction…practice makes perfect…..sooooo be careful what you practice.

The guys came over and cleaned up the yard and the eave troughs…thanks to Nancy, John, Eric, Annette, Chris, Andy, and Roy…the yard looks great. 

Sun Nov 25: Well I got my ass whipped on the bike. Byron did 64.5 K and I did…….45.5 K. Started reading a book about the Second World War written by a man, Charles Kipp who lived about 5 K from here. It is very interesting as he mentions names of people that I recognize and knew of growing up. 

How am I Feeling

I am a year and a ¼ from the accident. I keep reading about you get what you have after a year. I must admit it is a little negative thinking but I may be in a chair for the rest of my life. Those thoughts do occur. I am writing this on Tuesday, Monday I was in the pool with Laura the PT and Emily the PTA. We did some neat exercises that, if I can remember them all, Yonna and I should be able to repeat at least some of them in the Tillsonburg pool. At the end of the session Laura asked me what we were going to do on Wednesday…I had no idea…so it was going to be back into the pool again. At home on Monday afternoon, I got a call from Laura; she remembered what we are going to do on Wednesday. She has asked Janelle a Physio and Barry to assist in getting me up in a platform walker. Since I can’t hang onto a normal walker handle with my left hand, there is an adjustable table/bench that I’ll be able to rest my arms on. 

I am very excited about Wednesday. My goal of course was always to walk, but it seemed to be getting further and further away and the ‘failure’ on the treadmill seemed to re-enforce, in my mind, that walking may not happen. Now on Wednesday, I get to try the platform walker. I have tried my walker at home but have a lot of difficulty hanging on with my left hand. The knee doesn’t straighten all the way so I’m up on my toe.  Perhaps with a physio holding my hip in and keeping my knee as straight as possible….I will be take that step.

Got to be careful not to get expectations too high. I’ll let you know next blog, how it went.

Oh yes the blank page was me learning how to post a blog. We got it there but couldn’t remove it.

Thanks for listening….    

Oct. 26 to Nov. 11, 2012

The last couple of weeks I’ve been getting over the failure to get into the Locomotor Program. I can still get into it if the legs start working a little better and I think the left leg is getting stronger. As I can now stand on my right leg and lift the left foot off the floor. Can’t stand on the left as it needs a lot more strengthening. Thinking about joining a gym but I’d need to check it out to see if I can get onto the machines. The bike trainer here is good but I need more.

Oh yes, on Saturday the 27^th I had my first panic/anxiety attack since the crash.  I had just got off the bike after a fairly hard work out and my nose and sinuses were plugged up and I ate some Halloween candy…and then it started…in the past I’d get up and move around. Can’t do that now.  I got very agitated and had to get out of the house. Wheeled into the garage to get some fresh air and after a few minutes it subsided. I think it was brought on by my stuffy nose, because as soon as my nose cleared up in the garage the attack subsided very quickly. Haven’t had one since but I’ve been taking some decongestants to keep the nose clear.

The CPAP is on every night and instead of the full face mask that eats my nose. I use a small mask that fits up my nostrils. The mouth must be kept shut or it short circuits the air. If the mouth does open it makes a lot of noise that usually wakes me up. Once last week Darcy was up at 4 and my mouth was wide open with the pump going full tilt. She tried to shut my mouth but my jaw was locked open and she couldn’t budge it…hmmmm if I was a kid on a computer ‘budge it’ would  have been ‘budget’…hee,hee,hee! I am getting used to keeping my mouth shut and once the nose adjusts to having the soft plastic nozzles shoved up it. It is the little things that matter, if I can keep my tongue on the roof of my mouth no air leaks out even if my mouth is open. At first we had trouble adjusting the mask and I had to take it off several times (note: Darcy has to put it back on), Darcy was ready to put it where my suppository.

Halloween was good we had about 20 kids, all older ones and I have been eating the left over candy ever since, which is contributing to making ‘my George’ bigger.

Messing with the computer…tried to install Windows 8 but it wanted me uninstall a bunch of apps including my WiFi…which I did and it wiped out my internet. Had no internet for a day couldn’t even read my eBook.  Just thought Windows 8 would miraculously reconnect me to the internet. Called my ol’ friend Kevin who chastised me for trying to do install Windows by myself…he implied That I wasn’t smart enough to do it. Got the Intel driver back and got back online.

