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Stim therapy.  Cool stuff.  Might have to buy me one of those.

SKYRISE Chicago - Yeah sure why not? + Tony Baptized!

Tiffany (my therapist) told me she thought there was a chance that if my recovery continued at its current pace, I’d have a good shot at completing the SkyRise Chicago.  It’s climbing all 2,109 steps of the Willis Tower (still known as the Sears Tower in Chicago).  As Mark Stephan says, “If you can climb 2 stairs, you can climb 2,000!”  Well, apparently Tiffany asked Mark if he thought I could do it.  Upon hearing I had already climbed 40 stairs, Mark - perhaps overly optimistically - said, “Oh yeah.  Easy.”

Mark has climbed the tower 2 or 3 times already.  Maybe more, I’m not sure.  Apparently he shaves off an hour each year.  I figure if I get in good enough shape to climb 7 stairs a minute, then I can do it in 5 hours.  7 stairs a minute doesn’t seem hard.  7 stairs a minute for 5 hours seems pretty daunting.  But so did running a marathon the first time.  And so did climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro.  Well, fine, yes, they WERE daunting, even while doing them.  But still, I need a big challenge and I think this is it.  

Here’s the link.  I think I’ve posted it before.  There is a cool marketing video.  Mark, who I’ve mentioned several times, is actually in the video.  

http://ric.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=home

Okay so that’s the big news.  Other than that, therapy has been progressing.  It’s been less than a week since my last post so nothing revolutionary to share (other than what I just talked about).  

One cool thing Tiffany did was use electric stimulation (stim therapy) to get some of the weaker muscles in my left leg kicking.  It worked.  I’ll post a video in a sec of what she was doing below, which is getting the muscles to flex that make my foot lift up.  This is the muscle that, since it’s weak, causes my left foot to drag when I’m not wearing braces.  

After we did that for a little bit, she got a “trigger” that allowed her to shock the muscle at just the right time while I was walking on the treadmill.  She’d go 1:30 minutes like that, then 30 seconds of me on my own to see if it continued.  Pretty cool.  We did that for a while.

What is probably the biggest news of the week is that my friend Tony, who was my last roommate at RIC, was baptized this past Sunday at his church down in Englewood in Chicago.  A couple weeks ago when I asked him how he was doing he texted back, “I was saved today,” at which point I started bouncing off the walls.  Very cool to see this change in him.   

Tony and me outside his church after the baptism.  What an awesome worship, by the way.

Tony and I agree on the answer when the inevitable question comes up, “Why me?” First of all, God doesn’t punish us.  Not since Jesus died.  Okay there’s that.  Next, if this happened to us without us having any decision in the matter, then it was God’s will.  Either that or you can argue that it was meaningless, which is fairly depressing.  Okay so let’s go with God’s will!  So if it was God’s will, and He doesn’t punish us, then what is the number one thing God wants of us?  To worship and glorify Him.  So there’s that.  So then, it’s only logical that this happened to us because we would better worship and glorify Him, and better show others how to worship and glorify Him.  And we know it’s true because it’s already proven itself over and over again.  

Okay so big week, actually.  Let me see what videos my dad took that I can post.  He is heading home tomorrow to Kentucky for good.  He will certainly be missed but it’s time for him to go hang with my mom again :)  

Oh yeah - also Rebecca and I are heading out to California tomorrow for her friend’s wedding this weekend.  We’ll be staying in a cool beach house in LA for the wedding, then going down to San Diego to see her brother Jonathan and his wife, Kristen.  Jonathan has a pilot’s license so I’m gonna try and hop up into a private plane so we can buzz over to Catalina Island.  Sounds pretty sweet, huh?  It’ll be an experiment!  Where do you put a wheelchair in a small prop plane? Haha…

G’night!

Chip

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This is from yesterday.  We spent about 5 minutes walking with no braces at all.  As you can see my left foot drags a bit as I can’t lift it up the way I can with the right foot.

