June 9

I had a urology appointment on Wednesday...Dr. Recio wanted me to see this doctor because, like with everything else, the bladder can have spasms as things start returning during the recovery process. The doctor was great- really knowledgeable in terms of urology, but also in patients with spinal cord injuries. He was also very hopeful and impressed that I didn't have to cath, which is typical in SCI patients (and he said that since I don't have to do it now, then I won't ever have to...he's never had a patient take steps backwards...as in, I don't have to now, so I'm not going to wake up next week and all the sudden need to). He took me off the medicine I've been on..I was mainly on this one because the doctors at Magee were using it off label for the sweating, but it's also an antispasmodic. He said that medicine is pretty old, so he gave me samples of a newer one he wants me to start taking instead. I'm pretty happy though, that's the only prescription medication I'm on besides my thyroid med. I take a ton of pills, but it's mostly vitamins. If I have to take meds, I'm glad it's not as many as I used to take and that they're just vitamins. 

What's funny is that Sam's husband is a drug rep and his main drug is the one I was just put on.. Crazy how things work sometimes. We've been talking about dusty and I going to Annapolis for Fourth of July and spending the long weekend with Sam and Brandon. She said there's a lot we can do that is fully accessible and it'd be nice to be with another couple that understands what we're going through. 

I had another reassessment. They usually take about 30-40 minutes, but this one took like an hour and 45 minutes. Everything improved...my reach, abdominal control, etc. Dennis could feel the hip and glutes and for the first time, he could feel the planar flexion in each ankle (downward motion, like pressing on a gas pedal). This meant that instead of a 0 for that category, I at least got a 1- something is better than nothing, right? But what took so long was that the knee flexion and extension I've had in the pool was finally seen on land. Dennis had me do it from all different positions to make sure I wasn't compensating by using my hips or abs and he wanted to make sure I had control of it and that it wasn't a spasm. He even high fived me (and he usually doesn't get overly excited about things). He wants me to use my personal stim unit and keep trying to kick my legs out- hopefully I'll just get stronger and it'll become an even bigger motion. Dusty told me he had a good feeling about this week! Also, Dusty's sister, Kasey, messaged me the other day to tell me she had a dream that we were in DC and I was walking all over the place...I feel like every time someone has a dream like this, something good happens. I can't wait to make all those dreams come true.