New and improved!

Gary, this kind man from my church, raised $930 for me for physical therapy. Instead of doing the more expensive therapy which costs $100 an hour, I am in the program that costs $75 an hour. They’re basically the same because they’re in the same gym and use similar equipment. They just don’t switch around as much to different equipment during the session. The surgery that I had also allowed me to go back into therapy. They’re just looking for some sort of change that could produce different results. Given that I had this surgery that decreases my tone, they want to start off with balance exercises.  They will eventually move into gait, or walking. They are also looking to get some use of my right arm. So they put my legs in a device, which allows me to only have to operate my arms and I have to tug on weights with that arm.

         

Shepherd Center, the hospital where I do my therapy, is located in Buckhead Georgia off of Peachtree Road. It works with brain and spinal cord injury survivors. It is an amazing place that brings people from a coma to up and walking! I encourage all to look into it!

Men

So it’s not surprising, but I don’t have a man right now. Now my boyfriend at the time of the car wreck stayed with me for three years post the injury. I believe he thought that I would wake-up one day and be back to my normal self. The reason he probably thought this in the early stages, I was making SO much progress and relatively fast. Then sadly it slowed WAY down. That’s how it works with the brain. It at first, creates the new connections leading to the various electrodes quickly. Then it slows down. Reason being it can’t find the right connection so it mixes them up. Anyways he became impatient and we broke-up. I have been on Match, Eharmony and recently I discovered Plenty of Fish. POF  is a bit risky because it’s free and you don’t know who they’re going to collect. Now I did find some luck on Match. I established a boyfriend for 10 months, but then the company he worked for transferred him to Seattle. I need an understanding, kind and patient man. Now I’m hoping that he comes along on Plenty of Fish.

The surgery

The hockey-puck sized disk, or Baclofen Pump, that was implanted in my stomach about 6 and a half years ago was recently replaced with a fresh new one. You’re supposed to get it replaced every 5-7 years so that you don’t go through withdraw. Withdraw happens when you stop receiving the baclofen and it can be very dangerous.  I had to go under anesthesia, but only for about an hour and a half so that the doctor could operate. They just had to remove the pump itself and not the catheter that distributes Baclofen throughout the body, so it was not as intense of an operation as the first time.

        Up to about two days later my stomach was in pain and still today, a week later, I experience some pain when I try to bend my right leg and straighten it, but I was able to leave immediately after the surgery.

        Walking is already more fluid and easier and it’s only going to get better! My hand is also so much looser now! I hope but it probably won’t happen is that I start running and my hand becomes able to do some functional tasks!