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Saturday, September 10, 2011

Milestones and Progress

People often ask me how I'm doing and how the recovery is going. I have realized that I have automatically formed an auto-response to this question.. "Doing good. Still not walking." And while this is quite true, it's certainly not the whole story!

What about all physical progress I've made? Or the fact that I am almost walking? Well, I decided that I need to remind myself of how far I've come since April 30.


  • I can bend over to pick something up off the ground, from standing and sitting, both without falling over or groaning from pain.
  • In fact, I no longer have rib pain.
  • I can stand from the couch without using my arms at all. I used to need a person to lift me, and then later, required my chair raised and a walker just to struggle to my feet.
  • My lower back pain is practically gone... I only rarely notice it, and even then it's more of a tightness than an actual pain.
  • My shoulder no longer pops out of socket. Although it does still hurt frequently, is very tight, and the majority of my back near my shoulder blade is numb to the touch. I doubt I will regain complete feeling in this area.
  • My knee is similar to my shoulder. MUCH better, less tender, but still numb.
  • I am fully able to cook, clean, bathe (still with a stupid shower chair though) and dress, completely unassisted. 
  • I can lower myself from my wheelchair to the floor.
  • I can pull myself from the floor to the couch. I discovered these two hooking up the Kinect.
  • Discovering the two previous, enabled me to get into, and out of, the pool. I can FINALLY swim!
  • I can now sleep without my boot on.
  • I can hobble across the kitchen without use of the wheelchair or the walker. Though I do grasp the counters like I'm falling off a cliff.
  • I can "walk" with my crutches.
  • I took my dog for a walk for the first time 4 days ago. 
  • Since then, I've taken her twice more. 
  • At first my good foot hurt so bad (since it hasn't been used in 4 months) so quickly.
  • My foot still hurts, but it's getting better.
  • I've signed up for a virtual "race" on sparkpeople.com. I'm really just walking 1 mile and posting my time online. I don't care if it takes 3 hours. Last week in October, I will be walking that mile, with or without my crutches. Anyone who knows me irl is more than welcome to join me on this walk.

So, that's my progress so far! I welcome and comments or questions about my progress. Later!



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