Day 53 - Scooby Doobie Doo!

Days til brace off: 26?

Days til move: Maybe 10

There is no purpose to the title of today’s blog.  It simply represents my mood.  FYI it is a good mood.  

My parents are off to Kentucky.  My mom’s ministry work is needed back home, although she was doing plenty of that here.  I think all the patients talked with her at one point or another.  My dad is coming back in about a week to help with the business and move into what seems like a bachelor pad.  Summer of Bob?  Maybe.

Rebecca got back last night from DC and came by this morning to say goodbye to my parents and say hey to me.  It’s great having her back in town.  

This morning I got on the treadmill.  Jason was the therapist.  He loves breaking records.  The most I had done on the treadmill was 31 minutes.  Today I did 40.  He really pushes me, which is awesome.  

I had group therapy before lunch.  Then in the afternoon I thought I was getting the ASIA test but instead we tried simulating the bathroom to be like my apartment and make sure I could transfer okay.  There were some pretty risky maneuvers but all went well in the end.  Then a car transfer, bed transfer, etc.  We had ten minutes left so they taught me how to get off the ground if I fell over.  That was interesting to say the least.  I couldn’t do it very well because of my brace.  

That’s about it for tonight.  Weekend in the summer in Chicago… should be nice out…

G’night!
Chip

Day 52 - Better!

Days til brace off:  Who knows?

Days til move: A week?  I don’t know.

Well Momma Battoe is headed home tomorrow.  She is flooding the place with tears, which is no surprise if you know her.  She is definitely overprotective but I’ll certainly miss her.  Tony said he’d miss her laugh.  That’s about right.

Yesterday I felt kind of sick most of the day.  I did the treadmill in the morning, another therapy, then after lunch skipped out on pool therapy.  I don’t know what was going on but I couldn’t eat anything and then I was freezing cold for hours.  5 thick blankets couldn’t warm me up.  I clicked update repeatedly on my iPad underneath the covers trying to learn about the Blackhawks game.  It’s impossible to get the game anywhere here, apparently.  Or maybe I just know where to go online.  Around 10 or 11pm I suddenly went from freezing to sweating.  No idea what happened.  They took my temp and blood pressure and nothing was amiss.  Who knows.

I’m feeling much better today.  If you prayed after my last blog, thank you, it worked!  I woke up refreshed, or at least as much as you can feel refreshed here.  Jessica had me in the training shower to do a transfer, take a shower, then re-transfer back to my wheelchair, get in bed, get dressed, get back out of bed.  Check, check, check, check.  

But oh, if only my potential apartment had a bathroom like they have here. We went to check it out today and the doors were getting scraped as I edged my wheelchair through.  Hmmm… also the bathroom required me to back into it.  No idea how I’m going to leap over the back of my wheelchair into the shower.  But hopefully we’ll figure it out.  

I also did another couple laps with the KAPOs today.  Tied my previous record (from 2 days ago) of 840 feet.  I also found out that when my custom ones are finished, I’ll be able to practice with them (with a walker) at home.  That was a huge relief, especially since I didn’t get into the research study.  Sara, my PT, said that what really matters is getting in the walking time.  It doesn’t matter if it’s KAFOs, treadmill, Lokomat… whatever.  So I’m looking forward to completely wearing myself out in those bad boys.

A huge inspiration came later in the day when we got back from the apartment visit.  Amanda and Kristen had gotten to my room at 3:15, and it was 5, but they were luckily still smiling and not furious at me for completely forgetting our meeting time!  Tony had apparently toured them throughout the building for over 40 minutes looking for me.  He’s so awesome.  He only stopped because his own guests arrived.  

Anyway Amanda runs a business that helps business have better social impact (http://www.panzanzee.com/).  Kristen works with her, and also has a non-profit that helps women and girls in Uganda (http://kwagalaproject.org/index.php), and I’m guessing other places, that have been in brothels.  Education, vocational training, counseling, etc.  Anyway she had apparently shared my story with a house of women in Uganda, who then responded with a video of them singing Christian songs and wishing me healing through Jesus Christ.  I was definitely overcome with emotion, especially with the struggles this week.  Thanks, Kristen!  I’ll do my best to post the video but it’s 572 MB, so not sure that’ll fly…

I’ll spare you yet another video of me in KAFOs… I need some new material.  

I thought of something today as I was writing a friend that I’d like to share. We often hear as encouragement, “God has a plan!”  Well, yes, He does.  But I believe it’s up to us to follow that plan.  Or at least try our best to do so.  It’s not going to just “happen” to us.  You know?  I don’t know.  I like it.  

G’night!
Chip

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Moving along in the walker.  It’s getting easier.  It’s the technique more than muscle strength improving, though.  I’d rather have the latter.  The therapist here is Vince.

Day 50 - Just want to walk...

Days til this stinkin’, uncomfortable, limiting brace is off: 29

Days til move: 10 (or is it?)

I might have my move date changed yet again.  We’ll see.  Later, if anything.

Have I really been in this hospital/rehab place for 50 days??? That’s 7 weeks.  I was at Illinois Masonic about 9 days before that.  I can’t believe I’ve spent the last two months in a hospital.  

Yesterday I got up and put on the braces, then walked around with a walker for 630 feet, crushing my previous personal record of 310 feet.  So that was nice.  Then we headed up north and checked out the area where my new apartment is located.  We WERE going to check out the apartment, but everyone was off for Memorial Day.  The good news is there is a tiny Thai place that gives a decent lunch with appetizer and soup for $5.99. 

I got really down yesterday.  Trying to imagine myself doing very basic things in the neighborhood we visited was extremely hard.  I realized I’d have to start making notes on places I go when I got stuck in the bathroom at the Thai place.  Not fun.  My dad somehow blamed himself for that.  I didn’t even do anything last night.  I just laid in bed and waited until I got tired, then fell asleep at something like 9:30.  Thus no blog. 

I realize that, especially compared to other people in my condition, I am doing very well.  Many people are very surprised to see how much I’ve progressed in two months.  I am truly thankful for that but it just isn’t enough.  To me it already seems like ages.  I want to walk again.  I want to be the way I was before the accident!  

Today was a little better.  I got into the braces and went 840 feet this time - again, with the walker.  It’s just technique - not any new muscle return or anything.  I’ll post a video my dad took in a sec.  

It’s been hard but I have to try and remember how lucky I am.  I truly am lucky/blessed/whatever you want to call it.  I’ve had an amazing life to this point.  Hopefully in a year I’ll look back and value the struggles I am going through right now, but it’s hard to think that way.  

Another patient on my floor, Mark, was injured simply slipping in the shower.  He has a positive attitude every day.  I see him smiling every day and I am jealous of his consistent attitude.  On top of the usual recovery goals, he was determined to lose weight.  He’s lost almost 40 lbs. in about 4 weeks!  Crazy.  He pushes hard in therapy and works out on his own, as well.  I hope I can be more like Mark.  Please pray for him and his family. 

Also, a long-time friend of my family has a brain tumor.  They find out soon if it is benign or malignant.  Let’s pray it’s benign.  We already know it is inoperable.  So let’s pray for him and his family.  I won’t say his name since I didn’t ask if it was okay to talk about him here, publicly like this.  My tribulations seem like whining complaints compared to what they must be going through right now.  

My mom goes back home to Kentucky, soon.  She knows she is needed back home but also hates leaving me here.  Please pray for her.  She doesn’t realize I’ll be okay here.

My dad, like any guy, just wants to fix the situation.  I had to tell him today, “Dad, you just can’t fix this.”  It was really hard for him to hear.  Please pray for him, too.  He found a sublet here for the summer to help out with the business and help me if I need it.  Of course, he’ll be heading to Kentucky often to see my mom.  Or she’ll be coming here.  

I will try and remember Romans 12:12:

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

G’night,

Chip

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My (very short) regular swim.  I have been told not to do this up until now.  I can’t wait to get in a real pool and get some good exercise in!  Not to mention finally practice swimming more than 6 times a year…  I still have arms, dangit!

Day 48 - Rest day -

Days til brace off: 31

Days til move out and move in: 12

Today I mainly rested.  Yesterday was so long and I woke up so early that I needed it.  Thankfully my nurse put the hospital equivalent of a “do not disturb” on my door.  I slept a good 10-11 hours and woke up too late to make it to my first therapy session at 10am.  I think the rest was better than the PT for my rehab, frankly.  I made sure to do everything without assistance today as much as possible to make up for it.

At 1:30 I got in the pool.  I kept spasming so we did some simple squats, let kicks, and then they let me swim, which was really cool.  It was too small of a pool to really get any distance, but it still felt great.  I fully intend on swimming when I get out of here.  I can’t run, so maybe I’ll FINALLY really swim a lot.  I’ve been talking about it for years, to the perpetual annoyance of my swimmer friends.  I’ll post a video after I post this blog.

Nina, Louise, Amanda and her friend all showed up while I was in the pool.  They got to see me flounder out of the pool as I tried to get out without the lift.  I pushed myself up onto the side of the pool and then did a backwards pushup onto my wheelchair.  It wasn’t pretty but it worked.  There may be hope, yet, of me getting into and out of a regular pool without fancy equipment. 

