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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