Friday, 14 June 2013

2.5 months - Outpatient and apartment -

Days til brace off: who the heck knows?


It’s been a few days since my last post.  When I moved into the apartment, there was no internet.  It was supposed to be set up on Wednesday, but SHOCKER, Comcast screwed it up.  Anyway, it works now that I used my own modem instead of theirs.  So let’s catch up on the last few days!


I don’t really know what to title the posts now that I’m out of RIC.  I’ll come up with something.  But it’s been 2.5 months since my accident.  Crazy.  Seems like a year ago.  I barely remember being able to walk/run/bike/etc.  The most frustrating part is that I was always running, biking, playing sports, helping people move, whatever… When I moved into the apartment it was rough.  I could only carry a small box at a time while everyone else was buzzing quickly around me.  It definitely humbles you when you can’t do simple tasks, or if you can do them, it takes you 10x as long. 


The move went fairly well.  We are still unpacking and whatnot, but I am liking the apartment.  There are a few logistical challenges with the wheelchair but nothing huge.  The views are really amazing, too.  I can see Wrigley Field from my bedroom and the lake from the living room.  There aren’t a lot of tall buildings around, so you look down on streets lined with trees.  Pretty nice.

Other than that?… Wednesday I had my first outpatient therapy.  Tiffany will be one of my main PTs.  She tested my strength and then had me stand in the parallel bars without braces.  My spasms allowed me to stay standing without using my hands (briefly).  Then she let me take a few steps.  That was pretty cool but also weird since it was really unnatural.  My legs tend to stay straight thanks to the spasms.  So I kind of look like a zombie walking - all rigid.  


After that I met with Dr. Muro with the hopes of getting my brace off.  No such luck.  He simply said that 12 weeks was the goal and that since I was at week 10, it wasn’t time.  And that was that.  Boo.  Oh and even better, at week 12, IF I can take it off, then I have 3 weeks of declining usage of the brace.  I just can’t seem to get rid of that stupid thing.  It stinks because I can’t play any of the wheelchair sports until it comes off.  Softball, sled hockey, hand cycling, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby…. tons of fun stuff to try out.  And what’s interesting is that even if I recover to the point where I can walk, I’ll always be considered disabled and will therefore always qualify for tons of cool disabled sports.  They are really cool, seriously.  Those guys are intense and do crazy tricks in their wheelchairs.  Crazy, huh?


Yesterday I went downtown for an appointment only to find out it was a mistake and that there was nothing to do.  I went home and went to a coffee shop with Rebecca for a while to do some emails.  My dad came over and helped me work out, which is the video I posted.  Then I went out and watched Rebecca play softball.  That was great, getting out.  I joined the team at a bar for beers and food after the game.  Then afterwards got a little turned around and took the long way to catch the bus home, bumping all over the place thanks to my clonus.  


clo·nus  (klns)


n. pl. clo·nus·es
An abnormality in neuromuscular activity characterized by rapidly alternating muscular contraction and relaxation.




Basically my legs bounce like crazy preventing me from moving efficiently.  It feels like I’m trapped in a massage chair that’s turned on too high.  Not bad, really, but kind of annoying.  


Today was a great day:


9:30-10am - Jeremy for PT in the pool.  Jeremy will be my other main PT, along with Tiffany.  He was good and we tried some new stuff.  He seems cool enough.  Ran cross country at Marquette so I’m guessing he knows what it means to work hard.


10:15-11:45am - PT with Tiffany.  I was late since I had to change after the pool.  We went to the treadmill and tried walking, except instead of flinging my legs to walk she had me pushing down into the heels to stand in between steps.  Way harder and triggered my spasms a lot.  We then did what were basically half squats.  With the harness holding me up, I was able to push with my heels and stand without using my hands.  That was pretty sweet-feeling.  It was mostly my right leg but who cares?  Both legs are slowly getting stronger.  I just hope it continues. 


We then went to try out my KAFOs.  She wanted me to show her how I did with them to get her approval to use at home on my own (which I had already done- see the video).  She approved.  So in therapy I’ll be doing non-KAFO stuff.  Standing, walking without KAFOs, etc.  She already experimented today with having me first walk with my left leg in a KAFO and my right leg in just an AFO (no supports above the calf).  It felt pretty good, actually.  I wasn’t able to do it a couple weeks ago when I tried that.  So that’s progress!  


Next she took off the KAFO from my left leg and had me walk in the parallel bars again.  My left foot was dragging so she gave it an AFO as well.  It required more upper body but it felt great to walk with the AFOs.  They made my knees bend so I didn’t do the zombie walk so much.  Can’t wait to do it again.  


I’ve decided my goal is to be able to walk with a cane by next April, one year after the accident.  I’ll give it all my effort, but of course it’s up to God in the end in regards to my body’s recovery and neuroregeneration.  


I met with Joe Riccardi from Park Community Church on Wednesday right after I was disappointed about not getting the brace off.  What perfect timing!  He shared some cool stuff about John Piper (popular preacher if you don’t know of him) regarding suffering in the Lord’s name.  I realized that my poor attitude lately and feeling down are self-centered and self-absorbed ways of thinking.  You don’t usually think of being self-absorbed as having to do with throwing yourself a pity party, but that’s what it is.  So I started to pull out of it at that point.  Here is part of Psam 34, which he read to me there:




The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
    he delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
    and saves those who are crushed in spirit.




19 The righteous person may have many troubles,
    but the Lord delivers him from them all;
20 he protects all his bones,
    not one of them will be broken.





Clearly the broken bone part hits home to me, but it’s a really cool passage.  It’s powerful to think that if we are following the Lord’s path instead of our own, he will protect us and deliver us from our troubles.  I have been extremely selfish in the past.  I still am often selfish.  But I will try as hard as possible to follow His path, not just so that I can be protected and saved from troubles, but to glorify Him.  


The other thing that Joe really struck a chord with is the belief that if we will live for eternity in heaven, that our time on earth is just a fleeting moment by comparison.  This is along the lines of John Piper’s message on suffering.  Thinking that way makes all of our troubles seem so stupid.  No internet for a couple days?  Get over it, Chip!  It takes a while to get dressed in the morning?  So what???  Look how beautiful it is outside!  Gotta use a wheelchair to get around?  I can still do tons of things and have led an awesome life up until this point.  I have no complaints.  In fact, the funny part is that right around the time I was injured, I kept thinking about how lucky I was and that if anything happend to me, it would be okay because I had already done so much in my life.  


G’night - 


Chip

No comments:

Post a Comment