We all went down to my room.  When the PCT came in to get my vitals, she was patient enough to one by one take the vitals of each of my visitors.  They had way to much fun getting their blood pressure checked!  It was hilarious.

Erik came a little later to catch up.  Then my parents and I headed over to their hotel for leftovers for dinner and the first stages of a game of Risk.  It’s going to take several stages, I’m sure.  My dad was smart enough to take photos of the board so we didn’t have to leave it out.  Plus they can bring it to RIC.  If you haven’t played it, it strangely makes you want to dominate the world.  Awesome game :)  The only other time I played, it was with 4 other friends and we played for 6 hours straight.  I couldn’t talk to Erik for a good hour afterwards because I was so upset from losing.  

Anyway that’s about it for today.  I’ll leave you with this insight:

Those of us in rehab regularly refer to life as before and after the accident.  Like, “Well, since the accident,” or, “Before the accident…” It’s really interesting.  I am convinced this is a subconscious way of showing that we view life differently, now.  Yes, we’ve changed physically.  But also our views of the world have changed.  This is true of everyone I’ve talked with here.  I would say it is also true to varying degrees of my friends and family.  I am willing to bet that all of them are much quicker now to open the door of anyone handicapped.  Or to say, “hello,” instead of just looking straight on and avoiding eye contact.  Those little subtleties don’t go unnoticed by those of us in wheelchairs and it’s much appreciated when people do NOT avoid us.  

Okay that’s my little thought for the night.  God bless you all.

G’night!

Chip

Day 47

Days til brace off: 32

Days til move and start outpatient care: 13

Days til mom heads home: 6

What a helluva day!  Oh man… so long, too.  I am bushed.  Going back to timeline style:

5am - Wake up and get ready to go cheer on Rebecca and dad at Soldier Field 10 Miler.

5:55 - Climb into car and head to Soldier Field

6:25 - Mom and I get a spot exactly at the starting line to cheer on the runners.  Really cool.  

6:55 - They let the elite runners in, including Rebecca.  She came over and I wished her good luck. 

7am - AND THEY’RE OFF!  Rebecca is off quickly and my dad is right behind her since he was entered under my bib number in corral 1.  Both are smiling.  My dad is seriously pumped.  He was so anxious all morning driving my mom nuts.  

My mom and I cheered on waves of runners before heading over to the 9.25 mile point to try and cheer on people and catch Rebecca.

8:01am - Rebecca comes blazing through with Stephen alongside.  I last about 5 seconds with them in my wheelchair.  Mom and I try and go find them at the finish line with no luck.  Finally we go back to see if we can catch dad at the same spot.  

Notice how few runners are around at this pace.  Also Stephen doesn’t count.

8:45am - Rebecca, Stephen, and Leah find us waiting for my dad.  She finished in 1:06!  Crazy fast.  27th out of all women.  Stephen and Rebecca go down to the 9 mile marker to try and run the last mile with my dad.  

9:05am-ish - We see Rebecca, Stephen, and my dad coming up.  I take off slowly on the lake shore trail.  Leah comes with me and tells me to slow down because they aren’t catching us.  

Nice shirt, dad.  Rebecca looks like she’s walking.

Finally we’re all together and go the entire last half mile, through the gates of Soldier Field, out the tunnel, onto the field and cross the finish line together at the 50 yd line!!!! I can’t believe they let me do that!  My dad was pumped.  He did fantastic and we were all proud of him.  We grabbed a beer before all heading to Melrose Diner up north for a big and well-deserved breakfast/brunch.

My dad’s medal with my bib that he used. 

Brunch crew.

After that everyone pretty much crashed.  Rebecca went back to pack and catch her flight to DC.  My dad passed out.  I laid down but couldn’t sleep (so will pass out in just a sec here).  I think my mom was doing research or something.

4pm - Jake shows up and we catch up on his unbelievable adventures.

5pm - Mom, Jake and I head to the hotel where my parents are staying to hang out, order pizza and watch the Blackhawks play (currently score is 4-1, Blackhawks.. where has this been???).  

5:15 - Erik and Nina show up.  They are definitely getting in race shape.  I’m jealous.

5:45 - Louise, Amanda and her friend show up.  

Most people leave to go to the game and Amanda and her friend stay to catch up.  It’s been a while.  Turns out we were only a month apart in our trips to Cape Town.  Really random.  

After the pizza arrived (Papa John’s, obviously), my parents and I ate and watched the first period of the game.  I experimented by hopping onto various seats in the room.  That was interesting.  Then I headed back which brings me to this point.  

All in all, an incredible day. Because:

• My dad had never run more than 5 miles before today’s 10 mile race.


• Rebecca got a PR as well and did amazing


• I got to finish with my dad and also catch Rebecca twice.


• I didn’t feel down seeing the runners.  I might try and sing the national anthem and plead my case :)


• Melrose brunch was awesome


• Everyone had a great time


• The Blackhawks are doing great

Great day.  I’m beat.  

Ohh… The Blackhawks just won!  Woohoo!

G’night!
Chip

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The first half is just a spasm.  The second half is me.  

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This is from yesterday (Friday).  Looks like I’ll be doing this instead of lokomat, now.  It’s way harder so I’m both glad and nervous.  This is about 15 minutes into the 31 minutes and my legs are already shaking.

Days 45 and 46 - No more Lokomat...

Days til brace off: 33

Days til move into new apartment; adios RIC (bed): 14

Days til Momma Battoe moves back to Kentucky: 7

Yesterday was uneventful so not much to blog about until today.  

Yesterday, 9am - I started by getting my braces on in front of the brace experts so they could work on a special pair for me.  Magic legs just for me.  Yay!  Ha but seriously it’ll be helpful for working out my legs.  I think I can even use them at home.  Anyway I put them on and did a lap around the halls again.  It felt easier this time but I also had less energy from not sleeping well.  

10:30-11:30am - Tony, Jamie, Mike, Tim and I played some games.  That golf ball on rope thing, bags, bocce ball… good times.  Tony is strangely good at bocce ball.  

11:30am - The brace guys came back to make plaster casts of my legs for the form-fitting braces.  It was really cool.  Science is awesome.  First they put this thin super-long sock thing on my leg all the way up to the hip.  Then they put this tracer rubber thing down my leg, followed by wrapping this funky wet wrap that became rock hard in a few minutes.  Then they sawed down that rubber thing to get off the casts.  Cool process.  

It looks like they are going with full KAFOs (knee ankle foot orthotics) since my quads are still really weak.  If God grants me more strength there, they’ll turn them into AFOs.  Or just stop using them.  My feet are more mobile than my knees at this point which is backwards of normal.

I had some frustrating discussions about legal, insurance, etc. that was thankfully followed by a nice weightlifting session.  

That was about it for yesterday.  I rested since my back has been hurting. Not to mention that I have been really tired from all the therapy.

Today started off similarly.  Tony, my roommate, woke up and said, “Hey Chip.  Good morning.  I feel good today.  Some good things are gonna happen!”  It was awesome to hear his positive attitude.  That’s hard to come by here.  Turns out he was also prophetic.  

10am - A researcher came by for round 2 of this study I am doing.  40 minutes of somewhat silly questions that paid $30.  Have I been depressed in the last 2 weeks?  Never, several days, or every day? Umm… never?  I’ll take the cash, thanks. 

11am - Shoulder cardio (?) followed by another heated session of balloon volleyball.  Everyone is really getting good at that.  

At lunch, Erin stopped by to drop off some more sweet treats - puppy chow and some chocolate covered… dough balls?  I don’t know what they are but they’re good.

1pm - Balance practice with Jessica.  We played the Wii.  Frisbee golf is really hard.  It’s so fun playing Wii with her.  She hates losing.  She found her game in something like serve-return table tennis.  I just could not beat her in that.  Everything else, though.  Ha!

2pm - Jason grabbed me and said we were going to the treadmill again.  Ugh.  The last time was good progress but I was extremely sore for 2 days afterwards.  That was for 20 minutes.  Today he said we were going to shoot for 25 minutes.  It appears I will be doing this instead of Lokomat now that my legs have enough strength to make that transition.  So I grunted my way to 25 minutes including a few breaks for intense spasms. I sat down and started undoing my harness only for him to tell me we had plenty of time and we were going to continue.  So I pushed on.  31.5 minutes total.  I was shaking like crazy afterwards for quite some time.  Great workout, though.  I love feeling completely exhausted.  

3pm - I got in bed to rest after that intense session, took off my brace and sweaty shirt and dove into some of the cake Rebecca made.  Then the research department head walked in.  Somewhat awkward but he didn’t seem to care.  George is his name and Emily and Patrick (a PT) were with him.  Turns out I might be eligible for a research study because of my spasms and leg return.  Apparently my progress is much more similar to what is seen with a T10 injury, and none of the symptoms are common in T12 injuries.  Spasms, foot movement and feeling, reflexes and reactions… a bunch of things that are never seen with T12 injuries, I have.  So the study is for T10 injuries and above, though.  So that might disqualify me.  They are going to argue that my T10 section of the spinal cord is clearly affected more than the T12 section.  I don’t totally understand the science of it but I think this could be great news if I get in.  It includes 10 weeks of walking therapy, 5 times a week.  That could be huge, considering my insurance limitations.  I really hope I get in.  

