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This is my first attempt at using 2 canes instead of 2 forearm crutches.  They are far less stable which means I need to put more weight on my feet and have better balance.  It went a lot better than I expected.  This is 11 months and one week after my injury.

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This is the first time I’ve been able to take consecutive steps without holding onto anything.  The video is from therapy a week ago, 1/17/14, with Tiffany at therapy.  I walked maybe 6-8 feet.  I’m basically just kind of hopping, but it’s a start.  My balance is definitely getting better at least!

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Christmas push-ups.  My form kind of sucks, but this is the end of doing about 50.  I also managed to do 150 crunches, so it looks like my back is getting more flexible.

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This is me trying to flex my left hamstring.  Since my left leg is far weaker than the right, Tiffany is having me experiment with a product called Bioness.  It basically causes my shin and hamstring to flex by electrical stimulation.  The difference from the e-stim devices I’ve used before is that this is wireless and works in a manner that is in sync with my walking.  Here, though, Tiffany is just making it work and I am doing my best to assist it.  

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A couple people pointed out that I hadn’t put up a video in a while.  Well, sorry, but my videographer (my dad) no longer resides in Chicago!  Haha… this one is of me at therapy today.  Tiffany took the video.  This is after already walking about half a mile.  I haven’t sat down in about 30-40 minutes.  Total distance walked was about 2/3 a mile!  Goal is a mile without sitting and I think I can do it soon.

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First video in a while!  I think I’ll start uploading a bunch of these to YouTube since not many know of my blog.  But this is me walking at a typical pace with the crutches, which I can now stand up with pretty consistently.  Today my knees were bending more than usual (i.e. at all), so Tiffany took a video.  

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Stim therapy.  Cool stuff.  Might have to buy me one of those.

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This is from yesterday.  We spent about 5 minutes walking with no braces at all.  As you can see my left foot drags a bit as I can’t lift it up the way I can with the right foot.

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Walking with no brace on my right leg.  Much improvement in the last couple months.

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This is when I fell on Tiffany.  Whoops!

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I’ve been doing stairs, lately.  I’m up to 40 in the RIC stairwell.  Crutches should arrive soon, too, which will let me practice at home.  Pretty excited about those.

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Leg extensions.  This is my left leg, which is far weaker than my right leg.  It’s coming along.  This is with a 2 lb. weight strapped to it.

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Getting a little more confident with the crutches.  I made it 520 feet today on them.  And that was after 1/3 of a mile on the treadmill.

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Stumbling around with my first real attempt at crutches while wearing AFOs.  I’ve already gotten better since this jittery run.

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The NuStep machine at the RIC gym.  I can go without using my arms for about a minute before I get exhausted.  This looks like heavy settings but it’s the easiest setting there is.  

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A little assistance with my stride…

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Tony and I taking a stroll during a rooftop grill party Rebecca and I had today.

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This is the monthly checkup to see if I am getting stronger.  I am.  My left leg is definitely getting stronger, too, which is huge for me.

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Walking with the walker in the pool - going backwards here.  

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First time attempting a step.  This one is 4”.  A typical stair step is 8”.  Good times.