OT and PT

OT and PT are getting into a routine. OT works the arm and PT is trying to get me relax my upper body while working my legs. Prone lying to stretch the back out and we also do quite a bit of standing and then weigh shifting from right leg to the left leg.  They are trying to get me to extend my hip and I got a bit of a compliment as one of the physios walked by and said, ‘that’s good Glen, your hip is somewhat extended!’

On Fridays after some stretching I was able to stay in the standing table for 20 minutes.

Yonna Training:

Yonna and Grandpa worked me very hard in the pool with lots of hamstring and quad stretches and lots of standing and squats to strengthen the left leg. I was standing in the pool and falling backwards a bit. Couldn’t figure out why the balance is off. Our diagnosis was that the sensors in my feet aren’t working all that well so they don’t turn on the muscles in my legs to keep be balanced…our diagnosis only. Jack, a friend can stand and walk with canes or a walker but he can’t walk without them. He has no feeling in his feet which would explain hius lack of balance. At home when standing I seem to be able to balance so here’s hoping it is just in the pool…..

 Social Life:

Went to two Halloween parties, (Laura and Jeff’s Engagement Party, Sensei Mark and Kelly’s Party to honour the Karate Club team that went to the world championships),  the Cycling Club’s annual banquet at the Belgium Hall in Delhi. At the cycling club they asked me to give a little talk on my journey since the crash. It is cathartic to get it out there, about the same as writing the blog with the blog it’s just press send and it’s gone.

 Out for coffee with the guys several times which is always good.

Went to Karate class on Sat Nov 3^rd. It was good to see the class working out. As mentioned previously, I’d like to get back to some teaching. I can’t teach new stuff as I can’t demonstrate but I think I could sharpen up some of the basics and Katas.

On the weekends, did a lot of reading and finished ‘The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest’, what a great trilogy. Started and finished James Patterson’s ‘Cross’. 

On Tuesday Nov 6^th went to Elmhurst again to have Seniors Brunch with Jack and his wife Beanie….yikes missed swimming for a brunch…can’t be doing that very much. Jack is having nerve pain in his legs and arms and describes it as severe burning and pain pills don’t work on it. He is getting acupuncture. They put a needle in his forehead just above his nose, one in the top of his head and one at the base of his skull. They attach wires to the one in his forehead and at the base of his skull and hook it up to a battery and pulse a current through it. Fortunately I don’t have nerve pain.

My Own Training:

Found that riding the bike hurts my knee. It is very strange as it hurts right where it did before the knee replacement, but it is all metal where it hurts…go figure. Doing some more work on the knee by putting a rope around my foot and pulling to bend the knee as far as it will go. Put a garbage bag on the bed so the heel will slide easily and the pull the foot up as far as it will go. Also doing leg lifts in bed.

Mark, a patient at Parkwood was watching me stand and asked if I needed a walker. The answer was ‘yes’.  He had received it from someone and it became motivation for him to get up and use it. Perhaps it will do the same for me.  I’ll pay it forward when I am finished with it just to keep it going round. I can stand and hang onto the handles but the feet are bolted to the floor.

 How Am I Feeling

Hmmmmm….having another panic attack wasn’t nice…hopefully that was the first and last. I am not really feeling down, I just don’t have as much enthusiasm as I once did. I think it is just that everything is slowing down and the gains are very small now, but still happening. It is good that we are into a routine but it has become a little boring.

Guess the real reason I’m down a bit is because it’s been a year and 3 months since the crash and I was told that the muscle spasms in my stomach and back will probably stay that way. There is a slight possibility that they may taper off….grrrrrr. My back feels like a block of wood and there is a tight band around my stomach….guess it’s time to get used to it.

Thanks for listening….

Oct 7 to Oct 26

Sun Oct 7^th:Started reading an eBook, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, only the second book I have read in 15 years. I have Cloud Reader which allows me to read it on my laptop…very interesting book, the first of a trilogy. Can’t read books as I can’t hold it with one hand and turn the pages.

Mon Oct 8^th: The diarrhea bug was back. Had a bout in the shower in the morning, and a bout in the afternoon that required me to be on the can for about 2 hours. I had been writing the blog in the morning and again pain in back and ribs got so bad had to do the pain meds again. It had to happen on Thanksgiving Monday when I was supposed to go to my brother-in-laws for turkey dinner. Instead Darcy put on some depends and I went to bed while she went for turkey. Before she left I had a pee and she emptied the urinal and put everything on the table beside the bed, a phone, Kleenex, and a bottle of water. I fell asleep until about 6:00 and woke up and had to pee. Looked for the urinal that was NOT on the table. I held it as long as I could…good thing I had the Depends on…note they do leak. Darcy came home at about 7:00 and I did get a turkey dinner.