So a couple large changes today.  I’m happy with the progress.  Here’s to hoping it continues.  

Dear Lord, thank You for the progress I have gotten so far.  Thank You for the positive attitude that You have given me, and also my roommate, Tony.  In fact, thanks for intersecting our lives so we could meet.  Thank You for all the support I have received so far.  Please allow the court processes to go a way that would please You.  It is a difficult area to maneuver and I need wisdom and guidance there, so please give me that.  Dear Lord, You are so loving and powerful and generous in Your grace.  Thank you for everything.  Thank You for my life.  I am happy.  Thank You for that!  Please be with those that are not and fill them with the Holy Spirit so that they realize  your power and grace and come to You willingly and longingly.  Thank You, Lord.  Thank You.  Amen.

 

Days 43 and 44 - Will I ever leave?

Days til brace off: 35

Days til move into new apartment, leave RIC, and start outpatient therapy: 16

Looks like I’ll probably leave here June 7.  I’m a little stressed about the decrease in therapy and coming up with ways to do things at home.  At least the apartment has a pool and gym (I think).  

The last couple days have been hard because my back became extremely sore from walking on the treadmill.  That’s good, because that means my back is getting stronger and I wasn’t JUST using my arms to move.  But it hurts like hell, too.  

Yesterday I did some Wii therapy, MotoMed (again), stretching, and whatever you call laying on your side and swinging your leg that is dangling from a rope.  That’s a great leg-strengthening therapy, actually.  Really good workout.  I was hurting by the end of the day so decided to take it easy.  

Today we went to the airport.  We left early and got back around 4, so it pretty much took up the whole day.  It was an interesting experience.  United was nice enough to show us how it would work if we were to travel with a wheelchair.  We had fake boarding passes made up, went through security, went to the gate, boarded the plane using this tiny thing they call an aisle chair that wheels you down the aisle, and got in the seats.  Since it was so hot on the plane (something was wrong - surprise), we got to sit in the business first class seats.  

It took what I considered to be too much of the day, but at least I got to see what it was like to go through the process of air travel with a wheelchair.  I certainly wouldn’t want a bunch of connecting flights.  

Kip was also one of the six of us that went to the airport.  I mentioned him before - he has the exact same injury as me and even had the same surgery.  He had more movement after the accident, which would technically be more than zero, I guess.  He can now kick out his left leg completely but has no foot movement.  I’m kind of backwards of that.  So we caught up and talked about different things we’re experiencing, changes, etc.  It was good.  He is also extremely determined to walk again.  He said once he can walk with a walker without any braces he’ll never sit in the wheelchair again.  Not sure I have the same logic, but it’s nice to talk to someone else so driven.  

That’s about it.  Rebecca and I played chinese checkers and Jenga for a bit and enjoyed the nice weather outside.  I was good at cc but seem to have had an off night at Jenga.  I do not like to lose.  Ever! haha…

Come June 7, I’ll be in an apartment.  I scarcely remember what my life was like before the accident, so it’ll be strange to be sleeping in a normal bed, without nurses and PCTs coming in every so often for drugs, vital checks, shots, etc.  I think they just like waking me up.  I’m excited and nervous.  I guess that means anxious.  I’m mainly curious to see how much the therapy situation changes when I’m not staying here.  I only get 60 days or sessions (trying to determine that big difference) of outpatient therapy/year.  

G’night!

Chip

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The lokomat wasn’t working so we tried just using the treadmill.  It worked surprisingly well.  Jason, head of therapy, was holding my knee to try and prevent spasms.  I usually spasm if the knees lock out.  This was REALLY, REALLY hard.  I can’t tell you how hard.  It was like endurance weightlifting or something.  I went for 11 minutes, rested, then 9 more minutes.  Pretty happy with this progress.  Praise God.  

Also my mom tends to add commentary without thinking about it.  I think it’s pretty funny.

Days 41 and 42

Days til brace off: 37

Days til move out of RIC: no idea… 2.5 weeks?  They keep changing it

I was exhausted last night so no blog until today.  

Yesterday was cool.  I got a pass for the morning to go to church at Park Community Church’s Lincoln Park campus.  Joe Riccardi had a good sermon, as usual.  He had also arranged to have some people help me through the building’s elevators and passageways and to find my “seating” area.  That was really cool of him.  He’s a great guy.  The sermon was on Hebrews and the warning of becoming an apostate.  Heavy stuff but good, too.

I went back for lokomat therapy, only to discover that the lokomat was not working.  So with 30 minutes left, Svetlana, having just told her about my new knee development, decided to give me a muscle test.  Long story short, my right leg is way stronger and my left leg is a little stronger, too.  Great news!  3 weeks ago on the ASIA scale I scored a zero.  Nothing.  2 weeks ago I scored a 4 out of 50.  Small, small, movement.  1 week ago I scored a 15.  Huge improvement and return.  Yesterday I scored a 23.  Out of 50!  The big improvements were my right knee and hip.  So this is going well.  Granted, Svetlana may score more leniently than Sara, who knows, but it was good news and I know I’m stronger.  I can feel it.

So that was good!  After that I had pool therapy and I kind of just did a bunch of random stuff to work out my legs until they were tired, which didn’t take long.  They are still very, very weak. 

Today the big change was when the lokomat wouldn’t work, yet again.  Jason, the head of therapy, decided to use the treadmill function of the machine without the robotics.  They had been talking about trying this with me but we hadn’t done it, yet.  Anyway, it went fairly well.  See the video I post in a second.  My parents flipped out.  It was basically like walking with the walker, except no braces.  The harness system only allowed me to put about 50% of my body weight on my legs, because Jason set it that way.  Still, it was incredibly hard work and felt really good, actually.  

Please pray for Connor today.  Connor was injured about the same time as me.  He was in Illinois Masonic where I had surgery, too.  And now he is at RIC, on floor 10.  That’s where the brain injuries are.  He was hit by a drunk driver on St. Patrick’s Day while he was crossing the street.  He is making improvements daily but still needs lots of healing and therefore needs your prayers.  Here is his prayer page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Prayer-request-for-Conor/170041766482374

Just a couple days ago I was feeling absolutely miserable.  Now I am pumped up and filled with love and passion to positively impact the world.  This place changes you.  I know I am a rollercoaster of emotion but so goes it here.  Thanks for all your kind words to lift me out of my slump.  I’ll probably have more slumps in the future, but at least I know that, I guess.

G’night

Chip

Day 40 - Go Cubs Go!

Days til the really hot and sweaty and annoying and cramping my progress brace comes off: 39ish

Days til moving in to new apartment and moving out of RIC: 14-21

Let me start by saying while my mood isn’t yet awesome, it’s drastically better than yesterday.  The following will probably explain why.

I found an apartment building.  Now it’s just a matter of moving in on the 1st or the 7th.  Two different apartments with different availabilities.  

Today was a good day.  I got in a workout this morning on my own in the gym.  They let me substitute that in place of an hour of group exercise at 11am so I could get to the Cubs game.  After some weights I went to the MotoMed (see below), It moves your legs for you and you are supposed to try and help it at times to renew muscle memory and trigger brain signals yada yada yada.  It has a function where you can stop the motor and push it yourself as best you can.  If you don’t do anything for 15 seconds, the motor kicks back in.  For weeks I couldn’t make it do anything at all and the motor would kick back in.  Last week I broke a minute.  I was surprisingly able to go over 3 minutes ON MY OWN today!  I was pretty happy with that.  I thought something was wrong with the machine, honestly.  I even asked a therapist and she said it was functioning correctly.  Cool.  

I had ordered a wheelchair cab to pick us up at 11am.  It was really efficient but made me feel weird.  I went up a ramp into the cab.  The same ramp dropped me off in front of Wrigley Field for the game.  Somehow Jake and Rich had traded up our tickets to get us awesome seats behind home plate about 12 rows back or so.  We had an amazing time and to top it off, the Cubs played really well, winning 8-2!  Shocking!

Afterwards we headed to Vines for a bit.  I’ll admit the weirdest part was all the people walking around.  LOTS of people.  It made me feel really weird.  In the wheelchair, you get a lot of views of crotches and butts.  It makes me realize what children and midgets see all the time.  But to have it be because I couldn’t walk like everybody else was tough.  Anyway here we are at Vines, where the girls ordered way too much food because they didn’t listen to Jake, who has been there 1000 times.  Stephen and Rebecca left after the game because they went to run 10+ miles in training for the Soldier Field 10 Miler which is next Saturday.  My dad is running it, too, under my name since I registered a while back.  Sorry dad, it’s on the blog so that means it’s happening. Otherwise anyone that reads this will call you out.

