TGIF! Well, not really. I don't really get a day off from being in the wheelchair! For me, the weekend is simply a set of days that I am constantly reminded of the fun things that I could be doing! Well, that's okay...gives me motivation to keep pushing myself!
Yesterday, at physical therapy, I told my therapist that it was time that we take a more aggressive approach to getting me walking. I was relieved when her response came. She agreed and we talked about my available options and got me on the Pool Therapy Schedual for later this month! So, I'm gonna go try out PT in the pool and, hopefully, it will really be positive and get me moving my feet/legs in the water. In the meantime, my therapist seemed very excited about trying things like the parallel bars on land! It is crazy, but I am so much more capable with my back-brace on...Did I mention my new back-brace in the blog? Well, I've had it for almost 3 weeks now, and I love it! I wore my back-brace to try the parallel bars, and I was able to hold myself with stability for a bit! It's awesome to be able to say that Yeah, I'm doing work on the parallel bars now! For me, the parallel bars have always been like the Holy Grail of the physical therapy gym. When a person/patient is working on walking their booty out of there, you can tell that their body is no longer "sick." I have spent years in rehab facilities, longing for my body to be strong enough so that I, too, could take on the parallel bars.It's almost like the final obstacle before you cross the finish line. Not only did it just feel good to be there, but standing there, looking at myself in the mirror, my body looked so much more alined and I just looked ready to practice walking.
Nicole commented on how much straighter I'm sitting in the wheelchair today. I was doing bicep curls with the 4 lb weights, and she couldn't get over how much "healthier" I'm looking now with my head/neck and spine straighter. It feels sooo good to hear Nicole say that! It makes me feel proud of myself for speaking up about getting a back-brace.
After sharing my good news about physical therapy, Nicole got inspired to continue to build-up my arm strength. She wants to make my arms incredibly strong so that I won't poop out on the parallel bars because my arms got too tired! So, she had me do like a hundred bicep curls with the 4 lb weight on each arm. Then I was asked to grab the weight so that my palm was facing down, straighten my arm, and raise the weight up and lower it back to my lap. I then went from forward arm lifts, to straight out to the side arm lifts. Then, I switched arms, doing forward arm lifts and side arm lifts. Next, Nicole grabbed the 8 lb weights and I swallowed hard. She put a weight in my left hand, which was straight down at my side, and had me lean over, lowering the weight, and using my right abdominal muscles to pull me back up. When I switched to the right side, Nicole had me try to do the exercise with the 4 lb weught. After a couple reps with the lighter weight, I couldn't feel an adequate amount of strain/pressure on my left ab muscles. So, I made Nicole let me try holding the 8 lb-er. Nicole had to help me not fall over and brace my right grip on the weight, but I did it! Then, I did a gazillion shoulder shrugs with the 4 lb weights...one in each hand simultaneously. Shoulder shrugs are evil They seem super easy...at first! Then, once that pain picks up, you're quickly ready to wrap it up!
...Water break...
Then Nicole got this great idea to work some muscles that I didn't even know I had! I grabbed hold of a tennis ball, placed my forearm on the armrest with my wrist hanging off, and squeezing the ball, raised and lowered my wrist. Holy moly, I felt the burn in my forearms...right on the top! I did the wrist-raises on each arm
Lastly, Nicole grabbed a resistance band and had me grab the end with both hands. With my arms straight forward, I pulled the band across my body. I switched it up, and went both directions, that way I engaged both sides of my abs.
Not surprisingly, my arms and abs are sore already...Can't wait to feel them tomorrow!
Nice!!!!!
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