I am getting used to walking around with no cane. It’s a good feeling, although it does not fell dramatically different in my body and my gait as i walk around the house, the block ,etc. Although the folks in the spinal cord clinic are telling me I’ve made huge strides in the 6 months I’ve been working with them, it still feels to me that I am walking around as if I have a wooden leg :/
A lot of strengthening in needed in my stomach and pelvic region . I am just now starting to lift my leg forward and up in a normal pattern – and it’s taking a huge amount of work just to do that. The pilates and gyrotonics are helping significantly from that end, I think. This past week, I went back to gait training on the treadmill to re-work the pattern, focusing on the forward movement of my leg and working hard to try to lift my ankle properly – without my bioness electrical stimulation device. It was hard work and I became easily tired; I did see improvement in stamina by the end of the week, which was nice.
My 2 year anniversary since the surgery is coming up in a few weeks. I would be lying to say that I’m totally unconcerned, as the estimated window for spinal cord injury used to be that all recovery took place in 2 years. Christopher Reeve changed that perception, fortunately, recovreing 3 and 5 years out, and new research supports continued recovery long term, but I am still worried. I don’t want to slow down, as the recovery is slow and tedious enough, and adding further delays would be disheartening to say the least.
So cheers to 2010. At least it’s not 2008 or 2009 anymore!
Tonya