So I was tired and headed back to the RIC.  This time on a bus.  After I got in bed and got my shoes and socks off, from old habit I tried cracking my ankles.  My right foot moved in a full circle.  That wasn’t a surprise - I knew I could do that now.  But the weird part was that my knee also moved.  I figured it was a spasm.  So I did it again, and once again my knee moved.  Huh.  I used a bunch of energy and was able to lift my knee slightly off my bed - like 4-5 inches.  Awesome!  My mom was getting weepy about something or other and I called her back to check it out.  My dad hadn’t been paying attention so it was a surprise for him, too.  I tried as hard as I could and moved my knee a good 8-10 inches off the bed.  Like bending it up towards the ceiling.  AWESOME!  I was/am really psyched about that.  Great news.  It’s so cool to point my toe and feel my whole leg move.  I can’t even tell you how good it feels.  I just did it, actually.  Awesome.  

On top of everything else, Steve Ritchie of Papa John’s Corporate stopped by to say high right before that knee stuff.  There was a big event at The Drake tonight honoring PJs and our store made 60 or so pizzas for it.  Here’s my star crew and also Becky from corporate: 

Steve’s in charge of operations worldwide.  Not a small task.  I found out he reads this (Hi, Steve), which surprised me.  More surprising was that he found it inspirational.  I had just taken my shirt off and he was wearing a suit.  Oh well.  

Chrissy, my good friend from when I lived in Lexington, sent me a card and it really got to me.  This verse in it is powerful: 

Isaiah 40:31 - but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

I hope that’s true.  It seems to be accurate so far in my recovery.  I just need it to keep going, now.  

Thanks again for all the prayers, cards, letters… just everything.  I am continually overwhelmed and, moreso, humbled by the love and support I am receiving.  

Please pray for Mark.  He is a great guy on my floor who slipped and fell in the shower, compressing two of his vertebrae.  He is paralyzed from the waste down, like me.  It’s amazing to think something so simple as slipping in the shower can cause a life change.  Pray for Mark.

Dear Lord, thank you for today.  I look forward to tomorrow.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

G’night,
Chip

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I am getting better at the walker.  I sang along a little bit.

Days 38 and 39 - Losing Count

Days til brace off: 40

Days til move in: 15-24

The last couple days have had major ups and downs.  I’m in the middle of a down, right now, frankly, but didn’t want to stop doing this as it tends to improve my mood.  

Yesterday morning started off amazingly.  I will post the video after this, but I stood up in the braces and took the walker for a lap around half the floor, then another stretch.  Over 300 feet in total.  There was a workout group at the time and they cheered me on.  I even sang along a little with some improvised lyrics.  You’ll see what I mean when I post the video.  Actually, just thinking about that is cheering me up a little.

I did lokomat both yesterday and today.  Jason, the head of therapy, has been working with me on it.  He’s competitive so both days we went longer and farther than ever before.  I think the record for me right now is 38:09 in time and 1365 meters.  It’s cool to think I “walked” that far.  I definitely worked out during that time.  And I did about the same both days, too.  

OT with Jessica seems to be winding down.  I’ve accomplished almost all my goals so at this point she is just making sure I am ready to move into an apartment.  Today we practiced rolling around on a regular, twin bed, making sure I could get dressed laying flat instead of cheating and using the incline of the hospital beds… things like that.  When I leave, I won’t have OT anymore, per her advice.  I am only allowed so many days of therapy from insurance and she thinks it’s best to use those for PT since I’m fairly independent now.  

Both last night and today I have been really dejected.  I’ll be honest and say I’m having a hard time finding motivation right now.  I don’t really want to do anything but lay in bed.  I don’t, but only because I know that’s not the right thing to do.  

Yesterday I had the privilege of telling my story to the board of the RIC.  I don’t really know why I was selected to do that, but it was a cool experience.  I had idea, for instance, that the RIC is a non-profit.  Also, all the board members are volunteers.  One, sitting next to me, was a patient here and overcame great adversity to be where he is now, 5 years post-accident.  Here is a cool news story on him:

http://www.today.com/video/today/48146247#48146247

I will try and be more positive tomorrow.  A few of my friends and my parents are going to the Cubs game.  Hopefully the weather is nice.  

Luke 8:50 Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.” (NIV)

I am greatly annoyed by the negative influence created by my accident.  I do all I can to create positive influences.  I fail often, but sometimes I hear comments or things people have said that go against everything I believe in.  Those things rock me to my core, especially when they are said by people of strong faith or those I trust.  

Dear Lord, please give me strength.  Renew my energy and positive attitude that I had the other day(s).  Show me how You’d like me to be so I can be that way.  I trust in You and pray daily that there is a reason and purpose to all that I am going through.  I love You very much and trust You with my life.  Do with me what You will.  Please show me how I can be more of a positive influence to others.  Ease the minds of those that worry.  Fill them with confidence and faith in both You and in me.  Let them “let go and let God,” and let me do the same.  Heal me, Lord.  Make me strong so I can fight your fight well.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.  

G’night,
Chip

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Another round with the walker.  Much smoother this time.  Took much less effort.  Every day is a little bit better… that’s my goal - to be better than the day before by as much as possible.

Day 37 - New roommate -

Days til brace off: 42

Days til out of RIC and into apartment: 17-26

My sleep is much better, as is my general mood.  This is thanks to moving rooms (I am now in room 714, bed 2) and my new roommate, Tony.  We get along and we are both quiet at night which makes for much better sleep.  The rest of my stay here should go great as far as that’s concerned.

9am - PT with Sara.  She put me in the KAFO braces and into the walker for some sit and stand practice.  Once I got better at balancing, I walked around the mat with the walker a couple times.  It was about 10x better than last time since I knew how to balance better.  Felt good.  I think I have a video or two I’ll post.

10am - Group therapy for leg movement.  They strapped me to some ropes and had me swinging my legs back and forth for a while.

11am - Hot Topics lecture on transportation in the city.  I already knew most of it but learned a couple vital pieces.  I can get half off CTA fares, for instance.  If I made “low income” I could ride for free.  Pretty cool.  

2pm - Lokomat.  Went fine and I can feel myself getting stronger.  I might post a video my dad took.

3pm - Pool therapy.  Swimming backwards, “kicking”, standing up in the corner, etc.  The water felt good, as usual.  

I’d love to get into some philosophy soon on one of these blogs.  Any topics you guys would like me to expound on?

G’night,

Chip

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This is just a cool example of how they were teaching us to play basketball in the special chairs.  In this one, Trent, the coach, is playing defense and basically trying to keep me from doing anything.  Fun times.

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This is the guy (Joe?) that showed up to show us his skills.  He plays professional wheelchair basketball.  Cool guy.  This stunt he pulls is amazing.

Day 36 - Crutches, Basketball

Days til brace off: 43

Days til move out of RIC: 18-27?

Today was certainly interesting.  I prayed in the morning for a better attitude, more energy, guidance, healing, etc. and God gave me all of it.  Thank you, God.  

9am - Patrick for PT.  He didn’t waste any time challenging me.  We put on the braces (KAFOs they’re called - Knee, Ankle, Foot Orthotic).  After he tied me to this thing hanging from the ceiling for support, I attempted standing with forearm crutches.  

There’s an example for ya.

It was awkward as heck.  You have to swing your hips forward and kind of look at the ceiling to stand up.  I failed the first two times.  Then I did it once with a lot of help from Patrick.  Then he stopped helping.  I failed 2 more times before I got up in a very unorthodox way.  Like I said it was awkward.  But I got up at least!  Hopefully next time is better.  No pics or videos as I didn’t have my loyal fan base at the time (parents and Rebecca).  

At 11, Jaime, Tony and I went with Mike to try out wheelchairs made just for basketball.  THAT was fun.  We had a good time and we did it outside in the nice weather.  I’d do it tomorrow again if I could.  Here’s a couple pics.  I’ll post a video in a sec.

That’s Jaime about to transfer to the bball chair.  See how the wheels are slanted?  It also has a guard in the front for ramming people, I guess.  Pretty cool.  Jaime’s always smiling.  

Tony, some rep from Nike that sponsored some of this, and me.  Today I moved into Tony’s room, too.  That was a huge improvement for me.  I’m looking forward to quiet nights.

You have to watch the video I post - this one guys showed up that plays professional wheelchair basketball.  Anyway just watch the video.  

Other things today included apartment searches, group therapy outside, and dinner out at a cool BYOB pizza place.  

All in all, a very good day.  

G’night,

Chip

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This was the last half of my journey with the walker.  It was extremely hard and I was toast at the end of it.  My arms and hands still ache.  I’m not sure I used my legs at all, actually, but the therapist swears I did.  Especially since my glute starting shaking from being overworked.  So I guess she might have a point that I should concede.  

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Heavily modified golf.  We might actually go play a real round in a week or two.  We’ll see.  I’m imagining my score would be around 200.  

The guy standing next to me giving advice is really cool.  Patrick.  He lost his right leg at the hip and yet plays golf and when he swings he drops his crutches.  Amazing balance and very positive guy.  He was overly encouraging to me. 

RIC day 35 - Walker

Days til brace off: 44

Days til moving out of RIC: 19-28

There is now a wide range of possible dates that I might leave here.  It’s because of my progress and return of muscle/movement.  It would certainly be nice to have much (much) more privacy and space, but I also am weary of the decrease in PT that accompanies being an outpatient.  