Things to be thankful for…Darcy who has really stepped up to the plate, both of my daughters, Meghan and Kelly and all of my friends who take me places and help me work out and friends who are just there and for the donations that are helping us through this. Oh yes and thank goodness that I don’t live in the USA. 

When I was at Parkwood, I met a young man who was the son of a patient. He still keeps in touch with me and came for a visit in the afternoon…it was great to see Scott. 

TuesOct9^th: The intestinal problems have gone. It is amazing how much better the whole body feels. Good thing as I went to the pool with Yonna. Did the usual stretching of arms and legs and then some standing and squats. Rosa my new girlfriend was there and I told her I was practicing dancing and tried to shake my hips…forgetting that the float was off and Yonna was standing in front of me. I started to tip over but Y0000000onna came to the rescue. Did lots of single leg squats on the left leg. Not perfect stands, but using the left leg nonetheless. 

Did ½ hour on the bike after supper

WedOct10th:  OT, PT and a massage by Jeanie. OT worked left arm and got me moving the muscles to lift my hips. I think I can find them and start them moving. PT did the usual stretches but Laura is incorporating some drills that get my arms doing one thing and the legs doing something else. The left arm was suspended from a rope and my left leg was pushing on a big ball. That may sound simple to you but I have to think through each move and concentrate very hard when trying to do two at the same time…it is improving all the time…a little at a time.

Jeanie, the massage therapist, (Keep wanting to call her a masseusebut I think that implies something kinky!) did a bit of work on my plantar fascia on my left foot to try and break everything up…knuckles up and down the sole of my foot…yikes…felt really good when she stopped.

ThursOct11^th: In the pool with Yonna and Grandpa. Darcy needed the car so she dropped Yonna and I off at the pool at 11:15, the swim starts at 11:30. Grandpa must have just missed us as he pulled up at about 11:20 and waited. At 12:35 he decided that something must be wrong and drove over to the house to find out…saw the car was gone and came back to the pool and decided to check inside and found us. We must admit, we thought he had forgotten.

 It was a good workout, ½ hour on left hand which I call Lefty, not allowed to call it the bad arm.  Did some stretches and squats and some standing. Stood for several minutes unassisted. The left knee does not straighten out enough, really going to have to work on it.

All in all a tiring day. Before the swim went for PSA blood test at the hospital, a test I would recommend to all men over 50. The results to be sent to my urologist who I’ll see at the end of the month. Back in the car and out again to wait for Yonna to take me to the pool, into and out of the car again, then into and out of the car at home. At 4 there is a chiropractor appointment in Simcoe. Into the car and out in Simcoe, then in the car in Simcoe and out again at home. Got home at 5:30 and had supper as the plan was to go to a Karate Black Belt meeting at 9. All the ins and outs of the car takes its toll on both Darcy and I. We decided not to go to the Meeting as that would mean 2 more ins and outs of the car.

FriOct12^th: To PT in London with Yonna. Laura was there to get me in the standing table and do some stretching of my arms and legs. Again she was trying to get me to move my arm independently of my left leg. May be simple for you. Same drill as before, push with my left leg to tighten up my quads and gluts then has me straighten and bend the left arm at the same time. I must concentrate very hard on keeping the left leg tight and moving the left arm. While moving the left arm I must consciously check to make sure the leg is still tight. Gives the ol’ brain a workout.

SatOct13^th: Pretty much a rest day. Read most of the day. Went to the Forest City Velodrome in London to see the last day of the 6 day races. The riders raced last Thus, Fri and Sat and finished off this weekend. A team from Delhi finished 3^rd out 6 teams. There was a pro there who raced in Europe last year. The guys are reaching speeds of up to 60kph on a banked oval track of 140 m. There were races for 11 and 12 year olds that was neat. We went especially to see Logan McIntyre race who is a 14 year old Silver Spokes SC member. He was riding with the adults and did very well. I heard he can do a lap in 8.5 seconds at 60 kph which is flying. He will be a real contender in a couple of years. A late night out, we cancelled the PSW and Grandpa drove us up. Getting into the velodrome was interesting…up a flight of 8 steep stairs but with two guys on the handle bars and a couple on each side it was a quick trip up. The track was built in the old London Ice House so there is no heat in the place. We had the best seats in the house right at track side. They did provide me with a heater so I was nice and toasty. I was a little leery about going down the steps frontwards, it was even more funas I took the seat belt off the chair a month or so ago…but we made it.  Got home at 11 and Darcy and I did the bowel Care stuff and got to sleep a little after midnight.