No more Facebook notifications -

I’m turning off the feature that follows a post with an update in the newsfeed of Facebook so as not to annoy those not interested.  Just go to chipgettingwell.tumblr.com if you ever want an update on my progress.  Thanks!

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Walking with no brace on my right leg.  Much improvement in the last couple months.

More progress - Go Louie and Ralph!

Alright Candi Sutton - since you complained that I hadn’t blogged, here ya go!

More progress all the time now.  Tiffany (my PT) is back from her vacation and she was encouraged by how far I had come in two weeks with Walter.  I saw her Wednesday and Friday this week.  First she had me walking on the treadmill.  She said my gait was already better.  It was nice to hear that since I can’t tell the difference.  We did some interval training and I got up to 2 mph which is a dead out sprint for me.  1 mph was a comfortable pass in between.  After a while doing that, she wanted me to try walking without any brace at all on my right leg.  That is definitely more difficult but forces those stabilizer muscles in the ankle to get to work.  I’ll post a video, but it went surprisingly well.  After a few minutes my right ankle started to fatigue.  Pretty cool, though, walking without anything that fast.  I had never tried walking with an AFO only on my left foot.  Very encouraging.  

After that I was drenched with sweat and exhausted, so we stretched for a few seconds before she had me trying to lift my leg while on my stomach - i.e. work the hamstrings.  I was able to keep my left leg from falling (can’t lift it, yet) for the first time.  Very cool.  My right leg was able to “curl” multiple times before it got tired.  Before I could only do it once, maybe twice.  Progress.

Then we walked around with the crutches.  But first she had me try standing on my own with them.  I haven’t been able to, yet.  I fell on her.  I’ll post the video - it’s pretty funny.  

She had me go to this undulating turf section in the obstacle course area.  It was slightly hard just because it was new.  About the 5th time through it was no big deal.  That was Wednesday.

Today we went outside and took the crutches up and down a ramp.  First using the handrail, then using just the crutches.  Not so bad at all.  I showed her how I could go up and down the stairs - no problem.  Then I walked through a bunch of grass and even kind of messed with her by stepping on a bunch of roots so she would think I was gonna fall.  Good stuff!  

After being outside we went in and worked on the treadmill.  We took my right brace off immediately.  It went better than it had a couple days ago.  I did it for 20 minutes, and then we took off the left brace, as well.  My left foot dragged just a little bit, but otherwise it went alright.  Pretty cool to be walking without any braces.  

Also I was able to stand for 1 minute 4 seconds without holding on to anything.  

Last night we went sailing on Tom’s boat with a bunch of folks.  Really fun.  And beautiful views of the sunset, moonrise (if that’s a thing) - just awesome in general.  Here’s a couple pics people took: 

And after therapy today, I did some work and then went to my first wheelchair softball tournament.  Really awesome and the team was playing great.  I didn’t get to play as I showed up when it really mattered.  But I learned a lot.  Hopefully will play when we go to NYC.

That’s me on the “bench.” This is the quarterfinals.  We won.  I left after the first inning of the semifinals.  We play tomorrow if we won that.  I have no idea if we did or not.  I had to go because Rebecca and I are going bowling tonight.  That’s right.  

G’night - 

Chip

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This is when I fell on Tiffany.  Whoops!

The Need for This Blog...

It’s been exactly two weeks since my last blog entry.  When I stopped and nobody really said anything, I figured that meant that it was time.  Yesterday, however, I was told time and time again by members of my Prospect, KY church - St. John UMC - that it was missed and still of use.  So here I am again writing about my life, for whatever it’s worth!

The last two weeks have been fairly hectic.  I’m staying extremely busy with work trying to get the business where it needs to be.  On top of that therapy and training to walk again take up much of my time.  I devote whatever energy I have left for the other passions in my life and hanging with Rebecca and/or friends.  I’m really happy with where work is heading, but that’s not that interesting to most of you.  I will just say it took me too long to realize how extremely important it is to have the right people in the right places.  

