I thought that walking unassisted required more than just a bare mention in my last blog so I'll write a bit more this time. On Monday (4th July, rather fittingly, as my physio, Sue, pointed out, Independence Day) I took my first walk unassisted with Sue watching. I didn't walk very far, but it was an important milestone.
Like eating early on, walking requires quite a lot of concentration and things go to hell (with legs going in the wrong place) anytime something distracts me (like talking to someone). No doubt things will become more automatic, though, as time wears on.
To give you an idea of what it feels like, it as if you are walking on a tightrope. You know that at any moment you could fall and you have to use your concentration to reduce the chance of that happening.
Stopping or changing direction does increase the risk of me falling. As does reaching for a hand hold. Although having a hand hold is more comforting focusing on it distracts me and stopping or changing directions places more demands on my balance.
It was over four months since the accident and so much of my physiotherapy has been focussed on walking again that it was a nice milestone to reach. Still, the physiotherapy doesn't end there because I'm still a bit shaky and Sue has to chose where to stand carefully in case things go wrong and I start to fall. There is still more work to be done on increasing my strength in my trunk and therefore my balance.
Hopefully, that gives you an idea on what it feels like.
Cheers,
Mike
Saturday, July 09, 2005
Monday, July 04, 2005
Beach Boy
Late on Friday (1st July) afternoon, my Mum picked me up and we went up the coast to Mum and Dad’s place in Paraparaumu. As usual, it was nice to be out of Cavit even for just the weekend, but the trip was different for three reasons.
Mum and Dad have a lot more room out there than in town so most of my stuff is out there. I had a look at my bike for the first time. Its frame was broken in two places and both wheels were buckled. I was quite surprised that I had collided with enough force to brake the frame but, as my sister said, the more energy my bike absorbed the less my head absorbed.
Saturday was quite calm (unusual, given how close Paraparaumu is to Wellington) and clear so my Mum and I went for a walk on the beach. I walked with my Zimmer frame and did my best not to look too old. I was a bit slower than I was before but we did close to a kilometre all up. I got tired with about 100m to go so we had to stop and sit on a log for a few minutes. That just gave us time to pick holes in the posture of other people walking by.
On Saturday we watched the All Blacks’ game with my Great Uncle Jack. For those of you who don’t know my Uncle Jack, he likes supporting the team he thinks will most upset the people there. He also doesn’t like supporting New Zealand. The Lions were an obvious team to support for him but it was good fun as he went quieter and quieter as the game wore on. The game was so enjoyable that I couldn’t leave and managed to last the whole thing without a rest.
Two more things happened before I wrote this that are worth writing about. I biked on an exer-cycle for the first time. The exer-cycle was the suggestion of a friend’s sister who came away with serious injuries in a car vs pedestrian accident a few years ago but is now extremely fit. I only did 10 minutes because I had to save energy to walk back and it was a far cry from my situation before the accident (I’ve lost all the fitness I ever had) but it was the start of the road back to fitness.
After I got back from the gym, I had my first unassisted walk with my physio, Sue, watching. It wasn’t very far but it was an important milestone. As my brother wrote in a text to me afterwards, bring on the next Ironman.
Cheers,
Mike
Mum and Dad have a lot more room out there than in town so most of my stuff is out there. I had a look at my bike for the first time. Its frame was broken in two places and both wheels were buckled. I was quite surprised that I had collided with enough force to brake the frame but, as my sister said, the more energy my bike absorbed the less my head absorbed.
Saturday was quite calm (unusual, given how close Paraparaumu is to Wellington) and clear so my Mum and I went for a walk on the beach. I walked with my Zimmer frame and did my best not to look too old. I was a bit slower than I was before but we did close to a kilometre all up. I got tired with about 100m to go so we had to stop and sit on a log for a few minutes. That just gave us time to pick holes in the posture of other people walking by.
On Saturday we watched the All Blacks’ game with my Great Uncle Jack. For those of you who don’t know my Uncle Jack, he likes supporting the team he thinks will most upset the people there. He also doesn’t like supporting New Zealand. The Lions were an obvious team to support for him but it was good fun as he went quieter and quieter as the game wore on. The game was so enjoyable that I couldn’t leave and managed to last the whole thing without a rest.
Two more things happened before I wrote this that are worth writing about. I biked on an exer-cycle for the first time. The exer-cycle was the suggestion of a friend’s sister who came away with serious injuries in a car vs pedestrian accident a few years ago but is now extremely fit. I only did 10 minutes because I had to save energy to walk back and it was a far cry from my situation before the accident (I’ve lost all the fitness I ever had) but it was the start of the road back to fitness.
After I got back from the gym, I had my first unassisted walk with my physio, Sue, watching. It wasn’t very far but it was an important milestone. As my brother wrote in a text to me afterwards, bring on the next Ironman.
Cheers,
Mike
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