Back On the Horse

Yesterday, after lunch, one of the OT therapists stopped by my room to do some exercises on the edge of the bed.  That was almost too much for me, and as a result, I was worried that I had slipped backwards in my rehab and would have to catch back up.

However, when I woke up this morning, I felt much much better, and I was looking forward to getting up and attacking my therapy.  My day was a complete success.

First, Emily had me do some balance exercises on the edge of the bed where I did almost as well as I was doing last week.

Then Rahalay took me to the mock apartment they have here on the floor and had me try some exercises in a real bed.  This real bed is much taller and softer than the hospital beds, and is not adjustable.  That makes everything harder, starting with the uphill transfer out of the chair.  Fortunately, I nailed the transfer and got myself onto the bed.

I can tell you that the biggest physical challenge for me in almost every situation is the fact that my abdominal muscles don't work.  That means I can never just sit up or lift my hips from a lying position.  They tell me I should be able to do it with my elbows while lying on my back, but so far I have found that too difficult.  What I was able to do today though, was a long sit.

A long sit is where you sit with your legs stretched straight out in front of you, and you can maintain it by simply leaning your weight forward.  I have not been able to do it to this point because I didn't have the flexibility in my legs.  But Andrew has been stretching me out at least once a day, and today, I was able to roll onto my side, push off my elbow and get into a long sit.  It's a critical skill, and I was very proud of myself for doing it.

I was also able to use the long sit to push off and scoot my butt around the bed.  My therapist was surprised I had the triceps strength to do that, so that also made me feel good.

Then, once I scooted all the way across the bed and slid down the board and back onto the wheel chair, I tried and succeeded in putting my own feet back on the foot rests.  Another first for me that I was quite proud of.

Finally, Emily took me back to the gym and did some creative stretching on the muscles around my spine.  That hurt pretty good, and should be good for my overall posture in the long run.  I hope to do more of that soon.

All in all, this has been a great day, and I'm extremely proud of myself.  Andrew took tons of pictures today, and it's too many to publish on the blog, so I'll just give you a link to the Picasa album.  These pictures are not in order.