April 5

I started the day on the stim bike again. My average power was 0.3 W higher than yesterday alone- I know it's small, but any improvement is good! (Gotta get excited about the little things, right?) 

I was on the aqua treadmill with Rachel this morning (like every Tuesday for now) and she saw a difference from last week. She commented on how she could tell I was initiating each step and instead of needing someone on each of my legs, she was able to do it on her own. Rachel blocked my knees and someone held my hips in place while I stood. Our initial goal was the try to stand with no hands for five seconds, then ten, then fifteen. I ended up doing 26 seconds (much better than 5!)

I did the GEO again today, but this time the stim was on. I carried more of my body weight (the harness supporting less) and Dennis could feel a lot of activation in my legs. There's a passive mode on the GEO that pretty much does everything for me and then an active assist mode that finishes out each step that I initiate. Dee, the aide that always helps us and gets excited about everything I do, turned off both modes without me knowing and I took a step completely on my own...MY FIRST UNASSISTED STEP! So that's what Dennis meant when he said it was going to be an exciting week? (And it's only Tuesday!)

An update on the relationships I'm forming and people I'm meeting:

I met a little girl today named Eden. She's 5 and here for two weeks with her parents from California. Her mom was telling me that on Dec 6, Eden did a back bend in their living room and ended up paralyzed from the waist down. They don't really know what happened, but it sounds like a complete injury. She's the sweetest little girl and it just broke my heart. I know how much I've struggled and I'm 24 with what doctors believe will be a full recovery..she's 5 and likely not going to gain full function of her legs again. It really puts things into perspective.