A few huge things have happened lately that left a huge impression on me.  To start, I believe I mentioned before how Stephen and Leah - Rebecca’s brother and sister-in-law - are about to venture off to Kyrgyzstan to start a business focused on chickens and more specifically, eggs.  Yeah, that’s right.  Also Leah is hoping to score a gig as a nurse out there.  Anyway, I had very interesting conversations with them and others about their approach.  It is a very interesting model of how to approach business internationally from a triple bottom line perspective.  

Here’s a pic of a few of us out to brunch discussing exactly that - 

That’s Tweet.  I love that place.

What else?…

In therapy, I’ve very much been focusing on walking with crutches and going up stairs.  I’m up to 40 stairs in the RIC stairwell.  I can also walk down forward, which is harder than it sounds.  Ralph (my right leg) is the one doing most of the work on the stairs.  

Through a mixup at SideStix, they sent me a brand new pair of crutches to my specifications.  I’m really excited about them as they just arrived.  I’m hoping to only use the walker when I absolutely need it.  Anyway for insurance I asked for a quote for SideStix and they thought it was a “paid for” order so went ahead and sent them to me!  Sweet, right?  So I talked them into a 30 day trial at which point hopefully insurance will have paid for most or all of them.  

Here’s me walking around with RIC’s trial pair in training:

Yeah that’s right - I’m walking so fast that Louie (left leg) is a blur.

Here’s me on the stairs - 

The big event, though, was heading home to Kentucky these past several days.  My dad, Rebecca and I headed down on Wednesday and just got back about an hour ago.  My brother Marc had flown in from Dallas to be there.  It was really awesome to just relax and hang out with the family for a few days.  I saw my cousins Ellee and Beth, Beth’s kids Saylor and CJ, Aunt Cha, Uncle Lee, Ellee’s “beau”, Kurt, and TONS of friends of the family.  I was staying upstairs but used the bathroom downstairs since it was more accessible.  Every day I walked up and down the stairs.  Easy way to get a workout in.  

Saturday we had a get-together during the day for everyone that ever emailed me or wrote me a card in the Louisville area.  It was a LOT of people.  I felt very much loved and supported.  It’s been close to 5 months since my accident, but these people still genuinely care about what me and my family have and are going through with this ordeal.  It was touching and overwhelming.  They are the reason I write this blog.  When I hear about kids getting interested in what I write and asking their mom’s to read them the blog as their bedtime story, I am truly touched.  I also have to remember to try and keep it PG!  

Without naming names, several people there are going through their own challenges, or have family members with challenges.  Honestly, everyone has SOMETHING they are dealing with.  It’s not always obvious physical issues like paralysis or cancer.  So I’d like to think this helps everyone out there in some way gain perspective.  Anyway, it was great to connect with everyone, regardless of what they were going through.  

Here is a pic of me with Rob Partin, who I’ve mentioned before.  Rob has a large brain tumor and just completed radiation treatment, going into chemo.  I though he looked great and seemed very much himself.  

Just a couple guys with their life-altering changes! Oh, and my dad.

At church they “recognized” me during the service, which felt very humbling and fairly awkward.  I’m used to people staring at me when I sing or give a presentation, not for being in an accident!  Still getting used to that.  

In hopes of not making this all about my recovery, I’d like to talk about a cool topic that seems to keep popping up.  Does God still speak to people?  That’s the question.  Pastor Dan mentioned it in his sermon today, my parents and I talked about it, and also I read about it in the book called Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas.  I’m more than halfway through and it’s incredible.  He’s incredible and the book gives an amazing insight into those Germans during Hitler’s reign that vehemently disagreed with everything he stood for.  

