It’s Good to Be Back!

Three months – that's how long it's been since I was at Roll 2 Walk. Since August I have been sick, stressed beyond belief, and more thankful than ever that the semester is over. Surprisingly, for missing three months, my three days at R2W weren't bad at all. It was as if I hadn't missed a day between visits. Right off the bat, I figured I would tire out quickly and I would be sore afterwards, but I was far from it. I actually had a lot of energy afterwards and even while I was doing my exercises.

Mid-sit-up on day 2

The only little hiccup had been while I was kneeling on the first day; my blood pressure kept dropping after only a few minutes. Also, I needed spotting on my upper body, when in August I didn't need any spotting.
One cool thing that happened on day one, though, was when I was doing back extensions, an exercise I don't really like because they're kind of hard to do. Anyway while I was doing them I could feel the left side of my lower back working (and burning). Chad had said that it's hard to tap into the lower back and that I was doing the work because he was giving me resistance, whereas other clients all the resistance he provides is just to make sure they don't fall back.

Kneeling day 3 - 100% awesome

One "theme" to my workouts this week was that my glutes were firing. One indicator was on day one when we did bridges. Chad had me do five bridges and on the fifth on hold it and I did! Not for very long, maybe two or three seconds, but I held it nonetheless which is significant to my progress. So because my glutes were firing, Chad wanted to do more kneeling and while we were doing them he wanted me to focus on squeezing my glutes on the way up to the kneeling position. On day three, to tap into my glutes even more, Chad and I did squats (I wish I had a video showing y'all this because it's a little hard to explain the exercise, but I'll try). The squats are the part between the sitting part before kneeling and the part where I'm actually kneeling. Chad had me do five of those. The incredible thing that happened was that Chad said he hardly had to help me with them; all he had to do was guide my hips… with his thumbs!! I couldn't believe it at first but after I thought about what I just done and felt, I believed it.

Kneeling on day 2 - it was a little better than day 1

Other things that happened were: on day two Chad had noticed that my hip flexors were very tight but once they loosened up it my kneeling was better and on day three my physical therapist observed my workout so that she had a better understanding of what I was doing and how to do the exercises, we normally do at physical therapy, better. It doesn't seem like a lot happened this time around but in the grand scheme of things a lot did. Being able to tap into my glutes and lower back are (and will be) essential for standing and core strength. Also, tapping into those muscles will be helpful when I get to the point where I can dress myself and when I do pressure reliefs in my manual chair. This little bit of improvement means tons for the future and what I'll be able do if there should be a cure for paralysis in the near future.

How to Lose Weight - The SCI Way

I'm going to make this short and sweet –

School has been kicking my arse and I haven't had a moment to relax since…… I was sick. Even then, I couldn't really relax.

For two weeks, earlier this month, I was incredibly sick! It was not pretty, so I'm going to spare y'all the details. Let's just say my digestive system was revolting against me.

So, because I was sick for two weeks, I missed a lot of school. I have never (involuntarily) missed that much time from school, except when I got hurt, but that's a different bag of potatoes. Anyway, I'm finally caught up, for the most part. I'm afraid I'm going to fail my ensuing Media Planning exam because I wasn't in class to get the gist of my prof's lectures.

I was supposed to schedule workouts for October but because I got sick that was out of the question. I feel really bad because I haven't done any of my Roll 2 Walk stuff since August, so I'm afraid that all the progress I had made is going to be all for naught. We'll see what happens in December.

But the really good news is that after three-plus years of being a quad, I've lost about 30 pounds and two inches of my seated hip width, which I'm really proud of. It's awesome but it also puts a damper on things like clothes… now that I'm skinnier my jeans, even the smaller sized jeans, don't fit right in zipper/crotch area. It's a serious problem because the zipper rolls up and every now and then presses or rubs against the supra-pubic catheter in my bladder. I don't know what to do. Is there anyone (quad or para) in the Internet/blogosphere/world that has had this happen? I need a solution, ASAP. I'm not kidding when I say it kind of looks like I have a tiny penis. I don't have those parts… fortunately. The upside to the weight loss is that I can be justified for a new power chair! No more Darth Vader chair, I'm getting a slick, stylish and smaller one that I won't be embarrassed to be seen in. Especially since I'm going to be driving soon and I'll be stuck with using a power chair.

