I've come a heck of a long way since then. It's hard to believe sometimes, since of course I tend to dwell on what I CAN'T do. It's hard not to when I used to run marathons and bike all around downtown Chicago. But I have much to be thankful for, truly. I have a great support system in my family. There is still plenty that I am capable of doing, even physical. My upper body works overtime now and there is a very good chance that regardless of who you are, I can bench more than you and do more dips. Ha! Benefits of using the wheelchair and crutches constantly. And my stamina has increased a ton in the past few years. It's no big deal to take my wheelchair for miles throughout DC, where we now live. It's a workout, sure, but I don't really breath hard or anything. Anyway, on to the updates!
I'm still recovering, definitely. I stand in the shower and use both hands to bath and shampoo which I don't think I could do a year ago. I can easily get up from the ground using my crutches or really anything. I'm up to something like 20 steps using absolutely nothing, even though it's mainly my right leg (Ralph) and so I tend to kind of drift to the right while I walk like that. And that is with no braces, too. My brace for Louie is in the closet just in case, but I haven't used it in months. That's pretty nice to say. Here are a few other random ways of showing my progress, with some other random pics included:
My family recently all met up in Gulf Shores for a beach vacation. I insisted on going deep sea fishing, not sure if I was even able to do it. Happily, I did, and the crew kept giving me some sort of fancy bait that allowed me to catch way more than everyone else. All red snapper. We had a feast afterwards. Left to right: Me, brother Marc, his girlfriend Alyssa, and my dad.
I tried fishing standing like everyone else for a few minutes. The fact that some of the fish we were catching were 25-30 pounds and took a ton of work to pull in (not to mention we were on a rocking boat) explained why half the crew looked at me like I would go over the rail at any moment. I reeled in my line to check the bait and as the large hook swung around in the air, I decided it would be easier to grab it seated. The crew looked thankful and went back to whatever it was they were doing.
When we hit the beach, I decided I was gonna get in the ocean if it killed me. That's me and my brother Marc in the pic. I can walk okay if I hold onto the shoulders of the person in front of me. But that's on dry, flat land with shoes on. Walking in sinking sand with water splashing around worked just enough to get me into knee-high water, at which point I promptly fell on my side and made my way out to deeper waters. It was cool, though! My spastic legs made a board out of themselves so that I basically didn't need a raft. Not bad, legs.
Marc and I post ocean excursion. Not long after seeing this picture I decided to cut my own hair. Rebecca said I did a good job at it so screw you, Super Cuts. I don't need your cheap and unpredictable haircuts anymore!
Dad and I successfully completed the first 5 holes at Sleep Hollow, which we had played about 1000 times over the years, before my legs started giving out. especially Louie, the bastard. Come on Louie I want to play more golf!!!! As a reminder, Louie is my rebellious left leg that refuses to listen to me, even when it's in his interest to do so.
We worked out a system so that I would tell my dad what club I wanted, position myself with my crutches by the ball, trade the crutches for the club, smack it, then trade back. It worked well. I drove the cart, too, which was cool. Ralph's foot works just fine, by the way. So I drive all the time now. I am lucky that Louie isn't needed to drive otherwise I'd crash immediately. Or just not drive, I guess.
Clearly I am extremely graceful.
This is me whacking at the ball on a driving range and also an example of how I managed to beat my dad at golf by 4 strokes over 5 holes. I think my lack of lower body movement made the ball go straight, which was nice. My form is obviously flawless. I'm happy to give lessons for a fee.
I've learned that I can walk with a shopping cart at places like the grocery and Target. I can't do it all day or anything but it's great therapy. If I push down on the cart too much it does a wheelie.
I also played around with the filter on my phone with some pics of our dog, Tucky. This has absolutely nothing to do with anything. I just like them.
Well that's about it. Rebecca and I moved to DC about a month ago. We live in what I consider to be a fancy apartment in the NOMA neighborhood downtown, very close to the Capitol building. As an example of the fanciness of our building, here is Rebecca washing Tucky in the pet room which includes a dog-washing station.
DC is cool. Very busy and everyone is ambitious, it seems like. I guess they have to be to pay the pricey rent. Rebecca started is back doing international work and will be traveling soon to Mongolia and Rwanda. I'm still figuring out what's next but am certainly eager to work.
I'm also going to be starting a new blog where I can write more often. I don't write as much here because it was predicated on informing how my recovery and progress were going. Since recovery is fairly slow now, there's not a need to write very often. I'll still occasionally post here, but I'm going to start another blog that is more about everything else in life and not so much about my recovery.
Since a friend mentioned she liked the "how easy it is to come by" part, I'll share what has become the basics of our dinner prayer:
Dear Lord, thank You for this food and the hands that made it. Thank you for how easy it is to come by. Guide us in all we do. Align our wills with Yours. Help us to understand how best to serve You and how best to use our lives. Be with our family and friends and guide them, as well. Thanks for Tucky, too. In Jesus name, Amen.Good night!
Chip
