I really liked today's passage. Like I've said, I've always been a planner. I like to think ahead and I guess that's the same as having a "preconceived mold." I've had to learn that things don't go as planned and things can change in the blink of an eye. Also, not being able to do everything on my own or having to wait for help with some things has made me more aware of my surroundings and therefore, more attuned to what God is doing around me. After all, His plans are better than mine anyways.
I worked with different therapists on the aqua treadmill the last two days and they felt BOTH legs helping out! And in the afternoon yesterday, Becky used the stim to my spinal cord while I was on the treadmill that they move my legs for me and everyone felt like it was easier to "walk me." I also went from walking with 65% of my body weight supported to only 30% with that stim on!
I did a little better on the stim bike and I'm hoping my power continues to increase.
Our friends that live here in Baltimore took us out to eat for some amazing seafood. The restaurant was right on the water and seeing the sun go down from the dock was so beautiful!
I've had a weird episode of dizziness for two mornings in a row now..I get up and ready to shower and my vision goes gray and I get this awful headache. It doesn't last long and goes away with some deep breaths, a cold wash cloth on the face, and a few bites of my yogurt with fruit. It's a little scary and I'm not sure if it's low blood pressure or blood sugar, but I'm glad it doesn't last long. I mentioned it to one of my therapists this morning and she thinks it may be related to how much water I'm losing by sweating at night, haha. Now that my legs are being so active during the day with all this therapy, I've been sweating all the way to my toes instead of just on my arms and back. It's gross, but maybe this extra sweating is a good thing. (I cannot wait until I'm better and can be more comfortable in bed! Being able to move around more in bed and not sweat as much is going to be so great, haha. Seriously, you don't realize how nice little things like this are!)
I've been working on leg management and being able to pick them up to cross them up high and I've gotten so much better...so much so that I took FIVE minutes off the time it takes to get my pants on. I know, it's ridiculous that it takes so long that I'm excited to take five minutes off. It may or may not have taken half an hour before...everything takes so much longer! The littlest tasks are actually a workout for me.
I did some walking with the walker while suspended from the harness and hooked up to stim today. Becky said she could feel me helping...I always ask if the therapists I'm working with can feel me doing anything during different tasks because I honestly have no idea. I always feel like I'm helping, but not sure how much. The therapists are always honest and kind of let me down easy if they're not feeling anything, but everyone has felt stuff these last two weeks. I can only hope that means I'm getting better each day!
I told Becky I could already tell a difference in my core strength and she said it really takes like 6-8 weeks for significant muscle gain and definition, so we should see a lot more as therapy continues. I asked if we were mostly just waiting to build up the muscle in my legs in order to produce movement and she said it's partly that and part neuro regeneration...you can't really tell if all the neurons are there and connected, so they might be there and the muscles aren't strong enough, or all the neurons aren't connected and therefore new ones may be trying to form...regardless, it takes 6-8 weeks. Then she told me the guy that helped found KKI took 18 years before he could walk again. AH! I know I need to keep trying to be patient, but I don't think I could handle that. I haven't hit any plateaus in my recovery so far, so I can't get hung up on how long things are going to take. Hopefully I can keep continuing on this incline and keep getting good news daily!
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