This last month of therapy has been awesome. I've started to get my gluts and thighs to start firing. They're not strong enough yet to move on their own but when you place your hands in the right position you can feel the muscles tense. It's pretty exciting. I've always known that I was going to walk, but I feel like I'm getting so much closer. I can't wait until I move my legs, or toes on my own. I try to just about every night while laying in bed. I know one of these times it's going to happen. I'll probably freak out and scare the crap out of Ben. Little by little I'm getting there!
With the warm weather I've been getting out more and more. I was able to borrow an arm bike from the University of Utah, they have this program for people with spinal cord injuries. They have all sorts of activities like biking, skiing, kayaking and all sorts of fun stuff. The bike is the first thing I've participated in so far. It's pretty cool though!
With the warm weather I've been getting out more and more. I was able to borrow an arm bike from the University of Utah, they have this program for people with spinal cord injuries. They have all sorts of activities like biking, skiing, kayaking and all sorts of fun stuff. The bike is the first thing I've participated in so far. It's pretty cool though!
They let me borrow the bike for the Legacy River Run my therapy place, Neuroworx, put together. I did the 6K and it was a little harder then I thought it would be but it was still fun. There was a group of about 10–12 of us. It's been so awesome to still have so much support even 8 months later! Can you believe that? It's almost been 8 months already!
Ben and I have been working on the yard a little bit. It's funny, I've never liked yard work but not being able to help him like I normally would is really driving me nuts. I had Ben take a picture for me so I had proof that I at least tried. Ha ha. Let's just say I was more so there to cheer him on, keep him hydrated, and keep him company.
I did have one minor setback last month with my toes. Apparently it's very common for people with spinal cord injuries to get ingrown toenails. I had them on both sides of both big toes. My poor toes must have been hurting so bad! It's common because when I wear shoes my feet aren't always relaxed like they normally should be I guess. It creates pressure on the toe and ends up causing the ingrown toenail. If you've never seen or witnessed what they do, let me just tell you it's probably one of the grossest things I've ever seen from beginning to end. You would think this wouldn't be so bad because I can't feel it but because I can't my body sends signals to me in other ways to let me know that something is wrong. They call this Autonomic Dysreflexia or as Ben and myself like to call it AD. So instead of feeling the pain I get headaches, cold sweats, increased spasms and all sorts of other fun stuff.
So for about a week I was dealing with all these signs. I could obviously see that i had the ingrown toenails, but I didn't realize how bad they were until I went to therapy and had my therapist look at them. She took one look at them and said, "Yeah you need to get those taken care of." When I got to the doctors office the next day, I transferred onto the "operating" chair. They have to numb the toe because otherwise the whole time they'd be working on them, I would just kick/spasm. The doctor that we went to is used to doing this for people with spinal cord injuries so he knew what was going to happen. It's so weird, even though I can't feel the shot it's really uncomfortable to watch still. So as I'm sitting on this chair I am covering my eyes with one hand as soon as he injects the needle I spasmed so hard I thought I was going to fly out of the chair. It's not just one shot either, he goes in and out like 3 or 4 times! My poor toes! After 5 minutes or so of numbing up the toes, he goes in with this scissor looking tool and puts it down under my toenail and cuts it on both sides. Once cut, he takes these super thin tweezers and pulls out the nail he cut. It's crazy! After that's done, he soaks these Q-tips in this chemical that stops your toenail from growing on the sides ever again and shoves them in both sides of my toes underneath the skin and nail! I just got the chills thinking about it again! I took a few pictures, but I'm going to spare you all. Take my word for it, it's disgusting!
On that note, I think that's all for now. Hopefully my next update will be less gross and I'll be able to say that I'm moving my legs on my own! Keep your fingers crossed!
So for about a week I was dealing with all these signs. I could obviously see that i had the ingrown toenails, but I didn't realize how bad they were until I went to therapy and had my therapist look at them. She took one look at them and said, "Yeah you need to get those taken care of." When I got to the doctors office the next day, I transferred onto the "operating" chair. They have to numb the toe because otherwise the whole time they'd be working on them, I would just kick/spasm. The doctor that we went to is used to doing this for people with spinal cord injuries so he knew what was going to happen. It's so weird, even though I can't feel the shot it's really uncomfortable to watch still. So as I'm sitting on this chair I am covering my eyes with one hand as soon as he injects the needle I spasmed so hard I thought I was going to fly out of the chair. It's not just one shot either, he goes in and out like 3 or 4 times! My poor toes! After 5 minutes or so of numbing up the toes, he goes in with this scissor looking tool and puts it down under my toenail and cuts it on both sides. Once cut, he takes these super thin tweezers and pulls out the nail he cut. It's crazy! After that's done, he soaks these Q-tips in this chemical that stops your toenail from growing on the sides ever again and shoves them in both sides of my toes underneath the skin and nail! I just got the chills thinking about it again! I took a few pictures, but I'm going to spare you all. Take my word for it, it's disgusting!
On that note, I think that's all for now. Hopefully my next update will be less gross and I'll be able to say that I'm moving my legs on my own! Keep your fingers crossed!