Car Transfers

Most Saturdays are slow, and today was no different.  I did have one therapy session though, and for that, I had my friend, Buddha Bear, bring his car around so I could practice transferring into and out of a car.  It went really well.  I tried it once using a slide board, but then I tried it in 3 different doors with no board, and they all went really well.  I'm sure it'll be different with a different car, but it was pretty smooth on Buddha's Camry.  I even tried the driver's seat so now I know I can do that when I'm ready to drive.

Buddha Bear wants to take me for ice cream

There are more pictures here.

And some videos:
Jason Car Transfer 1
Jason Car Transfer 2
Jason Car Transfer 3

Corrections

I want to start this blog entry by apologizing to Raheleh for spelling her name wrong for the last 5 weeks.  In my defense, I spelled it like people here pronounce it, and her name is spelled funny.  To atone for my mistake, I am going to spell my own name 'Jehson' for the next month.

I can't read her name tag either.

 I also have to correct myself by telling you that we did not work on wheelies today.  I thought we were supposed to, but we didn't.  I never know what's going on around here.  Today we did more floor transfers.  Now they say Monday for wheelies.

I also have to make a correction that I did not make brownies today.  The schedule got messed up, and it didn't happen.  If you were thinking about visiting this weekend for the brownies, you'd better wait.

Also, my sister didn't visit today.  I don't think I told you she was going to, but I knew, I and I was looking forward to it, but she got a cold and cancelled the trip.  If you're wondering how I like to be visited, getting me sick is low on my list, so I consider this a good call.  Unfortunately, it meant no lunch from Mediterranean Deli.  Fortunately, Mike and Sue saved the day by bringing dinner from there.

Food bearers

I had a very nice evening with Mike and Sue, and then I went to bed.  That does not require any correction.  So until tomorrow, I'll be here in rehab, livin' the dream.

Meow!

Today was the day I've been waiting for.  Today, I got my loaner wheelchair.  After days of teasing me about it, they finally delivered it today.  Unfortunately, it was kindof a disappointment.  It's light.  Much lighter than the chair I've been in, but it still doesn't have enough dump, and I feel like I'm going to fall out the front even more than in the other one.  Also, this one has a fairly nasty pull to the left.  The only good thing about that is that it's going to give me a chance to build up my left arm strength to match my right since I'll be doing twice as many pushes with my left arm.

I'm going to have to take this chair home and use it until they can order my permanent chair.  Delivery could take 6 to 8 weeks.  I could be more excited about that.

Otherwise, my day was pretty good.  I got to practice some more floor transfers in PT.

Getting ready

Checking the distance

Are we seriously doing this?

Prepare to transfer to the stool

Do the transfer to the stool

Start the transfer to the floor

I feel like I made this look really hard

And after the work was done, Titus and Brittany came to visit and brought me food.

Good times!

We hung out until about 10:00 when I finally started working on my blog.

Oh, also, I got to wear my awesome new t-shirt today.  Lookin' good if I do say so myself.  Meow!

It's Occupational!

Occupational therapy teaches you how to do pretty much anything you need to do to live your life.  Specifically, it teaches you how to do things that walkers do.  Around here, they sometimes call normal people 'walkers'.  I find the term offensive, but what can you do?  I can tell you the therapists here uniformly disagree with my use of the word 'cripple', so I guess we're even.

Lately, whenever the therapists ask me to do something a normal person would do, like open a door or push an elevator button, I say, "It's occupational!".  That makes the therapists laugh, and that makes me happy because I like to make people laugh.  It is the little things that keep me going in here.  Lord knows it is not the food.

Speaking of food, Rahalay, my occupational therapist, is going to teach me to make brownies on Friday.  Ghirardelli brownies no less.  Earlier this week, they taught me to make a bed, vacuum a carpet, and do laundry.  All good stuff to know.  All 10 times harder than it is for walkers.  I think the moral of this story is: if you visit me this weekend there very well might be brownies.

It's occupational!

Rahalay threatens to slap me if I mix lights and darks

Replacements

Last week, most of my normal therapists were on vacation so I had to work with some new people.  Getting the crap kicked out of me by strangers highlighted for me the fact that I had become a little too chummy with my regular PT trainers, and had figured out how to trick them into giving me less work.  I always like doing less work, but in this case, doing less work may result in me being less prepared when I have to go do this stuff at home by myself.  So I told my PT trainers that.  The result was predictable.  They have been working me like a dog all week.

