Lots to talk about… I’ll try not to write a novel.
Many first for me this past week. In therapy, I’ve been working on standing with crutches. I even successfully attempted it at home a few times. Crutches are harder to walk with from a physical effort aspect, but it promotes better form and also allows you to move over more types of terrain. We also practiced stepping up and down from a curb. So one first was standing up with crutches unassisted.
Another first was stepping up onto the treadmill unassisted. I think that was over a foot from the ground, so that was cool. Usually they have to have a couple people lift my wheelchair up there for me to stand up. After I did that fairly easily, Tiffany said, “How about from now on when you get to therapy we leave your wheelchair at the door?” I was all about that. Can’t wait until tomorrow to implement it.
To date, I haven’t walked very far with the crutches. I’ve been doing lots of stairs but the long walks haven’t been part of my routine lately. Yesterday that changed. I stood up with the crutches from bed, and got so excited about it that I decided to try to take them a ways outside. We wanted to go to brunch so I killed two birds with one stone. I walked a little less than a quarter mile to get to the bus stop. That alone exhausted me. I got up on the bus by stepping up. Then I got to enjoy sitting in a normal seat. Usually I have to lock in my wheelchair in a spot that takes up 3-4 seats, depending on the model of bus. So this was pretty nice and it felt pretty normal again. We had a great brunch at Tweet, I walked to the bus stop, took the bus back south, and walked home. No wheelchair. It totally exhausted me but it felt great. Two new firsts there with the distance with crutches and the bus.
My friend at RIC seems to be doing better. He got outside today. It’s hard to start doing that, realizing there are slanted sidewalks and realizing how different you are to others. But it’s a healthy transition. Please keep praying for him and his wife.
I’m about 6 months post-injury. The primary recovery period is supposedly over, and yet I just had a great week. Perhaps I’m adapting more than recovering, but regardless, Tiffany thinks I’m still making gains, so I’m gonna keep pushing. It’s about 3 weeks until the wedding and 4 weeks until the SkyRise Chicago stair climb. Plenty to look forward to!
G’night,
Chip
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