Today was busy…

9am - OT with Jessica.  We worked at balance.  I was happy to notice the return of my right quad muscle makes it easier to sit straight.  You normal people take these things for granted!  I kicked her butt at WII at every game we played. Especially table tennis, which I won 6-0 several times.  If she is reading this, she is seething right now :)

10am - PT with Stephanie.  I hadn’t had her before.  She quickly got me into the braces and up on the parallel bars walking again.  After a couple rounds she broke out the walker.  *See video I will post after this… This was the most exciting part of the day for my parents.  For me it was just tiring.  It felt like I was using all upper body and just swinging my legs.  Not sure it’s the best progress but what do I know?

11am - Group therapy, which ended in balloon volleyball.  Always a hit.  

Noon - lunch and apartment search online.

1pm- Wheelchair configuration for what will be my wheelchair.  It was actually interesting tweaking all the specs, until they told me it would be 3-4 months before I got it and would use a junk loaner until then.  Not good news.  But the end result will be helpful, I suppose.

2pm - Work 

3pm - Golf with Mike and Patrick.  This was actually interesting as I got to swing a couple clubs a few times each.  

That’s me in the golf cart rigged with a swivel seat and hand controls.  Pretty cool technology.  I’ll post a video of me practicing in a sec.  Patrick got excited that I was doing well but it seemed a far cry from real golf to me!  Still fun, though.

4-5pm Group psychology session.  I brought the session’s topic: changes and reactions at work.  It brought up some interesting conversation and also revealed what everyone does/did for work.  

I can’t seem to get out of a funk.  I hope my mood is better tomorrow.  I think I am just exhausted.  I need to sleep more.

G’night, whoever reads this!
Chip

RIC day 34 - Mother's Day

Late post for Mother’s Day, as I was busy celebrating it fairly late with my mother and friends, obviously.

I had lokomat and pool therapy.  Then my dad and I finished up a cake that Rebecca and I baked yesterday in the cooking therapy session.  I didn’t mention it in the blog before to keep the surprise alive.  After some fun experiments with transferring into and out of my parent’s Subaru SUV, we had a nice dinner at Athena in greek town.  The transfer out included kind of hopping over a gap between the car and the curb, where my wheelchair sat.  It about gave my mom a heart attack.  Lesson learned: curbs are only helpful if you are right on them.  

After dinner we headed back to my parents’ hotel room for the surprise cake and some bourbon.  Don’t tell the doctor.  Rebecca and I tried giving my mom a half day at a spa which she promptly refused.  I’m seeing if I can force her into it.  She deserves it.

That’s it.

G’night

Chip

RIC day 33

Days til brace off: 46

Days til move: 21-23

Today was errand day.  It started with a cool session in the RIC training kitchen with Jessica and Rebecca.  We listened to Marley while making breakfast burritos - eggs, applewood smoked bacon, avocado.  Good stuff.  Then Rebecca and I headed to check out an apartment, only to find that the bathroom door wasn’t wide enough for the wheelchair.  It was tiny, actually.  So the hunt is still on.  We ran a couple other errands, then split up only to meet up with Erik and Nina later to watch The Great Gatsby in 3D.  I thought it was good and had plenty of good uses of the book plus original spins that didn’t mess with the book’s main points.  

Anyway that’s about it for today.  It’s late as the nursing staff was overwhelmed tonight for some reason and didn’t get around to their duties as quickly as usual.  I’m sure it’s not their fault.  

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day.  Call your mom and say something nice.

G’night,

Chip

RIC day 32 - Burger Bar

Days til brace off: 47

Days til moving into unknown apartment: 22-24

Rebecca checked out a few locations for me this morning that might each work as an apartment.  I’m gonna try to see it tomorrow.  Finding out that my wheelchair is only 26” wide was very good news.  Chicago has tons of old doorways, and apparently years ago people were smaller or something.  Anyway if I can solidify that apartment that would be a load off. 

Today was pretty rough.  I had an OT in the morning that I simply didn’t get along with.  However, she did teach me how to pull my foot up to my knee in the wheel chair - like how guys cross their legs - as a method of dressing and putting on shoes.  That was helpful. 

We did a muscle strength test today, too, with Sara and Amy.  The same test we did last Friday that had all the great news.  There is something called an ASIA scale, which rates muscle strength on a scale of 0-5.  5 is like a normal person’s mobility.  0 is nothing.  There are 5 muscles included on each leg in the ASIA scale, representing different sections of the spinal cord.  I think it’s hip flexor, quad, calf, and pushing your foot both up and down.  So with 5 being the best score, the best possible score is 25 for each leg, or 50 total.  Last Friday I scored a 4.  (3) 1s on my right leg and (1) 1 on my left leg.  Today I scored a total of 15.  That’s a pretty big jump for one week and everyone was happy.  The biggest changes were gaining some quad in my left leg, gaining a little big toe movement in my left leg, and gaining strength in my right leg.  All good news.  

They then had me walk again, this time with the newer braces which had been adjusted for my measurements.  

My sock isn’t old.  It’s made that way.  I have no idea why.

Anyway I did some more walking with those bad boys.  There’s already a video up that’s pretty similar to what my mom captured today so I won’t go overboard with the uploading.

Around 6:30 or so Rebecca and I were picked up at RIC by Ben, Sam, and Stephen.  In an SUV.  That was alarming at first but I figured what the heck and the transfer into went pretty well, actually, except for my legs deciding to flex out for a while making them impossible to move.  We went to Burger Bar which had good beer and better food.  The Trimmers were there, which is basically a family of rockstars.  Even their baby was running around on the table and showing a pleasant lack of tears.  Good times had by all.  We even discussed some serious outdoor adventures.  If I’m still in a wheelchair then, supposedly there’s an offroading wheel I can put on the front that would allow me to wheel through the woods.  There’s actually lots of cool gadgets for wheelchairs now.

That’s about it.  Time to try and get some sleep.

Thank you all for the prayers.  Keep praying and please include everyone in positions like mine, or really anyone that comes to mind.  Praying is a very healthy exercise and everyone is worthy of being a recipient.  Don’t doubt me.  That theory was tested tonight and it still holds true.  

G’night!

Chip

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Forrest Gump legs.  My magic legs.  Tomorrow I’ll have some custom made ones.  Looking forward to getting a lot of use out of them!

Great day.  The best I’ve felt in a long time.

RIC day 31 - Forrest Gump; Magic Legs

Days til outta the stinkin’ brace: 48

Days til I move into an unknown location and leave RIC: 23-25

Today was a great day.  It was probably more exciting to hear and realize that my leg muscles were functioning again, albeit on a low level.  Either I am just really lucky or the prayers are working.  I believe the latter.  If you watched the video first, the surprise is spoiled.

9-10am - OT with Jessica.   I met the goal of putting my socks on unassisted, along with the rest of my clothes.  Not too hard now.  Then we went upstairs and worked on transferring to the bench in the tub, which I can also do unassisted, now.  She helped me understand what to plan for in the apartment.  We finished the hour out with some stretching.

10-11am - PT with Sara.  She had me lie down on the mat and Amy, the assistant/trainee (I don’t know her title, really) stretched me while a man close by played with what were clearly leg braces.  Once I was stretched, he placed the pieces on my legs, took some measurements, and said he’d have them ready by our next session.  At this point I was clearly wondering why I would need braces.  Sara explained that they would help me stand without worrying about my knees buckling below me.  They will let me practice walking, basically, before my legs are ready to all on their own.  They then asked if I was interested in trying on some really old braces and just going for it today.  Yeah, why not!?!? So I literally looked like Forrest Gump.  They looked straight out of the movie, including the year the scene was set.  

I stood up easily in the parallel bars.  They were totally painless and felt amazing.  I realizing immediately I didn’t need to push up my weight on the bars.  So I was standing without assistance, except for the braces!  I asked to walk and they said heck yeah.  So I walked forward.  I immediately then walked backward to get set to go again.  I made it back and forth six times before the time ran out.  I was running on adrenaline and was spent, anyway.  But I walked.  I really walked.  It felt amazing and I didn’t want to stop.  Thank you, Lord.  I don’t remember feeling so elated.  And I’m really happy that both Rebecca and my parents were there, as well.  It was a big day.  I am really confident now.  Dangerously so.  Check out the video (I’ll post after this).  

11am - noon - I joined the workout group, who had apparently all been watching me.  They applauded, which surprised me.  I was worried they’d feel weird since we all want to walk, but they were really encouraged.  Everyone was in a great mood and we laughed a lot and had a great session.  

1-2pm - Recreational session with Mike.  He showed me a powerpoint about all the rules and regs around flying airlines both domestically and internationally.  Pretty good stuff.  I can go anywhere.

2-4:30pm - Nap.

5ish - Colin, a peer mentor, came in.  He is only 24 or so but has been in a wheelchair since his junior year of high school.  He drives, travels alone through Europe for months, works, goes to college, and does other really cool stuff without the use of his legs.  He was definitely uplifting and I’m looking forward to hearing about all the gadgets he’s discovered, like a net he constructed hanging below his wheelchair to hold a bunch of stuff.  

