July 31, 2013
Wednesday went alright - did a couple laps with the crutches for another 520 ft. and some treadmill work. I worked the rest of the day.
August 1, 2013
Thursday I basically worked all day. I did some light workouts at home before heading to watch Rebecca’s softball playoff game. It was a great game, actually, with a come-from-behind victory in the last inning with 2 outs and 2 strikes. I rolled up to the fence and stood up for the last inning there to watch, which felt somewhat “normal.” Hung out afterward with the team at Bad Dog. Sanchez threw me a team shirt. That was nice of him - they are pretty sweet.
August 2, 2013
I tried actual stairs in therapy for the first time! It was awesome. Therapy leading up to that point sucked. The treadmill I like was taken so I ended up on a far less efficient one (for me - hand rails were too low). After that I did crutches but they were the wrong ones and were too short. Again, trouble. Then had bathroom issues. Ugh.
But then we tried stairs which I had really been looking forward to for some time. Mark Stephan said, “I thought to myself, ‘if I can do two stairs, why not two thousand?!’” So I was thinking about that. It was a setup they have on the 12th floor there - 3 steps following by a landing area leading to a doorway. There is a hand rail on the right side. I used the handrail with my right hand and had a crutch in the left. My right leg is the only one I can lift up like that, but the first step when great! Tiffany was concerned about going down, not up, so we went up and down the first step 2-3 times. Then I got impatient and went up all 3 stairs. It wasn’t quick or anything but man did it improve my confidence. I’m considering signing up for the Skyrise Chicago Tower Up!, which is to climb the 103 flights of stairs in the Willis Tower (Sears Tower). It’s obviously a gamble since I don’t know where I’ll be in November. Here’s the site with a cool video if you’re interested:
http://ric.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=home
There is also an indoor hand-cycling competition on the ground floor. If I decide not to do the climb I’ll probably do that.
After the stairs I did some strengthening work on the mat. I’ll post a video of that in a sec. The highlight was doing some leg extensions. My left leg was lifting 2 lbs. (3 x 15 or so) and my right leg was doing 16 lbs!
Aug 3, 2013.
My birthday. I’m old. Mid-thirties. Ugh.
So far today I’ve had a pretty great day. The weather is a sunny 75 and I got my workout in early by walking to the grocery with Rebecca. While we were heading back my dad showed up to go to brunch so I jumped in the car.
I mentioned a while ago that my friends - mainly Erik - had worked to get me a signed jersey by the Blackhawks. We were all surprised when I opened the package to find a Toews jersey. It was signed by Toews on his number on the back. But when I flipped it over we were shocked to see the rest of the team had signed, as well! Now that the Hawks have won the Stanley Cup, it’s a bit of a treasure. So for my birthday my dad had it framed - glass on both sides so I can flip it and show either side. Cool, huh? Thanks, dad!
We had a great brunch at Tweet. So good. I had an interesting drink which was beer mixed with tomato juice. I forget the name. Awesome chorizo quiche, too.
Tonight we are headed to Soldier Field to eat and watch the Bears practice. I’ve definitely had some setbacks in my life recently, but things are very good. Praise God.
Dear Lord, thank You for the continued progress. Please be with Kurt and his family. Please be with the Partin family. Please be with Janice Zimmer. Please be with the Batsons. Please fill everyone with the peace and hope that can only be found through Jesus Christ and understanding how He loved the world. Thank you for letting me see another year. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Okay gotta get ready for the Bears. Peace.
Chip
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