Hello friends,
I have exciting news today. I had an amazing day in therapy yesterday. I was able to walk 30 feet without any assistance. No crutches, no cane, nothing. I also stood independently for 30 minutes. I would have stood longer, but my muscles are week and my leg started to cramp. Little by little I am making gains. I am getting so much closer to my goals. I can see where I want to be and I am more confident than ever that I will get there sooner rather than later.
It also turns out that working helped a lot with some of my vestibular problems. There was a problem in my brain that caused flashes of dizziness and nausea when I made certain movements. They only way to treat this is to recreate those movements over and over until you habituate or your body gets used to it and stops reacting. I was having a really tough time doing the exercise at home because they made me feel sick. It is harder than you might think to intentionally do something that causes you discomfort (much less do it over and over). Well one of those movements is looking over my shoulder and up or down. It turns out that being at work in the wheelchair forced me to do this a lot. When people talk to me I have no choice but to look up. By the way, I have to tell you that change alone has been very odd. I am rather tall so I rarely have to look up at anyone. Now I have to look up at everyone. Very strange perspective and I don’t think I like it. Anyway being force to repeat that movement over and over has really helped a lot. I barely notice any dizziness anymore.
However, I almost lost my focus because of the small victories I achieved last week. Yesterday I really didn’t want to try and walk. I felt like I had accomplished enough for the week and just wanted to skate through therapy. Then a little boy, maybe 8 or 9 years old, came in to the therapy area (which is strange because children’s therapy is done in another part of the building). He was using forearm crutches just like mine. As his session began I realized that he did not speak English as the woman with him translated in Arabic. Then he rolled up his pant leg and I saw that he had a prosthetic leg. He then stood up and with a great deal of effort, took a few steps with a huge smile on his face. OK, OK, OK MESSAGE RECEIVED LOUD AND CLEAR. My heart ached for him as I could only imagine how he had come to be there in that room with me and all the things he has probably been through. In that moment I was overwhelmed with guilt. I let myself forget that it could be a lot worse and that I cannot allow myself to become complacent. There are a lot of people in the world that don’t have the opportunity to receive the amazing medical care and therapy I have been provided. How dare I even consider wasting it? So I sucked it up and got to work. My life has been filled with these teaching moments helping me to live up to my destiny. I will do my best to continue to learn, grow and (hopefully) one day I won’t require so many redirects!
So, the mantra is now NO DAYS OFF! I will be making every day count. Thanks for listening. Talk to you soon ;-)
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