Update, FINALLY!

I am a bad blogger...  It has been two weeks since I posted and I have done a lot since then.
Last Monday, I got down to a mat on the floor. I had a belt around my hips and Barry used that to help me stay kneeling.  I then crawled across the floor. Move the hand, shift my weight and pull a bit.  It was fun! My stinky compression stocking skinned my knee since I was moving with weight on it.  It is almost healed now but that little scrape ended to crawling.  We then did some sitting balance exercises.  I had a ball in my hands and I had the raise it above my head with my arms straight.  I have done this before and there is even a picture below.  In the picture, I hand the ball off to Brett and he hands it back to me and I bring it straight down.  This time was a wee bit different. When I lifted the ball above my head,  I had to shoot it into one of those basketball hoops made for toddlers.  Basketball is not my sport and as such, I made only 4 out of 45 shots.  A lot of them were close to going in but physics wins and they rolled around the hoop only to roll out.  :-( either way, it was fun and a new thing.
Wednesday is arm day. I am not sure why but it works.  Thursday my arms are usually a bit sore.  Last week, my and triceps thanked Barry for leading such a good workout.  We will see how I feel in a few hours.
The treadmill is going well too.  I can stand with the harness supporting 16 percent of my weight but I do have people stabilizing my knees and hips.  It is going well and I enjoy my time on it.  The client on the treadmill picks the music played during therapy.  Well the computer we played pandora on is no longer in the Alline Health network so no internet.  I have not let this stop the music.  I bring my iPad and the rule has become who ever is at the computer to control the harness and speed of the treadmill gets to pick the music I have.  This has resulted in some interesting choices as I have an interesting taste in types of music.  Always fun to see what people pick.  One day we rocked out to Hootie and the Blowfish (which also results in a small slap/tap to the one who tried to make a witty comment about Darius Rucker).  I obviously like the music since it is on my iPad so I am up for anything.
I have an assessment in November to see how I am progressing and if I have made improvements.  I know I have so I look forward to putting numbers to it.
For now I am going to bed. :-)

Pictures!

So my mommy got to come see me work my butt off on Monday.  I kinda also made her take pictures so everyone can kinda see what I do three times a week.
My iPad is arguing with me since I downloaded the pics from my camera.  Grr!  As soon as I can figure out how to upload them, I will.

Core Strength!!

It's been awhile since a post.  SORRY!
Therapy is going great!  I am getting stronger in the core!  Woot woot! I can control my body when  going from sitting to about 1/2 way laying down.  That is huge! I can do 1/3ish sit-ups too.  I can't do them from laying down to sitting up but from partially laying down to sitting straight up.  I never thought it would be so hard to do!  I can also sit without a backrest straight up without using my arms for support for quite a bit longer than when I started.  I am loving the improvements I have been seeing! :-)
The FES bike is going well too,  I go about 9 miles or so in the hour I am riding.  I love it!
My cardio work is going pretty well too.  I am limited to the arm bike and something called a NuStep.  The only problem with these is that my hands get kinda cramped after holding/pushing a hand control for awhile.  Any ideas on how to make this better? My arms can do it but my hands object.
Treadmill work is going well and I hope to get some pictures next week when my mom will get yo watch for a day.  She willbe in town for a cousins wedding.  That is also one more reason I have been so busy.  Mom clean is a bit more intense than just weekend cleaning. She is here for a celebration, not to take care of me.
I will post pictures if I can get them next week.

...

This week Barry and I worked on my arm strength and core stability.  He added a bit more to the core stuff today soI am very sure I will be sore tomorrow.  :-)  The treadmill is going well and I feel like I am standing up straighter every time we do it.  My left leg is less swollen but I really wish it would just be the same size as the right one.  It tends to swell more after we workout so I am hoping that is a good thing.
I rode a whole nine miles in the FES bike again this morning then did some good cardio that got me nice and sweaty.  My therapy time was hard yet again but I wouldn't have it any other way.  Barry told me he can tell I putting everything into it and I am glad it shows.  :-D
Nothing else new to report.  Finally celebrating my birthday with a good friend, Betty, this weekend with dinner and a movie.  Super excited.  I also can't believe in only two weeks my cousin is getting married, I get to see a lot of family and go to 'birthday lunch' the next day.  I say that because my aunt, my grandma, my great uncle and I all have birthdays within two weeks of each other in September so we always get together to celebrate.  One more happy thing to look forward to.  :-)

Happy Birthday to me!

This morning started off as any other Monday with a nice workout.  :-)
We hit a tiny snag though.  My left leg is swelling up a bit.  Barry, other PT's and I all agreed to take it easy on weight bearing exercises today as to not upset it further.  I talked my doctor about it this afternoon and he said, RICE and ibuprofen should do the trick and if not, an ultrasound will be in order.  Despite not doing a lot of standing, I did get a nice workout in.  We did arm and core exercises in the morning, slow walk with more support from the harness on the treadmill and a nice leasurly 9 mile bike ride after lunch.
After elevating my knee and taking some pills, my knee is a bit better so I am hoping to get back into the swing of things full strength on Wednesday.
After that fun morning, I got Jimmy Johns sandwich and a cookie since it's my birthday,  I didn't want to cook and it sounded good. Also TBBT season 8 started tonight. Both episodes were funny as usual. Now I am watching some Bear football.  Great birthday!  :-)

Welcome to the ABLE Wolf

I have been so blessed to have people donate money to help me complete the ABLE(Activity Based Locomotor Exercise) program at Courage Kinney in Minnesota.  I know you all want to be kept updated on how therapy is going, what I am doing and even how sore I feel.  :-)

I started last Monday. I work with one person for every workout for the next twelve weeks.  His name is Barry and he is from the 'burbs of. Chicago too.  Our high schools are in the same conference.  He is a Cubs and Bears fan too so I am sure we will get along just fine.  We have other people help us for two of the three workouts we do everyday.  They change every time but I have gotten to know most of them and they are all nice and helpful.

I do three workouts a day on MWF.  I do 1 hour of guided exercises to strengthen my core and arms.  I can already feel me sitting up straight. :-) I do 1.5 hours on the FES(Functional Electronis Stimulation) bike using a program designed by the Nuero-Recovery Network and I am not exactly sure how it differs from the FES I have used before but it is.  I also do 1 hour in a harness on a treadmill.  The harness controls how much of my weight it supports.  Workers move my legs in a walking manner.  I also spend time stand in straight up with the machine only providing support of 25% my weight.  After the treadmill, I do 30 minutes of something called above ground workout.  This usually involves me standing in some way with help from a walker or people holding my trunk stable.

So that is a total of four hours a day, three days a week and I LOVE IT!! It is a lot of hard work and I feel challenged every time.  Barry always finds new ways to torture me, I wouldn't have it any other way.  I am sore in places I didn't know I could feel.

I plan on keeping you all posted on how things are going a couple times a week.  Thanks again for your help! This is quite the experience and I could not have done it without you!