School has been keeping me really busy...at least two new lectures are updated per week, which really doesn't sound bad, but each one is at least TWO HOURS LONG. It's been a little difficult doing things remotely because it's not like I'm sitting in class, talking to my peers about what's going on or able to walk to my professor's office whenever I have a question. I've also found it a little difficult that I'm learning things "in the classroom" and not also re-enforcing them by being hands on in clinic. I'm more of a visual learner and it was always so helpful to learn about something in class, then revisit it by having a patient with that disorder or on the medications we were discussing. I knew it was going to be difficult going back, but somedays it's just really overwhelming! Luckily, my professors have been accommodating...I had a few questions that I had sent an email about, and my professor actually had me call him on his cell phone after 9pm just so he could make sure we weren't interrupted and so that all my questions were answered. He even left the conversation by saying that now that I have his cell phone number, I should use it whenever I need to in order to make sure I wasn't having any trouble. It was comforting to know that if I started to have any difficulties, I will be able to get a hold of him and that he's willing to help me.
Last week, we made a trip to Baltimore in order to meet up with Kristen and her mom. I met her during my first week of therapy at KKI and although she lives in Tennessee, we have kept in touch. We were supposed to meet up in August before my therapy ended, but she had to move her visit to Baltimore back a few weeks, so I was happy that we were still able to get together. I got there in the morning, rode the stim bike and got in the stander, met Vickie for a personal training appointment in the afternoon, then we all went to dinner. I was a little worried about how the bike would go since I hadn't done it in a few weeks, but it was still successful! And of course, Vickie pushed me has hard as she could. I don't really have a good set up at home to practice my sit-ups...I use a wedge during therapy since I'm not quite strong enough to go from completely laying on my back then sitting up and I don't have a good surface at home to work with. The bed is too soft, I obviously can't do it from my chair or on the couch, and I'm really not a fan of getting on the ground. Needless to say, I haven't been able to work on my sit-ups much. I was actually happy that core work was one of the things Vickie had planned for us. Last time we met, I had to use two wedges and a pillow behind my back in order to do sit-ups on the therapy mat (I also even held a ball so I could throw it forward and use that momentum to sit forward). Well, this time, she took the ball, the pillow AND one of the wedges away. I did 25 sit-ups with just one wedge! It was a big change and she was pretty impressed. She also even asked if I was getting hip flexors back because she could see my pelvis moving forward as I sat up.
It was good to see everyone at KKI, kind of like how I felt whenever I'd go into Magee and visit after day rehab. It's just a different feeling than being home...not just because everyone knows you, but everyone already either knows what happened (so you don't have to answer a million questions or have awkward conversations where people don't exactly know what to say to you) or they understand because they're part of the SCI community.
Meeting Kristen and her mom for dinner was so relaxing and refreshing. It reminds me of the good parts of this journey--the relationships. It's a different kind of friendship when instead of saying "I think I know what you're going through" someone can actually relate because they've BEEN there. You can share experiences and join together in the frustrations, but also rejoice together and be excited for each other on each accomplishment or milestone reached. I swear, overtime I see a post or update from one of my friends at KKI or Magee, I'm as excited for them as if it were myself. I know how hard these friends work and I'm just so thankful that I have been able to keep up with them throughout this journey.
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