Hi. Lee here again. Bryce and Andrew are tacking their way ever closer to setting Mike up with a computer and then there will be no holding him back. At the moment, Mike is off line and in the meantime there's just me.
Mike has shifted rooms, in with two other guys. This means that there's someone sicker than him, which I guess is progress. For those of you who visit, he's now in a room on the other side of the unit, down the end nearest Pilmuir Street. He's decided to sack me as his personal secretary and take over running his social life. Which is great.
Mike's new room is closer to the toilet, so he is able to walk there with a walking frame and just a nurse to watch his walking. And this morning he ate his breakfast sitting up on the side of his bed, which makes eating a lot easier. Each of these developments seem small but involve a lot of work on muscle control and strength.
The latest O2Max magazine has an inspirational article in it about a young woman who was badly hurt in a road accident and has trained her way back into being one of NZ's top surf lifesavers. This was great reading for MIke, especially when he realised she'd had a brain injury as well as extensive other injuries. I guess we all are inspired by such stories but we just never think that life will make sucha demand on someone close to us. The day in day out requiremnent for determination, patience and courage is very difficult to communicate.
On that profound note,good night!
Lee
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Can't beat Wellington on a cold day
Hi Everyone,
Yesterday Bryce and I took Mike for another car ride. A bit further afield this time and he coped really well. We came into Wellington, bought an icecream and a coffee and sat looking at the new beach at Oriental Bay,feeling that all things considered Life was pretty good. There's a great icecream place on the Bay there called soemthing like Cafe Eis. We also did a smal tour around Phil's new place of work and the location of his new flat - all those changes had happened while Mike was out to it. After that, Mike was pretty tired, so we went home. The apartment was tantalisingly visible, but until he can walk a visit home is not really feasible.
Mike's cycling friend Nicky was down from Auckland and it was great for us all to see her. Nicky's visit reminded Mike of his great circle of friends back there and I think her visit gave him new determination about races etc. When I tentatively suggested aiming for a 10km walk as a starting goal (thinking, hey I could do that too!) I got scorn poured upon it.
Meanwhile it's back to walking practice for Mike and a torso that does not yet obey mental commands yet. But there's definitely progress everyday.
Lee
Mike's
Yesterday Bryce and I took Mike for another car ride. A bit further afield this time and he coped really well. We came into Wellington, bought an icecream and a coffee and sat looking at the new beach at Oriental Bay,feeling that all things considered Life was pretty good. There's a great icecream place on the Bay there called soemthing like Cafe Eis. We also did a smal tour around Phil's new place of work and the location of his new flat - all those changes had happened while Mike was out to it. After that, Mike was pretty tired, so we went home. The apartment was tantalisingly visible, but until he can walk a visit home is not really feasible.
Mike's cycling friend Nicky was down from Auckland and it was great for us all to see her. Nicky's visit reminded Mike of his great circle of friends back there and I think her visit gave him new determination about races etc. When I tentatively suggested aiming for a 10km walk as a starting goal (thinking, hey I could do that too!) I got scorn poured upon it.
Meanwhile it's back to walking practice for Mike and a torso that does not yet obey mental commands yet. But there's definitely progress everyday.
Lee
Mike's
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Back to my element
Hi guys,
Friday (3rd June) ended two difficult yet successful days of Physiotherapy. On both days my Physio, Sue, was pleased with how things went.
On Thursday, I successfully negotiated some stairs. Going down stairs can ordinarily make recovering patients dizzy. They made my Dad dizzy during his recovery after he decided to throw himself off a bridge during a mountain biking trip when I was 13 resulting in a broken pelvis amongst other injuries. Fortunately, there was no dizziness for me and I managed to get 16 in before I tired.
On Friday, much to Haydn's (my former swimming coach) presumed pleasure I had my first swim. The swim can make patients throw up, but that wasn't an issue for me. It was good to be in the water again. After a number of seasons of water polo in secondary school and swimming training prior to my decision to get into triathlon (plus the fact my brother and I were known as water babies growing up) made swimming easily my best triathlon discipline. The only problem this time was that due to a lack of trunk strength my bottom half wouldn't float like it used to so I had trouble kicking when I tried a few strokes. Still the tiredness didn't kick in as much as it could have and the walking (the real reason we came swimming) went well.
All in all, it was a rewarding couple of days.
Kind regards,
Mike
P.S. David Haines, I don't mean to talk up the Hutt but you owe me a flat white [check what he promised]. Janus café has two couches.
Friday (3rd June) ended two difficult yet successful days of Physiotherapy. On both days my Physio, Sue, was pleased with how things went.
On Thursday, I successfully negotiated some stairs. Going down stairs can ordinarily make recovering patients dizzy. They made my Dad dizzy during his recovery after he decided to throw himself off a bridge during a mountain biking trip when I was 13 resulting in a broken pelvis amongst other injuries. Fortunately, there was no dizziness for me and I managed to get 16 in before I tired.
On Friday, much to Haydn's (my former swimming coach) presumed pleasure I had my first swim. The swim can make patients throw up, but that wasn't an issue for me. It was good to be in the water again. After a number of seasons of water polo in secondary school and swimming training prior to my decision to get into triathlon (plus the fact my brother and I were known as water babies growing up) made swimming easily my best triathlon discipline. The only problem this time was that due to a lack of trunk strength my bottom half wouldn't float like it used to so I had trouble kicking when I tried a few strokes. Still the tiredness didn't kick in as much as it could have and the walking (the real reason we came swimming) went well.
All in all, it was a rewarding couple of days.
Kind regards,
Mike
P.S. David Haines, I don't mean to talk up the Hutt but you owe me a flat white [check what he promised]. Janus café has two couches.
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