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.
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