Walking Unassisted - 6 years After Accident

Ignore the ridiculous commentary at the beginning.  Someone had left scuff marks on the floor and Rebecca was trying to get to the bottom of it!

This is 6 years to the day after my accident on 3/31/13, which left me with a T12 incomplete spinal cord injury.  Incomplete just means I can do things like I'm doing in the video, vs. having zero feeling and zero movement below the point of injury.

I managed to walk 50 feet that day, which has been a goal of mine for years.  For the beginning (not shown), I used my crutches for balance and had to tap the ground once to keep from tipping over.  Just once!  But it negates the goal for me so I am going to keep at it.  Even if I accomplish it, I'm going to keep doing it because it was extremely apparently that my lower back muscles are not accustomed to this much full body movement.  They were as tight as you can imagine about 35 feet in.  It's very odd to think that my legs could have kept going if it weren't for my atrophied lower back.  Yes, I have a titanium cage in my lower back so maybe that had something to do with it.  #noexcuses.

Other quick updates while I'm here:

I'm traveling a lot for work, especially this year, and a lot of folks wonder about traveling with a wheelchair and all my other... considerations.  It's become surprisingly routine and simple.  Yes I need a little more time here and there, but overall it's fairly easy.  Especially with Lyft/Uber.  I don't even need a special XL Lyft or anything like that.  I have the routine down at the airport - "No I don't need an aisle chair, yes this is my own personal chair, no I don't need pushes up the ramp," the rideshare - "No the wheelchair doesn't fold.  Don't worry I'll show you how this works.  Bags in the backseat, wheelchair in the trunk.  Like so.  Yes it's a fancy wheelchair," the hotel - "I don't know if I need an ADA room.  Does the regular room have a walk-in shower?" etc.  It's not so bad.  Really.

Life is good.  I have no complaints.  Rebecca and I have a very good life.  Every time I get down on myself I immediately feel guilty for feeling that way, because of how lucky we have been in life.  You  might say, "How in the world can Chip call himself lucky?" But honestly it's all relative.  Of course I wish I could jog across the street to catch the bus instead of watching others do so and having to wait for the next one downtown.  Of course I want to join my wife and sister-in-law on hikes.  But those are momentary and ultimately petty annoyances.

Dear God, thanks for the awareness of the relativity of my situation.  That one aspect being harder than others does not equal the sum of my life.  Thank you for all we have.  Keep me grateful.  Keep me humble.  When I am not humble, make me aware of it.  Let me and others learn from my struggles and let the struggles themselves fade into nothing.  Thanks for our dog, Tucky, too, who is always happy to see me, no matter what mood I'm in.

Cheers,
Chip