Phil and Pat came by and my parents ordered Thai food for dinner to celebrate the Forrest Gump walk.  Rebecca got hooked up with tix to the Blackhawks game with Stephen and Leah.  The work day even went well and had good news.  Oh and I have a good lead on a couple apartments.  

As I’ve mentioned a lot, almost all of the return so far is in my right leg.  Just as my parents were about to leave, my mom asked me to show her how much I can move my right foot now.  It’s better every day.  She asked me to move my left foot and nothing happened.  I tried again as hard as I could and two toes moved.  Then, of course, my parents were bawling.  I tried a 3rd time and all 4 smaller toes moved.  I couldn’t have asked more from today and so that was a great way to say goodnight to my parents.  

Great day.  Praise God.  I am very happy and extremely encouraged.  Now I am to the point where I am daydreaming about running races again, weightlifting, being stronger and faster than ever before… things like that.  Hope is good but it’s also dangerous.  I’m nervous and excited at the same time.

Tomorrow Sara will test my muscles to see if there is more return.  I can’t wait to show her my left toes :)

G’night,

Chip

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This is me using the walker in the pool for the first time.  You can kind of see my feet moving.  It was pretty awesome, honestly.  My mom, in her commentary (in documentary fashion) is wishing my aunt Cha and uncle Lee a happy 43rd wedding anniversary, if you are wondering what she’s saying.  

RIC day 30

Days til brace off: 49 = 7 weeks

Days til moving out of RIC: 26

Let me take a moment and say thanks again for the cards and other things I’m receiving here during my recovery.  Reading them provide me with moments of (depending on the card) encouragement, insight, laughter, tears, contemplation, and most of all, love.  So thank you so much.  I feel very blessed and they are certainly making things easier for me in here.  Not everyone in here is so lucky.  A year or two (or any time, really) from now, I will go through these letters and remember what I went through and all the love and prayers that surrounded my recovery.  Thank you so much!

My new roommate seems to also have friends that like to talk.  Here’s something funny I couldn’t help but pick up, as they are loud and I was trying to nap:

I tell you what, that girl better get her act together.  I told her you best not be so cocky about going to high school.  You need a 2.0 to get into high school or they will hold you back.  She told me that she knows that and backtalked me.  Can you believe that?  She backtalked ME! Anyway I guess she is gonna end up with a 2 point something but she’s still all cocky.  I don’t know why.  It’s not like a 2.0 is even something to brag about.  I mean I tried hard in school.  I did my math.  You got to.  A 2.0.  Pseesh!  That’s like a “D” average!…… Sherish is so wishy-washy and Yoganda - you never know what that girl’s gonna do.  Anyway I was real scared to see you.  I thought you’d be all bandaged up or looking terrible or something.  But you look alright.  Damn!  The less people I have to deal with, the better my life is gonna be.  You know what I’m saying?  People always be….

Anyway constant isn’t the word.  Unceasing is more accurate.  I don’t know how she comes up with so much material to talk about.  Pretty sure she’s the mom of the graduating 8th grader.  Earplugs don’t seem to work so I’m listening to music right now.  I figured I’d find the humor in it instead of complain.  If you don’t get the “D” average part, then…. just don’t worry about it.

Today is a good day.  I slept better thanks to earplugs.  Those things are magic (if someone isn’t talking loudly).   

10-11am - Lokomat training.  I seem to be making the graph spike more often that before.  Hopefully that means my legs are getting stronger.  Mainly my right leg.

11am-noon - We were gonna play basketball with special wheelchairs made just for it, but the guy that was supposed to supply them fell through.  So I got in bed and rested, worked, etc.

1-2pm - OT with Stephanie.  We did some arm bike endurance training and then weightlifted. 

2:30-3:30pm - This was pretty cool.  Pool therapy with Justine.  Amy, who is the assistant to my main PT, Sara, joined as well.  After some arm and balance exercises, Justine had me stand up in the pool with her much-needed assistance.  She pushed her knees against mine and held my hips and I put my hands on her shoulders.  No, we weren’t slow-dancing 7th grade-style.  I stood 4 times and it felt really good to put that weight on my leg(s) (mostly the right leg doing the work).  She had also heard how I had made it around the pool with what Martha calls walking.  Actually everyone calls it walking.  I call it duck waddling since I lift my hips up and throw my legs forward.  My mom tells me that this time I was definitely taking larger steps.  It’s hard for me to tell so I can just hope she’s right.  Also we tried using a walker in the pool.  Between the already-existing buoyancy and my foam brace, I kept floating upwards.  So it was hard to really plant my foot down and put weight on it.  But I still moved the thing and took a few steps.  That felt pretty good.  

Prayers today go to Chris.  See pic below - 

I may have mentioned Chris before.  He was injured years ago in a diving accident.  He thought the water was far deeper than it was, and broke his spine just below his neck.  He couldn’t move any of his limbs and now he is moving a fair amount.  This semester he is graduating from DePaul University, then out to tackle the world.  He left RIC today.  Please pray for Chris today.

Rebecca’s brother Stephen and his wife Leah just got back from an excursion looking for a place to do business with a Christian focus.  They were in areas with high concentrations of Muslims.  Praise that they had a successful trip, learned a lot, and are back safe.  

G’night - 
Chip

RIC day 29

Days til brace off: 50

Day till moving out of RIC: 27

I barely slept last night.  Yesterday I got a new roommate that, God help him, has a respirator.  It’s pretty noisy and on top of that I believe he is sick, which requires people to come in a suction out the phlegm every few hours.  I’m hoping earplugs work tonight.  Please pray for him, though.  I believe his name is Mark.

10-11am - Leg group.  Now that I have moment I am part of this group that does leg exercises to strengthen our leg muscles.  They hang our legs from the ceiling while we lay on our backs or sides and work each muscle individually.  It’s exhausting but feels great to do after weeks of no leg movement.

11am-noon - Lokomat.  I was tired but it went alright.

Noon-2pm - Look for apartments and work.

2-3pm - PT outside.  Even though I’d already done it a bunch of times, I had a requirement to go 4 city blocks in my wheelchair.  So we took the long route to Starbucks.  I got a Chai Latte which was great except for the fact that it’s impossible (as far as I know) to push the wheelchair and also drink it.  So it was cold by the time I got back to drink it.  Rebecca joined for that workout and trip outside which was nice.

3-4pm - Look for apartments and work.

4-7pm - Business meeting at Northwestern.  

7-9pm - Order Papa John’s and watch a show with Rebecca.

That’s it.  Nothing fancy.  Just hoping to get some good sleep tonight.  

Dear Lord, thank You for the progress You’ve given me so far.  Thank You for this life.  Thank You for showing me how to live it.  Dear Lord please guide me on how best to serve You and do Your will.  Thank you for the movement in my legs.  Thank you for filling me with inspiration and giving me a new perspective on life.  Thank you for showing me what’s truly important in this world.  Please don’t let me ever forget or take things for granted again.  Please let the Holy Spirit flourish within all of us.  Let Your will be done.  Take away all selfishness, deceit, and negativity.  In Jesus’ name… Amen.

G’night,

Chip

RIC day 28

4 weeks here.  Crazy.

Days till brace off: 51

Days till moving out of RIC: 28 days

11am-noon - Group therapy.  Armchair aerobics, basically.

1-2pm - PT with Svetlana.  We mainly worked on leg muscles.  So glad to be able to say that!  She attached a leg via a rope to this metal grid on the ceiling.  Then I’d work out different leg muscles by swinging my leg and holding.  Quad, hip flexor, hamstrings, etc.  I did this with both legs but my right leg is way, way stronger.  It just felt great to work out the legs.

3-4pm - PT with a guy who’s name I can’t spell.  Voltak?  First we practiced balancing.  Then out of nowhere he asked me to stand up by leaning on him.  I did it and had most of the weight on my feet, flexing my right leg as best I could.  It wasn’t pretty but I did it.  We did this a few times.  Then we moved over to the parallel bars to repeat the process.  Finally he got me to try taking a few steps.  It was hard as heck and I pretty much cheated by lifting my hips and swinging my legs, but I “kind of” took a couple very short steps.  Like, inches.  But it’s a start.

4-5pm - Group therapy with Dr. Sweet.  We discussed how hard it is to try and feel normal around friends, family, and strangers in society.  Pretty interesting discussion.

Rebecca, Stephen and Leah joined up later and we went to grab a bit and watch the Bulls beat the Heat, which was a surprise to all of us.  

That’s about it for tonight.  I’m pretty tired.  Thanks to God for the progress I’ve experienced.  I’ll take whatever I can get.

G’night,

Chip

[wpvideo SmJ7Hgnw]

You may find it hard to see, but I’m able to, for the first time since the accident, move one foot in front of the other over and over again.  They call that walking but this was heavily assisted by floatation devices.  As soon as my foot was firmly on the floor I couldn’t move it.  However, I’m happy to say I did this for 4 laps around the pool.

