March 10

I don't want to leave! Every day is bringing new opportunities and I'm PRAYING I get more time than just these two weeks here. I know I should just be thankful that they had a cancellation and could get me in sooner than the 28th, but I just really think this is where I need to be right now.

Here's how my day went:

I started in the pool...the 90 degree pool! It's awesome...the floor is moveable, so I just move onto the floor then it's moved down and I'm in the water. 

I worked with Rachel in the pool today. She moved a seat into the pool and I did some sitting balance stuff and ab work. We then did some stuff with weights, standing, and small standing squats. Rachel wanted me to see how I felt about floating and then transitioning into trying to swim. I actually had no problem at all! I SWAM from one side of the pool to the other! This makes me so happy because even if I couldn't stay here, I know I can get a full body workout in the pool by swimming laps at home. I'm constantly working out in therapy, but I've been missing the overall cardio workouts I used to get by going for a run or spending time at the gym. I can't wait to see what else happens in Aqua therapy tomorrow and Saturday!

I got to get in a new standing frame. It has wheels and is mobile...I got to go outside in it! It's the straightest I've felt standing and there wasn't even any back support. I was able to take both hands off and up in the air, something I haven't felt stable enough to do before. And I had stim on my back the whole time to help make sure my posture was as straight as possible. Becky said I have obvious back strength, but my core is weak because I'm lacking back strength. We're going to work on some back strengthening tomorrow.

I did another type of stim that targets the spinal cord directly. Electrodes go on the stomach and back. Research has shown that it can help improve sensation and even movement, so they wanted to try it. They hooked it up and I was able to voluntarily move my toes! I also had some ankle movement and obvious glute contractions. I then stood with the walker with it still hooked up and it was even easier than on Tuesday when I stood with the parallel bars. We're going to do it again tomorrow since it went so well!

The last thing I did was a tilt table with a vibrating foot plate. The vibrations promote blood flow return and muscle activation. I did a ton of ab exercises with the vibrations going, which enhanced the activity. I loved it because it wasn't something we had planned for the day, but I asked about it and since no one was using it, we got to try. 

It was such a good day and I actually worked up a sweat...not the sweating I've had no control over since I got sick, but an actual sweat because I was working so hard.

I can't wait to see how tomorrow goes, we've got a lot of things planned!