Bonhoeffer said that while he never experienced God actually “speaking” to him in an audible way, such as often happens in the Bible.  However, he also said that he felt that is why God gave us the Bible - to speak to us. If we ever want God to speak to us, we need only to read the Bible.  Pastor Dan said something along the same lines today in church.  I completely agree with them.  I am not one to say whether or not God audibly speaks to people.  It seems to me that since we are filled with the Holy Spirit, that the Holy Spirit influences our thoughts and decisions by “speaking” to us from the inside.  For me, God is always there in that way. Whether it is my own conscience or actually the Holy Spirit/God becomes much easier to decipher when I am in the word more often.  The less I read the Bible, the quieter that voice is inside me.  Perhaps you are different or similar.  But that’s the way it is for me.

Okay that’s enough for today :)  

I’ll leave you with this pic.  It’s much more pleasant holding on to a gorgeous girl than a walker in able to stand.  By the way, I’m up to a minute standing completely unassisted!

That was on the way back from Louisville.  I had to stretch my legs because they get so cramped and tight.  Sucks, but as you can see it has it’s perks.

Dear Lord, bless all the folks at St. John that made me feel loved this weekend.  Thanks for all the things in my life that I DO have.  Thank You for the progress and allowing me to climb steps.  Thanks for great family and friends.  Please be with all those that I talked with this weekend that are having their own struggles.  Give them strength and fill them with the Holy Spirit so that they can fully enjoy their lives.  Give me rest and healing, God.  Please let my progress and recovery continue.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

G’night,

Chip

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I’ve been doing stairs, lately.  I’m up to 40 in the RIC stairwell.  Crutches should arrive soon, too, which will let me practice at home.  Pretty excited about those.

Da' Bears

The Bears event turned out to be very public, which I didn’t realize until we got there.  29,000 or so people attended to watch them PRACTICE!  Crazy to me that they all paid money for those tickets.  Seems like the Bears should do that more often (however from my viewpoint it was a pretty worthless practice - almost zero hitting).  

The much cooler aspect was having so many friends there.  Erik had invited a few of our mutual friends using his tickets so we had a good crowd.  

Chewie & Keri with baby Elise, my dad, Stephen, Erik & Nina, Ben, Rebecca, Jake, Doug & Sandy and baby Brandon.  

Me and little Brandon!  Dude rocks!

I pretty much watched the practice from here since the seats weren’t really accessible.  Once I start using crutches in public I’ll be able to do stuff like that.  

We all chilled out and enjoyed the great weather and nice view of the field.  Afterwards there were fireworks, at which point Rebecca dropped her phone over the edge where it fell a good 30-50 feet, maybe more.  She ran downstairs to retrieve it and came back laughing.  Somehow, there wasn’t a scratch on the phone.  And it wasn’t even in a case!  An iPhone!  I dropped my iPhone 3 feet and it destroyed it.  What the heck?

Rebecca and I afterwards.  I’m wearing the shirt Chewie got me for my bday.  He is really good about getting gifts.  I am terrible with that stuff.

Afterwards we went to Erik’s for a bit just to wind down the night.

Jake snagged that photo.  Sneaky.

August 4, 2013

Breakfast of leftovers from brunch and Thousand Hole Cake.  You probably don’t know what kind of cake that is.  It’s incredible and my favorite.  My grandma, Grie (short for Gene, somehow), used to make it. 

Since we missed church, we listened to my mom’s sermon from when she returned from Chicago that first time, 2 months after my injury.  It was about worrying and it was good stuff.  I don’t know how she held it together.  I didn’t. 

Rebecca and I caught up on some work and then headed to Dollop, a local coffee shop we like.  I decided to walk to get my workout in.  I had no idea how far it was, really. It seemed reasonable.  We worked for 2-3 hours and then walked back.  I just looked it up on www.mappedometer.com (amazing for measuring running routes and things like that if you aren’t familiar with it) and apparently I went 3,670 feet!  Almost 7/10 of a mile!  That’s from my apartment door to Dollop and back.  That explains why I was dying at the end and getting all grouchy at Rebecca.  Some guy walked by with a little puppy and she said, “Babe look!  Such a cute dog, did you see!?!” to which I responded, “You think I care about a stupid dog right now? Come on!  I’m dying here!”  Sorry, babe.