Regardless, this was a big day.  Really great progress.  High hopes are unavoidable at this point.

RIC day 27 - Pool Progress

Countdown to brace off: 52 days

Countdown to moving out of RIC: 29 days (or so)

Usually Sundays are slow but because I had yesterday off, they crammed me into a bunch of stuff.

10-11am - Lokomat with Sara.  Ellee and Kurt were there to watch before heading back to Louisville.  I was able to pull my right foot towards my knee, which I wasn’t able to do on Friday.  So more good news!

11am - “Hot Topics” discussion which didn’t pertain to me.  When Chrissy and Kim showed up at 11:20am, we went to lunch in the cafeteria.  Then they were off to experience Chicago.  I’m sure they had an awesome time.  

12:30-1:30pm - PT with a girl whose name I can’t spell.  See’tree?  I don’t know.  We practiced some balance drills and they she stretched out my very tight legs, which felt incredible.

2:30-3:30pm - Pool therapy with Martha.  We went straight into some leg exercises.  She had me trying my hardest to kick and use these new-found muscles (see day 25).  She asked me to pull, and we got the good news that my right leg’s hamstrings are now active as well.  Again, that wasn’t there on Friday so I don’t know what changed but this is even more good news.  By far the coolest (and most tiring) part of today was trying to float/walk in the pool using a styrofoam tube and Martha behind me as assists.  It was awesome “walking”, I’ll admit.  I honestly don’t know what to think of it right now.  I’ll post a video in a sec.

4-4:30pm - A very tired Chip did some weightlifting with Zoe.  Not a bad way to wind down the day.

After that Rebecca and I caught up a bit before meeting my parents for Derby leftovers in the cafeteria, followed by an intense game of Jenga.  Rebecca made it possible for me to win both games.  Thanks, Beagle!  I anticipate adding Jenga to our already intense repertoire of competitive board games.  

My roommate, Heladio, is leaving tomorrow morning.  

That’s him and his wife.

He is in a rough but improving condition and fairly sick, still.  He’ll be transferring to a nursing home.  He doesn’t speak much english so I’m a little unclear of how he was injured, but it seems obvious he had an upper vertebrae injury and possibly a concussion.  Prayers tonight go to him and his family to get through this already tough time and to have a smooth transition to his new residence.

Thanks, all.  3 great days in a row.  On a roll here!

G’night!
Chip

[wpvideo 7OX56ybn]

This is me and Rebecca walking into a surprise Derby party.  I am the type that is in shock when I’m surprised, so there’s usually not some huge reaction.  This is a good example.  

RIC day 26 - Surprise x 2

Countdown to brace off: 53 days

Countdown to Rebecca being in Chicago: 1 day… scratch that!  She’s here!

Countdown to moving out of RIC: About a month

Holy cow did I get surprised today!  I should have picked up on some of the signs but I guess I’m a little slow on the uptake.  Indicators:

1. Earlier this week, the therapists asked why I had asked off for Saturday.  I told them it must be an error because I needed Sunday off to go get Rebecca.  Mom mom played it off that we were gonna have a Derby day. I told them I wanted a good workout Saturday morning and not to give me the whole day off.  Even then, when I got my schedule last night there was nothing on it, which upset me.  

2. Yesterday, Kurt, Ellee’s boyfriend, asked if I was excited about seeing Rebecca today.  I explained to him that she was coming in on Sunday.  I learned later that Ellee punched him in the back at this point.

3. My mom was far too concerned about my hygiene.  She kept asking if I was going to shave and I told her I was waiting til Sunday.  She kept pushing saying I could shave two days in a row, which I haven’t done for years.  I had to tell her to lay off.  Then she was strangely concerned with what I was wearing.  Odd.

4. After all the amazing news yesterday, Rebecca acted strange.  She just said, “I gotta go, congrats!” and then we didn’t talk again.  She didn’t respond to any of my texts and then acted weird in the morning, saying her phone died.  We also always pray before her flight and it was really weird she didn’t seem to care about that.

So that’s a long buildup for the surprise which is probably obvious at this point.  Since I had nothing to do, my parents and I went to West Egg Cafe for brunch.  Suddenly some hands covered my eyes and I said, “Chrissy?” Since she was coming in around noon.  But it was Rebecca.  She had everyone in on it and flown in a day early.  Talk about making my day.  Very happy guy right here.  Call me sappy, guys, I don’t care.  

Surprise number 2…

The original plan for the day was to hang out with my parents at their hotel and watch the Derby.  A chill day.  Chrissy and Kim were going to join us, as they had flown in from Columbus.  So now my brain was out of whack not knowing what was going on.  My parents left after brunch and Rebecca and I caught up at RIC for a little bit.  

Around 3, we headed over to my parents’ hotel.  I didn’t want to keep Chrissy and Kim waiting since they had flown in and all.  When we walked in, though, there were tons of friends there.  A surprise Derby party!  Ellee had brought up tons of stuff from Louisville to recreate my Aunt Cha’s famous Derby party that’s been going on for like 300 years.  It even smelled the same since the food was the same.  Only thing missing was the bookie, Randy.  And of course my Aunt Cha and Uncle Lee.  But what a great party.  We hung out for a while, mint juleps were served, and we all crowded around the tv for the Derby.  

Jake and my dad.  Jake thinks he’s a pimp, I guess.

Jackie, Jason, Ellee, Jake, Kurt.  Wrong, camera, guys.

That would be my fiance, Rebecca, on my lap.  Seriously great surprise.

The whole gang.  Erik was there too.  Somebody had to take the picture.  Please notice Jake’s bow tie, suspenders, pink pants, and sunglass holder thing (?).  He also had on what looked to me like blue suede shoes.  He has an outfit for every occasion, seriously.  Derby in Chicago!

I seriously couldn’t have had a better day.  Yesterday my leg had huge improvements.  Today I’m overwhelmed by Rebecca and then hanging with friends.  I’m feeling very lucky and blessed right now.

Thank you all for all the love and prayers.  Lots of love being felt by this guy typing.

G’night,

Chip

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Moving my own leg without assistance!  Hanging from the rope provides a kind of anti-gravity feel, making it easier.

RIC day 25 - I'm sorry? What was that?!?!

Countdown to brace off: 54 days

Countdown to Rebecca landing in Chicago: 2 days!

Countdown to leaving RIC as an inpatient: 1 month 

It looks like they extended my stay here until I solidify a lease for June, pending insurance approval.  So that gives me a little more flexibility in finding a good place, at least.

I’m not going to do things in order today.  

I had a group exercise at 11am.

Ellee and Kurt surprised me by showing up at 10am.  I wondered what time they had left Louisville to arrive at that time and found out they actually got there the night before.  Great surprise and great to see them - they’ll be here all weekend.

I found out my good friend from when I lived in Lexington, KY, Chrissy, and her wife will be here tomorrow, flying in from Columbus, OH.  It’ll be great to see her and catch up.

Joe Riccardi and Brandon Sanchez from Park showed up for lunch today, as did the Lawson family who are old friends from Kentucky.  They were in town.  So it was a busy lunch but good to see everyone.

Also in the afternoon Rich and Big Dan showed up to say hi and hang out a bit before their respective travels.  

At 10am this morning I had PT with Sara.  I have no idea why my dad took this pic:

That’s actually from yesterday when I was doing that electro-bike thing.

After the last couple days and my comments about feeling my hip flexor, she decided to do a muscle movement test.  Basically I laid down on the table and put my legs in various positions, then asked me to try and move them.  She would hold her hand to the muscle in question to see if she felt any movement.  

Starting with the left leg, she asked me to pull me knee to my chest to test my hip flexor.  Yes, there is hip flexor action there.  Good!

Next she asked me to move my entire left leg left, testing the outside of my hip muscle (abductor).  Yes, there is some action there, too!  Surprise! Good!

She tested the rest of my left leg without any real results.

After my left leg she moved on to my right leg, starting with the same things.  Hip flexor?  Yes! Outside hip muscle (abductor)? Yes! 

But wait… there’s more!

She then held my right knee up and asked me to kick.  I didn’t feel anything happening but I was mentally kicking as best I could.  Everyone watching my leg got all excited and I said, “What? My leg’s not moving so what is it?” They pointed out that the large tendon just below my knee was contracting.  Sara said, “You have quads, Chip.”  That’s when I got excited.  That was totally unexpected.  

Next she tested my foot toward shin motion.  Nothing.  However, she removed my sock and asked me to try again.  

Sara: Do you feel that?
Chip: No.  

Sara: Well, hold on… (lifts my leg up so I can see my foot).  Okay do it again.  Try to move your foot up to your shin.

At this point my toes moved up.  That was a big deal for me.  Really exciting.  Then she said push them towards the floor, which I did and they moved again.  Two separate muscle groups there.  

Chip: Sara I feel something else in my leg.  

Sara: Try and point your toe down again…. (feels my leg).  You have some calf muscle there, too!  

She then went on to test my groin muscle, asking me to pull my right leg towards the other leg.  It actually moved.  She said not only do I have some groin muscle but that it’s getting strong.  