If there are any quads (or even paras) out there that thinks it's impossible to lose weight – it isn't! You have to watch what you eat – meaning listen to your body:

• If you're full, stop eating.
• If you're not hungry, don't eat.
• Eat food that's good for you - McDonald's or Sonic and junk food don't count.
• Dump the soft drinks - water is your best friend even if you don't like water (which is a crap excuse to not drink water - suck it up and drink it!)
• You also have to exercise! Even if you're a higher level quad than I am, you need to exercise – anything that gets your heart pumping counts.
• If you're a quad and your level is the same as mine, get your doctor or physical therapist (if you're not doing PT - DO IT!!) to justify getting you a manual chair – it is worth every penny and your body will thank you for it in the long run!

I'm serious. This is exactly what I've been doing for the past two and a half years and it works! Now, DO IT!

August: Hot as hell but great workouts!

This week's workouts at Roll 2 Walk were awesome! I rocked it this week and I have some proof. You'll see. You didn't think I was going to show y'all right away, did you?

Monday I get to the gym and almost right off the bat Gray said my posture looked better. All I can say is that I'm becoming more aware of the position of my shoulders in relation to my back and the little bit of massaging that I'm doing in my neck must be helping it. We started my workout on the floor. I did the the rolling exercises, the oblique reaches, and the hip flattening exercises. After that, we either got on the table or we went into kneeling, I can't quite remember. When we went into kneeling I did extremely well. It was the first time I didn't have to come down because of bp (blood pressure, not British Petroleum) issues and I had my upper body most of the time. It was phenomenal, I was very proud of myself. After that, it was the same ol', same ol', not that that's a bad thing, I'm just figuring y'all don't want to read about it.

Tuesday was rough. How rough? Well, I had bp issues while I was standing and kneeling, I was extremely tired out, and my muscles were sort of sore and worn out from the day before. At the time I didn't really have a clue as to why, I thought maybe I was getting sick, but now that I think about it I most definitely was dehydrated. At one point I was really frustrated with myself. It's crazy how I was dehydrated but at the same time freezing my ass off. But that's how it goes when you have a SCI (spinal cord injury).

After I was done with my workout I went to a community "physical therapy" facility to try out an FES bike. It's a recumbent bike but electrode pads are placed on my quads, hamstrings and my glutes and when the bike is turned on my muscles receive an electrical stimulation in the motion of riding a bike. The overall objective is to ride the bike myself without the help of the stimulation. I had five tries to get in an hour of riding. I only got to 30 minutes but apparently that was good for the first time.

My Wednesday workout was awesome. The only thing that really stands out is the kneeling that I did. It was near perfect. It was like Monday's kneeling but better. Well, you'll see in the video below. What's happening is I'm using my triceps (which I don't entirely have) to keep myself from falling over, my shoulders are down and away from my ears, and when you see Chad take his hand away from my hip I have control over my hips. Meaning, my glutes and core were keeping me stacked on top of my knees. It was BAD ASS! I couldn't believe it. I still can't wholly believe it and I've watched the video so many times I've lost count. Just watch. You can't really hear what Gray is saying and I don't have editing software (nor the money to buy some) to fix it.

I gotta say, I still got a booty. If my back wasn't over-arched I think I wouldn't look so flat chested. Oh well... I'm being a bit vain, sorry about that.
Should I post video or photos more often? Leave a comment and let me know.

So that was my three day week – a bunch of awesomeness! Since school starts Thursday I don't know when the next time I'll be down in Austin between now and December. Maybe I'll be down there for weekend or two, we shall see. 
As always, please, please, please donate. Funds are running low and I'd really like to continue with this progress. Please [Insert puppy dog face here]. Thanks.

June and July @ R2W

Ok, I know I should have written a post for June but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I was immersed in World Cup Soccer and I've been feeling blue (don't worry, it comes with the territory). Plus, I only spent two days at Roll 2 Walk and not much happened… then again, I don't remember a lot of what happened.

The biggest "development" was that we (Gray, Chad and I) determined that my hip flexors are tight and that they need to be stretched out. The guys showed my mom how to do that so we could do it at home and we've been doing that the best we can since then. The guys and I continued to work on my shoulders and posture. The work that we've been doing on my posture has vastly improved and every day, while I'm sitting at my computer or in front of the TV, I work on it. I think I'm more aware of my posture now, than I was before I started Roll 2 Walk. We also tried some hands/elbows and knees load bearing, which was pretty exciting. I was worried about my wrists hurting once we got to my hands and I was worried that my triceps were going to hold very well, but Chad assured me that he had my elbows. I was ok for the most part, I mean I did have to rest every once and a while because of my shoulder and neck would get tired, but that's to be expected.

