Walking Spirit

The thing about small victories, which are things I have to focus on, is that sometimes they are bitter sweet. Sometimes you may achieve something great but find that, while it gets you one step closer to your goal, for what ever reason you're still not at the finish line. Well, that's how I felt this week when after I took my driver's test.

The test went well. The examiner talked to me the whole time about the accident, her own bout with a disabling illness, and school zones. Let me tell you, she has some very strong feelings about school zones! At the end of the drive she wished me good luck and I got a look at the score sheet. The score sheet had my name on it and she had circled the word "pass". She hadn't written anything else down, which is funny, because I know I made a few small mistakes. Polite conversation apparently goes a long way when trying to distract the examiner from your performance!

The bitter sweet part is that now I have my license but have no car to drive. When I got home my roommate was laying in bed, dealing with some back problems. My first thought was to ask if he needed me to go out and get anything for him and then it hit me. I don't have a car!

So, the car hunt begins. The only issue is that I'll still have to wait a couple of months before I can purchase something. I've applied for assistance through Indiana Vocational Rehab to fund the vehicle modifications that will be necessary. There are a lot of great vehicle modifications out there, and the process would go much faster if I were paying for the modifications myself. But, the less I spend on the vehicle the more I'll have to put towards the permanent prostheses.

On the walking front things are steadily improving. Renee is a bit perturbed at me because I'm not spending enough time on my feet. It's a comfort issue, both physical and mental. That bruising pain that I've mentioned before is getting a lot better but it intensifies when I wear the prostheses. That's the physical hold up. I want that pain to go away completely! The mental hang up is simply a matter of being comfortable with my environment. At therapy I can walk 200 feet and feel completely stable. At home I can walk about twenty feet and feel like a baby deer taking it's first awkward steps! But, I'm going to force myself to practice more and, hopefully, start to get away from the wheelchair. I'll keep you posted on the progress!