Walking Spirit

This weeks therapy session was a huge success! We began with the obstacle of stepping off a curb. My current method has been to dangle one foot over the edge of a curb and wait until the opposite knee bends to lower the dangled foot to the ground. With the old set of legs I probably fell about 40% of the time I would do this because the knee would bend too fast and the other knee would bend on impact. I haven't fallen with this set of legs but the knee consistently bends too fast, which could still be potentially dangerous. Thanks to Renee's training I am now comfortable taking a wider step off a curb without having to break my stride. Of course, if a car is coming I will still stop at the curb.

The next obstacle was walking with a grocery cart. You may recall that I was able to do this with the old set of legs. However, with the new set of legs it is actually more difficult. The reason is that the energy return provided by my new ankles actually propels me into the next step, so I have a hard time stopping without something stable to hold on to. We figured out that if I use a crutch on my left arm and push the cart with my right arm I'm able to shift my weight onto the crutch and can easily stop.

When we were done with the grocery cart Renee offered me the crutch for my right arm and I asked her to take my hand instead. Walking with one crutch and a cart made me feel more comfortable with my balance and I wanted to see if I could walk with one crutch while holding someones hand. To my amazement it worked fairly well. I couldn't walk very fast but, for the first attempt, it didn't suck! This is a level of intimacy that I feared I might have lost forever. After 36 years of marriage my parents still hold hands when they walk down the street. I want to be able to do that too.

After that success we got into a discussion of canes vs. crutches. I've never walked with a cane and we hadn't really talked about when/if that progression might occur. We decided to see what would happen so I took a walk with a cane in my right hand and a crutch on my left arm. Again, for the first attempt, it didn't suck! We switched the crutch to my right arm and the cane to my left hand. This was less stable but still successful.

My next therapy session, which will be three weeks from yesterday, will focus on continued work with canes. We'll continue to practice with a cane and a crutch, and will probably see what happens with two canes. I've also suggested that Renee should get all the women who want to hold my hand together so that they can take turns walking up and down the hallway with me! Somehow I doubt this will happen (because none of the other patients would get any attention) but I'm thinking it would make a great fund raiser. A "dollar walk" instead of a "dollar dance"? (I'm referring to weddings, not strip clubs)

Seriously though, I was so happy with the progress that I had to fight back tears as I left the hospital. It felt good to have tears of joy for a change!