Now that I got you up to speed on June's shenanigans, I'll let you in on the highlights of this month's trip or what I like to call the "Return to Pain" trip.

Monday was a LONG day! From the time I woke up to the three-hour drive to Austin and then the three-hour workout. I was exhausted by the end of my workout; which after five months of going to Roll 2 Walk you'd expect I wouldn't be exhausted. Au contraire, mes amis. We didn't do anything different – range of motion, TG, core exercises, kneeling and standing in the standing frame. But for some unexplainable reason I was sore right off the bat. I was having bad nerve pain in my left hand, so maybe that was sucking the life out of me. Nerve pain, if I haven't told you what it is, is the worst kind of pain imaginable, worse than breaking bones, because the pain doesn't go away. Imagine your hand or foot on fire and you can't put out that fire, that's what nerve pain is like when it's at a five on a scale from 1-10. Anyway, the nerve pain was making things, like doing the sit ups and back extensions, difficult and was frustrating the hell out of me. I was having one of those days.

Tuesday I was so sore I was having a little trouble pushing my wheelchair. It was fun! I eventually loosened up a little bit, either that or I just forgot about how stiff I was. The rolling exercises that I usually do without any problems were hard for me to do, that's how stiff I was. Ok, I'm going to stop whining now. I did the usual exercises – range of motion, TG, kneeling and standing – with a couple twists added. After I did some kneeling I got on my hands and knees and worked on connecting to my triceps while working on squeezing my shoulder blades together. I would like the hands and knees exercise more if it didn't bother shoulders and neck so quickly. I guess I'll get used to it. Anyway, after that I got into the standing frame but Gray wanted to try something different. Instead of having the seat of the frame holding me up Gray got behind me and sat in the seat so he could easily adjust my hips. It was quite cozy back there. A tad bit uncomfortable but it helped my hips and back get in the right position.

Wednesday I wasn't as sore as I was the day before. Probably because of all of the Icy Hot I used the night before and the good night's sleep. All in all I felt better and was ready to get to work. The workout was pretty much the same as Monday and Tuesday, except Chad wasn't there (his baby girl was sick – you were missed, Chad). It was pretty much a laid back work out. We did the rolling which was 100 times easier to do than it was Monday! We also worked some more on my shoulder blades. The general consensus is my right shoulder blade is winging out and it's not doing the same thing that my left one is so by concentrating on just on retraction (squeezing my shoulder blades together) will strengthen that rhomboid muscle and kind of correct the "curve" I have. As I was doing the exercise I could feel it making a difference. Right in the middle of my back at the bottom of shoulder blades I felt the muscles burning, something I haven't felt back there a long time. Since Wednesday I've been doing the exercise while I'm sitting up and I'm now convinced the chair back is partially the culprit of my bad posture and shoulder problem. But I'm just blaming the chair back because I'm not a big fan of it. At least it's better than the back on my power wheelchair. After the rolling stuff on the table we did sit-ups and back extensions, then TG and then, I think, standing in the frame and that was it. I wish we had stayed one more day but it wasn't in the cards or budget. It was short but sweet and fun three days.

May visit to Roll 2 Walk

I'm having a little trouble starting this off, probably because I don't know where to start. Since the semester ended I haven't really been able to relax, so I'm a bit exhausted and don't really want to write. But I'm going to quit bitching and do it anyway.

Since Sunday (May 16) I've been in Austin for Roll 2 Walk (and for a concert). It's been an interesting week, to say the least. My mom and I were shuffled between three hotels at the beginning of the week and on Tuesday we bit the bullet and decided to leave the Rat Motel we were in (a.k.a. Studio 6 - NEVER STAY THERE) and stay at an extremely better hotel. So, how were my workouts at Roll 2 Walk, you may ask? Here are the day-by-day highlights:

Monday:

Monday was a kind of backwards day. We started off with free-standing (standing without the standing frame). It was the first time we had started off with free-standing which sort of threw me for a loop, but I didn't mind. My standing was awesome, my posture was straight and I was sort of connecting to my butt, except my hips wanted to bail to the right (all week they did that) every now and then. I stood for I think 30 minutes without having to take a break for my blood pressure. After that we got on the Total Gym and then after that I got on the table to do the range of motion with muscle stimulation. While I was on the table Chad and I did some triceps exercises. These were hard, mostly because I hardly have any triceps especially on the left, although Chad said my left was stronger than my right. After we did that we went to the floor to do some core exercises and to finish my workout I did some kneeling.