After all that she hung my leg from a rope and got me to move it back and forth to attempt to strengthen those muscles in various positions.  I’ll post a video soon of that.

Lots of good surprises today!  I was very encouraged and surprised by all the changes in my right leg.  So was Sara, and so was Dr. Anschell when I told him later.  He said it made his weekend.  

Later on my dad and I went to Timothy O’Toole’s for dinner and to get a seat to watch the Blackhawks game.  The handicap entrance to that bar included going down a long corridor leading seemingly nowhere, down a freight elevator full of garbage and getting out in the kitchen.  Pretty fun experience, actually.  We had burgers.  Then Erik, Jason, and Paul joined to watch the game.  My dad left but we ended up toasting a couple times to the day’s success.  Everyone was in high spirits.

Great day.  Thank you Lord.  Tomorrow (today, technically… as it is 12:30am) Rebecca starts the journey from Africa.  Please pray for her safe travels. 

Thank you, Lord, for what you’ve done for me.  Thank you Lord for what you’re doin’ now.  Thank you Lord for every little thing. Thank you Lord, for you made me sing.  Sing along, sing along… - Bob Marley

G’night all, and thank you for the prayers.  

Chip

[wpvideo b7xiJp9D]

FES (Functional Electrical Stimulation) bike.  Good times.  

RIC day 24 - FES (electro bike thing)

Countdown to brace coming off: 55 days

Countdown to Rebecca arriving in Chicago: 3 days

Countdown to me leaving RIC: 18-28 days

They might let me stay a little longer here if the leasing situation at whatever apartment I find doesn’t start until June 1, thus the range in that countdown.

Interesting day….

9-10am - OT with Jessica.  I got dressed in bed.  It went better.  Easier every time.  Got out of bed and transferred to chair without help.  Well, she put my shoes on.  Then some stretching and talk about bathroom stuff.

11am-noon - Group therapy.  Best balloon volleyball session yet.  Jamie, a friend I made here with a similar injury, decided to not just hit it back and forth but to spike it every time.  Luckily he was my teammate.  But some other guys got into it and next thing I knew I was wheeling around chasing down the balloon for much more difficult returns.  Way more fun than usual and way more of a workout!  Good times.  Jamie’s a good guy.  Pray for him if I haven’t mentioned him, yet.  He’s just like me except he can’t feel his legs at all.  Well, he’s also black and a SOX fan, so I guess he’s not JUST like me.  And I can say that because they make fun of me for being the white guy singing along to Michael Jackson, R&B songs, etc. 

Noon-2pm - My parents, Jason, and Jake showed up from the court hearing regarding the guy that hit me.  I guess it went interestingly.  That’s all I’ll say since it is probably not good to post publicly, yet.  We had lunch and caught up a bit.  Jason was a big help in the courtroom, I understand. Everyone thought he was our lawyer since he was wearing a suit and acting like he knew what he was talking about.

2-3pm - Okay this is the coolest part of the day.  They got this new machine here and I said I’d be more than happy to be a guinea pig.  It’s called an FES… well, here it is - http://www.restorative-therapies.com/rt300leg

Anyway it hooks up a total of 12 electro-stims (electrical stimulation) to 6 muscle groups on my legs.  Or really 3 on each leg - lower/inner calf, middle quad, and hamstring.  So I have all these patches with electrodes hooked up everywhere and it stimulates my muscles in a sequence and with enough strength that it moves my legs just like I would normally on the bike.  Make sense?  So they turn it up until my muscles flex and go with that.  

It was really very cool.  And all the therapists were training to use it with the specialist that came in so I got to ask lots of questions.  It measures speed (RPMs), power, and differentiates between what the electrodes are doing and what I am doing on top of that.  So the cool news is that somehow the stimulation allowed me to engage my muscles myself.  They had some graph (I didn’t see it) that said that 10-15% of the power was coming from my own efforts, not including the power from the electrodes.  That means I have muscle tone in my legs and maybe even thighs.  Sorry if that is confusing, but it’s good news.  I wish I could get that specialist and ask her some more questions! I’ll post a video of it in a sec.  It felt really good, actually.  I know it sounds like being electrocuted but it’s actually like a kind of tingly massage - to me, at least.

I had one more session to learn some bathroom skills.  No need to go into detail there, but suffice it to say it wasn’t fun.  

There’s something I want to point out.  A lot of people have said they enjoy my candor and how “real” I am on this blog.  In reality, I joke a lot on here and try and remember the positives of the day.  It is extremely difficult in here emotionally and mentally.  It’s hard to explain just how people identify themselves by their physical abilities, but when suddenly you can’t walk or even move your legs at all, you feel helpless.  For me, that has been extremely trying.  If I appear strong it is because I am using every ounce of energy I have to get through each day.  I give therapy my all because I am scared to death of not walking again.  I want to give myself as high a chance of recovery as possible.  All the prayers are awesome but worthless if I don’t do my part.  Having faith in God and in prayer means also gaining the confidence to do your part and try as hard as you can to work towards whatever those prayers are about.  Anyway I don’t want to get on a rant here… actually one more thing….  

Every single one of us was born with a gift, or set of gifts, or whatever - from God.  By everyone I mean everyone.  It is my very strong belief that we must use those gifts to glorify Him.  If you are not using your gifts, then that is kind of like saying, “You know, God, I really appreciate that gift you gave me, but I’m gonna spend my time doing these other things instead.  They are just easier/more fun/less intimidating/______(fill in the blank).” Everyone of us has something God gave us to use to glorify Him.  If you are not using it/them, it is my opinion that you are hurting God’s feelings instead of glorifying Him.  So use them, already.  I am just as guilty of this as anyone else, but thinking about it motivates me to change.

Here’s the verse I read today that stuck with me: Romans 3:27, 28 NLT

"Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law."

This isn’t really about my recovery.  But it’s a good verse anyway.  Jesus made it so that we don’t need to follow the law to be saved.  All we need is faith that he did, in fact, die for us; that he died to save us from ourselves.  If we truly love God/Jesus, then we will do everything we can to please Him.  That’s where the law comes in, and not before.  Anyway, I digress…

I don’t know why I ranted today.  Just in one of those moods I guess.  Plus I’m super excited that Rebecca will be here soon so I’m a bit chatty.  On top of that tomorrow is the beginning of the weekend! Kind of.

G’night,
Chip

RIC day 23 - Hip Flexors

Countdown to brace coming the heck off: 56 days

Countdown to Rebecca arriving in Chi-town: 4 days

Countdown to me leaving RIC: 19 days 

That last one is new.  They told me this morning that my… well it went like this:

Dr. Anschell: Hey Chip so everything’s going well? Blah blah blah…

Chip: Yep all good, thanks.  Slept great.  I’m a little nervous about leaving here, though.

Doc: Well your discharge date is May 20, right?

Chip: Huh?!!? I hadn’t heard that.  Okay.  Wow.

Doc: Oh… well Donna said you were okay with that date I thought.

Chip: Well I said ideally the end of May so I could move into an apartment June 1.

Doc: Well yeah she thought that May 20 counted as the end of May.

Chip: Hmm.. well… okay, I’ll make it work.  It’s fine.  Haha…

Surprise for me!!! So yeah I’m apartment hunting now.  Or rather my parents are and I’m trying to when I have time.  

9:15am - Woke up.  Great night’s sleep and didn’t feel bad in the morning for the first time since I can remember.

10am - OT with Zoe.  We did balancing on the mat.  

11am - Lokomat with Sara.  It keeps going better and better.  By that I mean more comfortable.  Usually I use my abs to throw my hips forward and cheat at walking.  Today it seems like I was able to pull from a little lower.  I felt my right hip flexor and it seemed like just a little flexing going on there.  I tried my other one and it was similar.  I didn’t know if I was imagining it so I got my mom to feel, and of course she got really excited.  Hard to say for sure - but apparently in my charts they already had written that I had possible hip flexor return.  

1pm - Group exercise.  Good times.

2pm - Pool therapy with Martha.  Towards the end she had me doing an ab drill to pull my knees to my chest.  I told her about the hip flexor thing and she felt it and said something was there.  She walked away to help another patient but suggested I try doing one leg at a time for the ab drill and incorporate my hip flexors if possible.  My left leg went forward just a tiny bit.  My right leg, however, went a good foot or so farther than my left leg when I tried on that side.  Keep in mind this was underwater.  I showed my dad and he naturally got really excited.  I tried to remind him that what you can do in a pool is 1000x easier than on land.  We shall see how this all transpires, but it’s at least good news.  

7pm - Small group.  My church small group guys agreed to have our weekly meeting in the chapel of the RIC.  We went through a couple chapters of 2nd Timothy.  It was great to see them.

Several people seem to be leaving soon or have just left.  Prayers for them so they transition to their own homes nicely.  Often times that’s when depression sets in.  Chip (not me), Mark, John, Stan, Liz… I think that’s it.  Please pray for them.  And as my dad says, pray for reactivation and regeneration, for all of the patients in this building, really.  I’ll also throw in to pray for the psychological side of things for everyone here, including me.  It is by far harder than the physical aspect.  

G’night

Chip