I don’t remember what I walked in Michigan but I’m pretty sure this is like 1000 feet more than that.  New PR! (as I pass out)

G’night,

Chip

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Leg extensions.  This is my left leg, which is far weaker than my right leg.  It’s coming along.  This is with a 2 lb. weight strapped to it.

Stairs! And getting old -

July 31, 2013

Wednesday went alright - did a couple laps with the crutches for another 520 ft. and some treadmill work.  I worked the rest of the day.

August 1, 2013

Thursday I basically worked all day.  I did some light workouts at home before heading to watch Rebecca’s softball playoff game.  It was a great game, actually, with a come-from-behind victory in the last inning with 2 outs and 2 strikes.  I rolled up to the fence and stood up for the last inning there to watch, which felt somewhat “normal.” Hung out afterward with the team at Bad Dog.  Sanchez threw me a team shirt.  That was nice of him - they are pretty sweet.

August 2, 2013

I tried actual stairs in therapy for the first time!  It was awesome.  Therapy leading up to that point sucked.  The treadmill I like was taken so I ended up on a far less efficient one (for me - hand rails were too low).  After that I did crutches but they were the wrong ones and were too short.  Again, trouble.  Then had bathroom issues.  Ugh.  

But then we tried stairs which I had really been looking forward to for some time.  Mark Stephan said, “I thought to myself, ‘if I can do two stairs, why not two thousand?!’”  So I was thinking about that.  It was a setup they have on the 12th floor there - 3 steps following by a landing area leading to a doorway.  There is a hand rail on the right side.  I used the handrail with my right hand and had a crutch in the left.  My right leg is the only one I can lift up like that, but the first step when great!  Tiffany was concerned about going down, not up, so we went up and down the first step 2-3 times.  Then I got impatient and went up all 3 stairs.  It wasn’t quick or anything but man did it improve my confidence.  I’m considering signing up for the Skyrise Chicago Tower Up!, which is to climb the 103 flights of stairs in the Willis Tower (Sears Tower).  It’s obviously a gamble since I don’t know where I’ll be in November.  Here’s the site with a cool video if you’re interested:

http://ric.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=home

There is also an indoor hand-cycling competition on the ground floor.  If I decide not to do the climb I’ll probably do that.  

After the stairs I did some strengthening work on the mat.  I’ll post a video of that in a sec.  The highlight was doing some leg extensions.  My left leg was lifting 2 lbs. (3 x 15 or so) and my right leg was doing 16 lbs!

Aug 3, 2013.

My birthday.  I’m old.  Mid-thirties.  Ugh.

So far today I’ve had a pretty great day.  The weather is a sunny 75 and I got my workout in early by walking to the grocery with Rebecca.  While we were heading back my dad showed up to go to brunch so I jumped in the car. 

I mentioned a while ago that my friends - mainly Erik - had worked to get me a signed jersey by the Blackhawks.  We were all surprised when I opened the package to find a Toews jersey.  It was signed by Toews on his number on the back.  But when I flipped it over we were shocked to see the rest of the team had signed, as well!  Now that the Hawks have won the Stanley Cup, it’s a bit of a treasure.  So for my birthday my dad had it framed - glass on both sides so I can flip it and show either side.  Cool, huh?  Thanks, dad!

We had a great brunch at Tweet.  So good.  I had an interesting drink which was beer mixed with tomato juice.  I forget the name.  Awesome chorizo quiche, too.  

Tonight we are headed to Soldier Field to eat and watch the Bears practice.  I’ve definitely had some setbacks in my life recently, but things are very good.  Praise God.

Dear Lord, thank You for the continued progress.  Please be with Kurt and his family.  Please be with the Partin family.  Please be with Janice Zimmer.  Please be with the Batsons. Please fill everyone with the peace and hope that can only be found through Jesus Christ and understanding how He loved the world.  Thank you for letting me see another year.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

Okay gotta get ready for the Bears.  Peace.

Chip