The lazy part of me misses the good old days of telling jokes to avoid exercise, but the practical part of me knows it's for the best.

Yesterday, Emily made me try a floor transfer.  I transferred from one of the bench/beds in the gym to a step stool to the floor and back up.  It was REALLY hard.  I wish I had a picture for you, but I don't.  It's not the hardest thing I'm going to have to learn how to do, but it was really scary.  You have to really commit to it which makes it possible to screw it up.  If I screw it up, I could fall and hurt myself, but when I get home, if I fall out of my chair, I'm going to have to know how to get back up.  Here's a video of a guy doing exactly that.

Doesn't that look hard?  I think so.  I'm scared to learn it, but also excited.  I feel like if I can do this, I can do anything.  It just remains to be seen whether I can do it.

I also want to take a moment to point out how skinny this guy's legs are.  He can practically wrap a hand around his thigh.

For my entire life, whenever I decided to do exercise, I would invariably choose something that works one of the largest muscle groups: the legs.  Something like running or biking.  As a result, I have big, powerful legs that no longer work.  And I have to move around with my weakling upper-body.  I have put my eggs in the wrong basket, and I'm really looking forward to my legs atrophying and becoming more manageable.  I hope it doesn't take too long.

A Buddha Bear Morning

Hi Everybody,

It's Buddha Bear again.  Sorry I haven't written in a while, but I've been keeping very busy.  Today was especially busy.  Here's what my morning was like.

I started my day with a shower like anybody else

Then I headed downstairs

I like to relax a little in the park

Climbing a tree is hard work...

...but it's also good exercise

Practice makes perfect!

Later, I headed down to the lobby...

...to get perked up to face the day

Regrets

I met a guy here named Rob who works at the hospital and volunteers his time here in the rehab ward.  He's a para who has been in a wheelchair for over 20 years, and he's a great resource for learning what life is like in the chair.  I've had the chance to sit down and talk with him for a couple hours now, and I've learned a TON.

The rep from the company that is going to build my wheelchair is also a para, and his name is Todd.  Rob and Todd are both active, successful paras who are living very full lives from the chair.  One thing they both share in common is the attitude that life in the chair really isn't very different from walking life.  Right now, my attitude is that I'm ready to accept the limitations of the chair, but I genuinely hope that one day, I will feel the way they do: that the chair isn't that much of a limitation.

Rob says that the most important thing about living successfully in the chair is attempting the things you want to do.  If you never try pushing your chair a mile to the store, or climbing a muddy hill, or ascending a curb, you'll never accomplish those things.  I hope I eventually have the courage to try all the things I want to do in the chair, but thinking about that got me thinking about the fact that there are still some things I will simply never do again, and about how much I'm going to miss those things.

I don't think self-pity is very productive.  In fact, I think it's a waste of time, but I can't help how I feel, and ignoring it won't make it go away, so here's what I think I'm going to miss the most.

I'm really going to miss motorcycling.  Everybody that knows me knows that motorcycles are my life, so this shouldn't come as a surprise to most of you: it kills me that I'll never get to ride again.  When we were on the highway, coming back from the field trip yesterday, we got passed by a guy on a Ducati, and I couldn't take my eyes off him.  His motion was so fluid and effortless, and he just looked so free.  I remembered that feeling, and in that moment, I wanted to be him so badly I couldn't think about anything else.  It pulls actual tears to my eyes to think that I'll never get to do it again, but it's a fact, and crying about it won't change anything.

Pure joy

The thing I think I'm going to miss more than motorcycling is playing with my nephew.  I never thought I would be the kind of guy who cared about that sort of thing, but I'm finding that I am.  My favorite thing to do with him has always been to pick him up by his ankles and run around the house.  He calls it "Uppa-yidesdown", and he loves it.  His little sister loves it too now, and I'll never get to do it again.  That thought destroys me.  It would probably be better if I knew what I will be able to do with the kids, but I'm afraid that I'll be pretty limited for a while, and I'm afraid that the kids will grow up thinking I'm a boring cripple while I'm figuring it out.

Uppa-yidesdown

I guess the key will be to take Rob's advice, and try something.  Then I just gotta come up with something fun I want to do.  Wheelchair rides might be fun enough...