Walking Spirit

Last week the Prosthetists made some alterations to my left leg. Because I can't straighten my leg all the way they moved my knee back behind my leg (that's the best way I can describe it) so that I can stand straighter and my left leg still hangs in the position that is naturally comfortable for it now. I still can't stand straight and let go of the crutches for long but it's much easier.

One of the biggest benefits of the new alignment is that my left leg is much more stable which has allowed me to walk at more of a normal pace. My back doesn't get tired as quickly so I can walk farther as well. With the new found comfort level I've been practicing more and attempting more obstacles.

Last Sunday was Communion Sunday at church. The last time we had communion I stayed in the wheel chair and one of the Pastors came to me. There are three ways that we can do communion at our church. You can kneel at the altar rail and take communion when you are ready, go to a station where you dip the bread in the wine, or wait for the Pastor to come to you if you are unable to go forward. This time I walked forward to one of the stations although, I really wanted to kneel. (I didn't kneel because I figured that if I could get on my knees I might have to spend the rest of the service in that position.) Just going forward seemed to cause quite a stir as many people told me it made them cry.

Renee met me at church after the service was over. There were several obstacles there that I wanted to try. The most important to me was to see if I could get in and out of the pews. I've been sitting in my wheelchair in the aisle. It doesn't bother me to be in the aisle but, on the off chance that I can't stay awake, I'd rather be in the pew. (it's less obvious that way) So that was the first thing that we worked on and it worked out well.

The next thing I wanted to try was to see if I could kneel at the altar rail and get back up on my own. Getting down was the easy part but, to my surprise, getting up was easy as well. (I think Renee was more surprised than I was.) After that success we moved to the steps.

Going up and down steps is awkward. Up till then I had gone down a few steps very slowly. I had not attempted to go up. With Renee's help I figured out that the way I had been going down steps was a little dangerous and that it would actually be both safer and a little faster if I went down sideways. Going up is pretty much the same as going down. We practiced this for a long time and it became a fairly comfortable motion.

Later in the week we went to a Halloween party on my parents block. We left the wheelchair in the car and I sat in a normal chair in the yard. Today Mom and I went out to dinner and I sat in a booth. I still need the wheelchair but I'm getting more comfortable leaving it behind.