So. What's been happening lately?

Hello everyone.

No major announcements. I just thought it may be time to let you in on what we've been working on the past few days.

First, at the last PT, they increased my exercises to 12 reps per set and Monday we'll be going up to 7.5 lb weights. Also, I did 11 minutes, 14 seconds on the treadmill at a new personal highest speed of .7 MPH. It was also decided that our new goal is to get me out of the wheelchair full time as soon as possible. That means we step up my walking exercises to doing it as much as possible. Time to really push the boundaries of my endurance!

On the home front, we did an experiment last night. First, I tried walking from inside to outside for the first time! Outside being down the ramp and into the garage. That was pretty challenging because of the angle of the ramp. It forces me to really flex my ankles and concentrate heavily on my balance. Also, we tinkered with getting me into the van instead of the car. This means using the walker to get out of the wheelchair, take a step or two, then turn to sit in the seat. Quite an exercise in balance and coordination. To sum it up, both experiments went VERY well. So much so that we are now using the van as my primary transport vehicle! Unfortunately that means taking both the wheelchair and the walker everywhere we go since I need to use the walker to stand and transfer between the van and the wheelchair. On the up side, it is much easier for J to get the chair in the van than getting it into the car.

So far, the big challenge in standing and taking a step or two between the van and the wheelchair has been dealing with the different and uneven surfaces encountered in that short time. You wouldn't think that little bit would be a big deal, but it sure is!

We are also working on transferring me between different pieces of furniture in the house by standing using the walker instead if using the sliding board. We went to my office this morning where I needed to do a bit of work. When we left, we brought my office chair home so I can work on transferring to it and so I can use it when I get out of the wheelchair.

Finally, and probably most importantly, we are trying to me to take every opportunity to walk me whenever I need to move from place to place within the house . Of course, I can only do this if the pain and swelling levels are down some and if I have someone to accompany me. Both J and S have been pitching in on this duty. Thanks to both of them!

Well, I suppose that's about it for now. Stay tuned for more.

God bless you all.