Nice to know that we can stay out late. There are several parties and events to go to in the next month or so.

Sun Oct 14th:  Coffee with the guys. If there is a chance of rain we go to the mall. I can get in and out of the car in the mall parking lot. We are becoming ‘mallies’. Spent the afternoon reading.

Did sit to stand before bed, 3 sets of 10.

: PT at 11. Did the normal stretching and trying to separate the left arm from left leg. Then got into standing and had to move to my right and it was the first time I was able to stand on the right and move the left foot. Still I turn on everything when I stand up…back, neck and arms are rock hard.

TuesOct16^th: Missed the pool and went out to the Seniors Brunch at Elmhurst with Jack and his wife Beanie. Jack is a friend I met at Parkwood. A very good time…highly recommended to all the old farts out there.

WedOct17th: PT at Parkwood. Did the normal stretchy stuff and in prone position. It would be nice if I could get into prone easier at home. It really does stretch out the back and legs. Got on the treadmill for a few minutes. That was the video that Dorathea put on Facebook. Must think every step and contract the quads and stand tall on each leg on every step. Hard to get the ol’ brain working that fast. Going to be interesting when I get on it for an hour. I was pooped after only 6 minutes.

walking on the treadmill

ThursOct 18:  In the pool with Yonna and the Sarge. Did the usual stretching and standing with lots of single leg squats. Did some standing with no support for about 5 minutes. When I started to lose my balance I was able to correct and maintain a straight up posture. Came home and tried to read and kept falling asleep.

FriOct19^th: Had PT today with Emily the PTA. Instead of the normal standing table for 20 minutes, they decided to do some stretches first and then the standing table to see if the stretching would loosen up my back. I have in the past been able to stand for 30 minutes but today I could only manage 10 minutes….grrrr. Don’t know what was wrong other than I felt very ‘heavy’ and I had a lot of spasms. Strange feeling…feels like I can’t move my arms and legs but I can when I try. Darcy has had a cold and some of the PT’s as well so maybe I am fighting something.

Got a new mask for the CPAP that is a different design and we’ll see if it eats my nose. Tried it last night but only kept it on until midnight. Woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep as the noise of the air rushing thru the mask was too loud and kept me awake. Woke up tired with lots of spasms. More proof I need the CPAP.

SatOct20^th: Felt crappy,tight all over spent the whole day reading, The Girl Who Played with Fire.

SunOct21^st: Still very tight, went out to Dan and Meghan’s for a BBQ with the cycling club. It was after the Fall Finale which I organized in the past. It was always at least 160 k+. Seems they shortened it this year to about 70k. It was great seeing all the guys and gals and theBBQ was good. Got to take home some cheese cake which I like a lot…it’ll just make ‘My George’ bigger. S0hould have been writing the blog but I was reading again, finished the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and started the Girl who Played with Fire…finished the 2^nd book and started on the 3^rd.

Oct 22^nd: PT and did the same drills and then got on the treadmill. When I am ‘walking’ on the treadmill I need to stand on my leg as it is taking a step. My hip flexors are very tight so they got me in a standing position and put my right leg back and got me to push my heel into the ground. Note: this is with about 30% of my body weight on my feet. Given the stiffness in my left leg I can’t get my heel near the ground. At the end of the session I was told I wouldn’t be going into the Locomotor Training as I can’t stand on my legs and take a step….grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! More about that later.

Tues Oct 23^rd: No swimming pool today as had an appointment with the Urologist in Hamilton at 11:00.  Had another episode of diarrhea after the shower. Didn’t want to go to the urologist with any chance of another episode…we cancelled. Put on ‘Depends’ and waited to see if anything else would happen for the rest of the day. Nothing did and had a normal BM at night. Can’t figure out what’s happening.

WedOct 24: Woke up at 5:30 and I was very tight and it’s funny the more I tried to loosen up the tighter I got. After the shower there was another episode of diarrhea. Put ‘Depends’ on again, just in case. Was supposed to leave at 9:45 for Parkwood. Garry and the Rocket were coming from Port Dover to take me to London. I didn’t feel comfortable going to Parkwood knowing I could possibly have another episode…cancelled OT and PT for the first time… a big grrrrrr. Didn’t cancel Garry and the Rocket and they arrived right on time. Instead of going to Parkwood we had a good long visit.

