Another Milestone

Finished my day rehab therapy today. It was three months of hard work, but I am very happy with the results. I went from sitting in a wheelchair with short walks with my walker to walking unaided in my braces. In fact today I walked 1408 steps in 6 minutes. My progress is all thanks to the excellent therapists I had at RIC/Northshore. They pushed me hard and kept the workouts interesting in a manner that made it enjoyable at the same time. They were able to come up with work arounds for the neuropathy (tingling, numbness and pain) in my feet so I am able to walk in the braces.

Now the next step is to hope and pray that my feet do heal so that I can complete my therapy and build up the strength in them to walk without my braces. To that end I will have an EMG next week to assess the nerve damage in my feet. In the meantime I will continue physical therapy for two hours a week as an out patient and implement an exercise program to avoid losing any ground. I also have a meeting next week to assess whether I will be able to drive with the use of hand controls. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

Please continue to pray that the neuropathy in my feet is healed so that I will truly be able to walk again.

Peace.

Another Milestone

Just got my first haircut since my hair grew back. Another step toward normalcy!

What do you think?

What's Next?

Beginning the last 2 weeks of day rehab therapy. The therapists are still working me just as hard as when I first came--in fact, harder, with more complicated exercises--which I really appreciate. They have  brought me very far in spite of the problems with the neuropathy in my feet. The one disappointment is that I'll still be wearing my leg braces when I leave there. Please continue to pray that my feet will heal completely and I will be able to walk unaided some time in the future. And that the carpal tunnel syndrome in my hands clears up. In the meantime I will be moving to outpatient therapy a couple hours a week so I don't fall behind in the progress I have made. I'll also be exploring driving lessons using hand controls. We'll see how that goes. And who knows what else will come along as I begin the next phase of my recovery! I'll keep you posted.

4th of July

Our first time to cool off on the beach 

Had a great time in Michigan over the holiday. The weather was perfect. Even got into the water and paddled around a little bit with the help of Terri, Elizabeth, and Mike. Click on the video below to see how I did. Another goal reached that I did not even consider would happen this year.