So, where to from here? Well, the next major step is getting discharged from Cavit. There are a few stepping stones towards that, the principle of which is getting walking independently full time again.
My physio, Sue, has a new piece of equipment to help with my truck strength and therefore my balance, ominously called the Reformer, that she says arrived at an ideal time for me. The Reformer is designed principally for pilates exercises and she can get me to do exercises and see what exactly is going wrong. Normally, I do exercises on the Reformer once a day. Sue, who teaches pilates herself, thinks that pilates is the one form of exercise that brings all other forms of exercises together. Assuming my diet of pilates goes OK, the Cavit staff think they'll be able to discharge me sometime in August.
After I get discharged I will probably come and live with Mum and Dad in Thorndon and after a bit of time at home make the slow transition back to work from there. The main limiting factor is likely to be my fatigue. It is normal to only start back at work for a few hours a day and build up from there.
There is a similar slow transition back to living without help. After living easy at Mum and Dad's for a while, and assuming that everything is OK, I'll move in to a flat or something.
The head injury apparently is likely to have affected my reaction speed so I'm not likely to be licensed to drive for about a year from the date of my accident. I'm also meant to stay away from road biking for about a similar length of time so there'll be no quick return to triathlon.
A friend jokingly asked me if I had started writing book about my miraculous recovery. My current defence is that I wasn't a good writer before the accident and don't expect to be one now. Also I've heard plenty of people describe my recovery as miraculous but it doesn't feel miraculous. Some of it, like not being killed outright or put in to a vegetative state, was out of my hands. In regard to the other stuff, I just living how I normally live. That is, I figure out what I could be better at and then set about doing my best to improve at it.
So there is the road map. It involves quite a few factors, and depends on quite a few things, but I'll do my best (same as always) to exceed expectations.
Cheers,
Mike
Saturday, July 23, 2005
Monday, July 18, 2005
Steak Out
Hi again. Lee here after quite a silence. I thought it was time I clocked in and added the parental perspective.
We now collect Mike on a Friday night and keep him till Monday morning. Last Friday night, brother-in-law Andrew decided he should check out Mike's computer game skills. He and Mike had a happy evening racing cars on the screen. While the noise and movement was far too exhausting for the middle aged brains present, Mike didn't seem to turn a hair. His stamina is better now and when he does have to rest, it doesn't seem to take as long to recharge his batteries.
Mike decided this weekend that it was time he practiced his new found eating technique ona good steak. Who better than little bro and Chef Extraordinaire - Phil as the inaugural chef. What a superb steak and Mike coped with it just fine, so thats another PB ( or SB - Steak Best)
The rest of the weekend, Bryce and I navigate our way through a wonderful range of old and young friends, all coming to visit Mike. It means so much to Mike to have this on-going support. Some push him in the wheelchair to seek out a coffee at a local cafe. We've decided that the proximity of our apartment to town is going to work well when Mike comes home full time. Although we don't have a vast amount of space, people can visit so easily and he will be able to get out to the city and its events easily. We'd thought we might havc to rent out in the suburbs for a few months, but have decided staying here will work really well.
Our kitchen turns out to be quite well set up for someone who can't walk well. It has benches on all sides, so Mike can be put to work on various tasks, propping himself up on the benches and edging his way around like a spider. Pity to waste accessible labour.
The walking is progressing but still has a way to go. As well as balance, Mike's having to develop a sense of direction. At the moment the hapless support person keeps getting driven into the wall. The physio uses Pilates a lot for Mike's exercise regime and I find it very interesting watching how it relates to yoga. She has a wonderful machine that goes by the ominous name of THE REFORMER. It does all sorts of great exercises that can relate to very specific weaknesses in the brain-body message system. At the same time it can provide the specific support Mike needs to be able to actually do each exercise.
So enough from me. Bye.
Lee
P.S. Mike here. Sorry, we haven't done a good job of coordinating our posts this week. If you haven't looked at the blog for a few days don't miss the post below.
We now collect Mike on a Friday night and keep him till Monday morning. Last Friday night, brother-in-law Andrew decided he should check out Mike's computer game skills. He and Mike had a happy evening racing cars on the screen. While the noise and movement was far too exhausting for the middle aged brains present, Mike didn't seem to turn a hair. His stamina is better now and when he does have to rest, it doesn't seem to take as long to recharge his batteries.
Mike decided this weekend that it was time he practiced his new found eating technique ona good steak. Who better than little bro and Chef Extraordinaire - Phil as the inaugural chef. What a superb steak and Mike coped with it just fine, so thats another PB ( or SB - Steak Best)
The rest of the weekend, Bryce and I navigate our way through a wonderful range of old and young friends, all coming to visit Mike. It means so much to Mike to have this on-going support. Some push him in the wheelchair to seek out a coffee at a local cafe. We've decided that the proximity of our apartment to town is going to work well when Mike comes home full time. Although we don't have a vast amount of space, people can visit so easily and he will be able to get out to the city and its events easily. We'd thought we might havc to rent out in the suburbs for a few months, but have decided staying here will work really well.
Our kitchen turns out to be quite well set up for someone who can't walk well. It has benches on all sides, so Mike can be put to work on various tasks, propping himself up on the benches and edging his way around like a spider. Pity to waste accessible labour.
The walking is progressing but still has a way to go. As well as balance, Mike's having to develop a sense of direction. At the moment the hapless support person keeps getting driven into the wall. The physio uses Pilates a lot for Mike's exercise regime and I find it very interesting watching how it relates to yoga. She has a wonderful machine that goes by the ominous name of THE REFORMER. It does all sorts of great exercises that can relate to very specific weaknesses in the brain-body message system. At the same time it can provide the specific support Mike needs to be able to actually do each exercise.
So enough from me. Bye.
Lee
P.S. Mike here. Sorry, we haven't done a good job of coordinating our posts this week. If you haven't looked at the blog for a few days don't miss the post below.
Read All About It!
Why come up with my own writings for this blog when I can free ride off someone else’s? Either click on the link on the right of the screen or you can type or copy the address in the brackets into your address line (http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/sundaystartimes/auckland/0,2106,3345414a6016,00.html) and it will take you to a newspaper article about my recovery along with a sexy photo. The article appeared on the front page of the Eastern Bays Couiers last week.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)