No more episodes so I missed some therapy for nothing…..

Thur Oct 25^th:  Missed swimming again for an appointment to see the orthopaedic surgeon. I’ve been having a problem straightening out my knee when I stand. To get it straight I let gravity do it when I lay in bed. I can only tolerate it for about 45 minutes. I don’t get it; it hurts where the old cartilage used to be and is now metal parts….things that make you go hmmmmmm. The Doc said I have to keep trying to get it straight. It wasn’t straight for about 15 years before surgery but now is the chance to get it there. He said I have fairly good strength in the leg when he pushed and pulled on my shin…a good thing.

Fri Oct 26^th: PT with Emily. Did stretching first and then on the standing table. My feet were on an incline board which stretched the calves. My knees were bent and I couldn’t stand up straight, kept tipping to the left. Stayed up for 15 minutes, a little longer than last week.

How am I Feeling?

I think the intestinal difficulties have been causing my body to tighten up. It hasn’t been this tight for a long time and that is starting to get me down a bit. Then on Tuesday when I was told that I am not a good candidate for the Locomotor Training that got me down even more. I guess it is the competitor in me; it was like losing a rugby game, losing a sparring match or losing a bicycle sprint. After a few days of feeling sorry for myself I realized that it wasn’t a loss but I could improve my leg strength and my coordination and get into the program in the future. Being down was probably a combination of the intestinal disorder and losing the locomotor training program…and that is the diagnosis of Dr. Steen.

When I was feeling down I didn’t feel like writing the blog, so I read instead. It was the fastest I read a book in a long time. I think I am over it now, just got to work a little harder to get the legs stronger

Thanks for listening….

A Quick Read

Sept 23 to Oct 7 2012, a quick read…

The last couple of weeks have been interesting, as the insurance company has made some errors. Darcy being the banker looks after all the financial stuff. It seems that on one of the invoices it said I was in an acute care hospital.  According to the policy insurance pays $15 a day for an acute care room and 80% for a rehab hospital to a maximum and we pay the rest. They called at 20 after 7 on Tuesday night to tell Darcy they would be investigating my case and would be going back to Dec 16^th to look at the file and had sent Parkwood a cheque for $15 a day, $435 for the month of February. Needless to say this upset Darcy.Darcy tried to explain that I had been in a rehab hospital. They wanted to know if I was in rehab .for drug abuse. It finally got straightened out a couple of days later but Darcy didn’t need to be put through that wringer. Good thing Darcy keeps all receipts and makes notes on everything. Seems the insurance companies just keep hammering on you hoping you give up…Darcy didn’t.

OT and PT have been going about the same. OT working on my left arm and shoulder. In PT we have been working on sit to stand, prone lying and practicing on the treadmill. It was a little discouraging last Wednesday as they were moving my legs with 40% .of my body weight on my feet. I wasn’t help lift my legs or moving them forward. To walk you need to shift weight from one foot to the other and start your hip moving up and forward to get the leg to follow. Since I haven’t used the walking muscles for a year, I can’t get the hip up to move the leg forward. I haven’t found an exercise that will strengthen those hip muscles. It’s a bit of a catch 22; don’t have the muscle to lift the hip so I can’t lift the hip to build the muscle….. hmmmmm! I must think of the movement and try to get the ol’ brain to turn on the right muscle which is hard to do as the brain turns on the ones all around it, like my quads and gluts.

Yonna is still taking me to the pool most Tuesdays and Thursdays. We are doing the same stretching, standing, weight shifting as usual. The weather is cooling down and that creates some problems riding home in the power chair after the pool in a wet bathing suit. My thermostat is broken. It is one of the autonomic systems that dilate blood vessels to warm up cold parts of the body. My feet are like ice cubes most of the time, and sometimes one is hot and one is cold. Or one hand is hot, or my legs will be warm and there will be a cold spots on them. By the time I get home in the chair on a cold day it’s pretty much… buuurrrrr… all the way home. Yonna has a jeep Liberty with heated seats and I did managed to get into the front seat by standing with Yonna and Grandpa’s help and turning and sitting on the seat. Getting out was even easier. The ride was a lot warmer. Don’t know if I can stand and pivot to get into the Matrix as the seat is quite a bit lower and I’d probably collapse into it….we shall try one day.