Tuesday:

Tuesday was a two hour workout but we did a lot, according to my notes, but for the life of me I can't remember what half of what I did. First, I got on the table and did range of motion with muscle stimulation. Gray did a little bit of massage therapy to unstiffen my neck because the bed at the Rat Motel was a rock! Boy did that feel good, once he finished my neck felt so much better. When we were done on the table I did some kneeling. I remember my balance was really good and that we worked on protraction and retraction of my right shoulder. Also, I remember Chad being a fool and almost letting me fall on my face, which wasn't cool and scared the begeezus out of me, and the Gray not feeling too comfortable doing the straight arm kneeling with the box. After that Chad and I got on the Total Gym. It seemed as if we were talking about Deadliest Catch (the best show on TV!) more than were doing leg presses, but I could be wrong. Eventually, we stopped talking and he sat me up and I worked on my balance. While doing that I got SO focused on a particular spot on Chad's Red Sox shirt that he couldn't break my concentration. At one point I told him I was actually looking through him. Nothing could break my concentration not even Chad lifting his shirt like he was flashing someone for beads on Bourbon Street. It was as if I was in a trance or something, it was nuts! After I broke my own trance we did some wall exercises to work on the shoulders and posture to end the day.

Wednesday:

Wednesday was pretty grueling, especially toward the end of my workout. Chad and I started off on the table with the range of motion and for the first time I connected to my adductor muscles in my right leg; the muscles on the inside of the thigh (the ones you use to keep your legs shut). It was pretty cool, Chad would bring my leg in some and I would kind of finish the movement. I don't know why, but I don't get excited about moving my legs on my own. Maybe I'm emotionally screwed up and I don't want to make a big deal out of it just in case it's a fluke, I don't know. I'm strange, I know. Anyway, after we did that we did kneeling but this time Gray was behind me and Chad was spotting my upper body. Before I got up into full kneeling position I did some balancing and core (mainly back extension and oblique exercises) and Gray worked on loosen the muscles below my collar bone to see if that would help with my neck and shoulders. When I got up in to the full kneeling position, though I had sharp pins and needles in my feet, it was not fun and was messing up my concentration. After a few minutes, though, it passed. The last thing we worked on that day was hardcore rolling, an exercise that involved me on my side and trying to flatten my hips while Gray resisted me, oblique exercises and flattening my shoulder to the ground while my hands were together. All of these were difficult, the hardcore rolling being the hardest of them all. I mean I was pooped, wiped out, annihilated; all I wanted to do was take a nap which I didn't do.

Thursday:

Thursday's workout was about the same as Tuesday's workout except I had this weird, uncomfortable feeling in my left butt cheek when Gray was doing the circles part of the range of motion. I did not like that feeling and I think it was associated with the pop I heard that morning when I transferred into my chair from the bed. Then when we went on the Total Gym I started sweating, a lot, and I wasn't sure if it was AD or not. Gray even said I was sweating through my shirt and while I was sitting up I almost got sweat in my eye. Once I got off of it and into my chair I immediately stopped sweating; it had been AD. This was weird because I hadn't had AD from doing the TG since my first week at Roll 2 Walk. I shrugged it off and the last thing we did that day was free standing, sort of, my damn dizzy spells kept my from standing very long.

Friday:

My last day (till June) was pretty much the same drill as the rest of the week. First was the table and range of motion and a little bit of rolling exercises. When I was done doing those exercises Gray had Mark, one of South Congress Athletic Club's trainers/massage therapists, work on my neck to see if we could loosen the muscles that may be causing the metal-on-bone popping I feel every now and then. He did one massage that was above my collarbone and another below my collarbone and then he did one at the back of my neck which felt really good. He showed my mom how to them and then I went on the TG and almost immediately started to sweat. Needless to say we didn't spend much time on that. We went to the floor to do core and kneeling balance and when were done I had completely feel out of my bra, feeling totally embarrassed ran into the bathroom and fixed myself… Why is it that every time I leave Austin I embarrass myself? Who knows, but it's not going to happen again… hopefully.

Sorry, this is so long. I had a lot to write about and I didn't want to skimp on the details. But thanks for sticking through and reading all of it. I know I said last time that I don't have very much money left to pay for more workouts, and I was only able to pay for this month's because my mom helped out. I'd love to continue Roll 2 Walk but I'm going to need some help, so please DONATE HERE. Also, if you're in the Austin area on June 12^th hit up Roll 2 Walk's Casino Night 2010 Fundraiser. Here's the link: ROLL 2 WALK CASINO NIGHT. Merci beaucoup!