... on two feet... for the first time since mid-December. I walked about a dozen steps forward between room-length parallel bars, and a dozen steps back... twice. I walked in a test of the prototype (apparently very nearly complete) of my new prosthesis. I walked fully upright, with confident stability, but unsurprisingly with some discomfort. I walked s.l.o.w.l.y. I've seldom taken such pleasure in walking two dozen steps in my life. In two or three weeks I'll begin training on the proper use of the prosthesis.
My general physical therapy... rehab... continues tomorrow. Soon I will receive my prosthesis and begin bringing it to rehab sessions to be trained in its use. It's going to be a long... walk. But I feel genuine hope for the first time in ages. Now that is hope I can believe in!
Thursday, February 21, 2013
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Great news Steve, great news!
ReplyDeleteLIKE.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations!
ReplyDeleteThat's most excellent news. Keep chugging away.
ReplyDeleteHurray!! /throws confetti /blows horn Way to go!!
ReplyDeleteexcellent news!
ReplyDeleteThanks, galz 'n' guyz!
ReplyDeleteThe following day is more mundane. I had a rehab sesslon so intense that I still ache a bit many hours later. Then I fell while trying to get into a van-style cab, and had to be retrieved and placed in the cab... how humiliating! Actially, I missed the cab's passenger seat with my butt, and slid down the side of the seat to the running board. I am undamaged, but I am embarrassed.
The thought of walking again, for real, has me pretty distracted. Good thing there's a weekend to calm down in...
Finally you can see an end-point and have confidence that things are going to get better. That is a great and important feeling.
ReplyDeleteThings should be easier for people with mobility issues, but that isn't going to happen any time soon, so it is definitely good news that you are going get your mobility back, even if it takes a while.
Bryan, my prosthetist (Jon Holmes, PT; I recommend him highly) was the first to remind me that he is not giving me a new leg, but a tool to compensate for the loss of one. And so it is. But the difference between no limb and an artificial limb is vast. As you say, to a fair extent, I will regain my mobility. I will still have to remove it every night and revert to a shrinker and a walker for midnight bathroom runs, but I can live with that. Eventually I should be able to walk to the public library 1-1/2 blocks away, drive to nearby stores (as I did for two years prior), and maybe even ride a bicycle.
DeleteOK, so it FINALLY occurred to me to check here to see how you are, and I'm glad I did. Sounds like you are home, have a great attitude, and are making great progress in your therapy. I know you are really busy, but, I'd love to hear from you when you have a moment. In the meantime, keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteMarlene, thanks. My prosthesis was delivered today (2/26) and my first assignment is to practice putting it on and taking it off. It's harder than I anticipated. But today was largely occupied with a transportation screw-up, a really intense therapy session (before I took delivery of the prosthesis), the appointment with the prosthetist, and our utter exhaustion once we got home. Tomorrow I meet with my hospital case manager in her office at TIRR (you are one of the few people I know for whom I don't need to explain the acronym), so it's one blessed thing after another. I'm thrilled at the prospect of learning to walk again, and exasperated at the obstacles, including (perhaps primarily) exhaustion.
DeleteMeanwhile, in the past 2-3 months, including when I was in hospital, my telephone quit (the phone, not the line), a power glitch clobbered my computer and Stella's (same woman as ever; that's her screen name) with mine requiring replacement, yesterday my chair-side clock stopped (all too symbolic of the course of things), and today the American Red Cross transportation service sent a van with only a stairway passenger entrance (helLO, I'm on a walker). So I spend a lot of time dealing with things that are broken or otherwise don't work. I'll email you more when this string of "bad" (annoying) luck ends and stops taking all my time. I hope that all is well with you, Jon, Samantha and the rest of your family, and that you are recovering from your own health challenges.
My emails are the same as ever; how about yours?