Did some visiting on Sunday Sep 30^th. Visited my friend Jack who I met at Parkwood, and his wife, they live just outside of Wallacetown. He lives on a beautiful 26 acre parcel of land. He broke his back when a quad flipped over on him; he’d driven up the hill a thousand times same as me having ridden thousands of kilometers in the dark. He can walk with a walker or two canes but just can’t get his legs to move on their own. He drives his car and his tractor and does all sorts of stuff around the house. It just takes him a little longer to do. Jack is proof that the only limits are those that other people put on you.

Felt a little crappy for a couple of days, nothing major just a little intestinal thing, perhaps I ate some meat from XL foods...lol. More on that later.

To walk I must shift weight to my left leg but it is very weak and it won’t support my weight. Probably said this 100 times. To get it stronger I need to get some sort of leg press to strengthen the legs. Any ideas out there on a how to construct a leg press, that I could push from a wheelchair?  To try to build the leg up I put more tensionon the bike. I think the right leg is doing a lot of the work. And I don’t know how to isolate the left leg. PT continues to work on it and whenever we are in the pool we do squats on single legs as the buoyancy helps…it is just so damn slow.

Had coffee with the boys and Etienne (broke his neck on the trail about 150 yards from where I fell) who was looking very good. He is walking better and is back riding his bike. He has his road bike on a trainer and uses his narrow bike seat. Since he has no bum either, that is probably limiting his bike riding time.

Starting to use a big exercise ball to stretch my hip extensors and my back. Lie on the bed with my legs on top of the ball and roll the ball side to side. Like any stretching it feels soooo good when it is over.

I use a CPAP machine because of my sleep apnea. It helps me get a good 7 hours sleep a night. For those of you who don’t know about CPAPs, the mask can either just cover your nose or as in my case, since I can’t keep my big mouth shut, it also covers my mouth. The bridge of my nose is also a strange shape due to about 11 breaks while playing rugby and 3 from Karate…broken noses hmmm…wonder if that has to do with its size. The number of breaks is directly proportional to the length of the nose. I digress…do to the fact that there is very little bridge left on my nose and there is also a bend, the mask does not seal well at that point. A CPAP puts pressure in your nose to keep the airways open in the back of the throat and thus a tight seal is required. To get a seal we tighten the mask, which isn’t supposed to happen and every morning I wake up with a pressure sore on my nose. It is just a matter of time before it becomes an open sore. We need to find a mask that will fit a quirky nose. Note anyone out there who snores a lot should be checked out for sleep apnea, as the airways close off during snoring. You may stop breathing and you wake up, if you don’t wake up it may interrupt your sleep unbeknownst to you. It can cause all sorts of health issues…just saying… if you snore and still feel tired in the morning…you may wanna see your doc.

How do I feel?

As mentioned, had a couple of bought's of diarrhea that are very different. It seems with a spinal cord injury it affects you differently, no you still have runny poop but I get muscle tension in my trunk and in my legs. The isometric tension is so strong in my back and intercostal rib muscles,I have to take pain meds to get through it. Probably was the intestinal thing that made me feel a little down. Perhapsthe reason the legs weren’t working in PT. I didn’t last long. When I was feeling a little glum, I saw Jack and all the stuff he is doing and then saw Etienne and how well he is getting around, it gave me some incentive to get my ass in gear again.

The good news is I have reduced the sleeping meds from 15 mg/night down to 3.75 mg with no side effects and I still get to sleep. The CPAP could be helping with that. In the morning when I get on the computer, I fall asleep on and off until about noon. We thought it might be a hangover from the sleeping meds. Now that it is down to 3.75 mg and I am still falling asleep.It must be something else…go figure. I take 150 mg of Effexor in the morning plus 90 mg of Baclofin which both have drowsiness as a side effect. Effexor is an antidepressant and Baclofin is for muscle spasms. We called the psychiatrist to see if we could move the Effexor to be taken at bedtime. Perhaps that will assist me in going to sleep and I can get off all the sleeping meds altogether.

It did the ol’ heart good seeing the reports and watching the videos of the guys and gals competing at the WKC World Championships (Karate) in Quebec on the weekend. Congrats to Kelly Havorka for her 3^rd Place in continuous sparring and to the World Champion Sensei Mark Deleemans in continuous fighting. Congrats to all who competed, Mike, Dave, Andy and Greg, you did the club proud. It should be noted that all the divisions were Black Belts and under belts could compete if they qualified. Kelly is a Blue Belt and was an alternate and didn’t know until she arrived that she would be fighting. All the more amazing her 3^rd place finish is against Black Belts.…well done.

Thanks for listening….