Monday, April 21, 2008

 

Meeting a Legend, and Setting a Record

So, you might think that I would have more time on my hands now, you know, since I'm not working. That just doesn't seem to be the case. In fact, it almost seems like I've been busier than I was when I was working. Some of this has to do with the job search. The rest is day to day stuff, church obligations, and other appointments. Fact is I've walked more in the last three weeks than I would have if I'd been at work. I've only taken the wheelchair out of the car once, and that was for a Physical Therapy appointment.

Two weeks ago I attended a fund raiser for the People's Burn Foundation. This gave me an opportunity to meet a Legend. This is a man I've wanted to meet for the last two years. The only picture that exists of me from while I was at the burn unit was taken while I was still in a coma. That picture was taken because I had a celebrity visitor that day. The visitor was Jeff Saturday, the center for the Colts. Of course, since I was comatose, we didn't actually meet. The folks from the People's Burn Foundation have been hoping to arrange a meeting for some time. The fund raiser finally presented the opportunity.

He's a great guy who is very supportive of the Burn Foundation. He introduced me to his wife and I spent some time speaking with both of them. They asked about my parents, whom they had visited with at the burn unit. They also expressed to me how much they like the cookbook! So, if you're one of the many who donated recipes to the cookbook, you should be happy to know that you're in Jeff Saturday's kitchen.

A few days after meeting Jeff I set a new personal record. It was a cold day for a walk-a-thon, but we had a good turn out and a lot of fun. A lot of effort went into the Walk-A-Thon. Elementary students made some great art work, the Rally's from 38th and College donated and prepared all of the food, many businesses and people donated items to a silent auction, and of course all of this was organized by a group of amazing women.

I spent a lot of time visiting with the people who came to walk. I really was amazed by the number of people who came to show their support. After a while I finally decided to see how far I could make it around the track. As I started walking our DJ for the day played Fantastic Voyage. I enjoyed conversation with my family and friends who walked with me. We took the wheelchair along with us so that I could rest when I needed to. However, I didn't use the wheelchair until we'd gotten all the way around. So, I've now set a record of a quarter mile. Renee is pretty sure that I've walked that far before, perhaps farther, but this is the first time I've had a true measure. We're going to do it again next year; we'll have to see how far I can go then.

Unfortunately there's no news on the job search. I expect to hear something in the next week or two in regards to a position with Sodexo. I also have a few interviews lined up outside of the company, but staying with Sodexo would be the best option. I promise I'll keep you updated.

Thursday, April 03, 2008

 

A new path

Are you sitting down? Well, since you're in front of a computer screen I'm assuming that you are. If by some chance you aren't, you might want to.

Last Wednesday I was informed that my position at the Walden Inn had been eliminated. This was not due to any performance related issues, it was merely a business decision. Of course, it stings a bit, but in all honesty I'm pretty releived. I've slept better this past week than I have for over a year!

I'm still on Sodexo's payroll for 60 days, during which time Sodexo is trying to find a mpore permanent solution, and I'm looking at other options as well. In the long run I'd like to focus on more public speaking and find a way to turn it into a career. In the short term I'm willing to look at all possibilities that arise.

There's a big part of me that likes the idea of having 60 days to relax. However, it's already looking like that time will actually be much shorter, and even my time off has become busy. I've barely been home since receiving the news last week!

Physical therapy was extremely successful this past week. I think Renee has learned that all she has to do is threaten to discharge me and my progress will take another leap forward! We haven't tried walking with one crutch since the disastrous attempts 6 or 7 months ago. In fact, that's what led to the canes. Well, a while back Renee started talking about discharging me because she didn't feel there was much more Physical Therapy could do for me. Then she saw me unweight my left leg to take a step forward and decided we might want to try the single crutch trick one more time. So, we scheduled another session.

That session was last Friday. I can't say that it was beautiful, but the session was beautifully successful! On the first try I only made it about 3/4 of the way down the hallway. My left knee gave out on me and I wound up on the floor. (Renee controlled my fall, so don't worry about injuries.) Due to the fall we decided to put the left leg into it's second mode, which doesn't allow the knee to bend as freely as the walking mode.

This was really the first time that I had a real reason to use the second mode. I have remote controls that allow me to switch the legs from one program to another. I'm not sure that I've ever talked about that aspect of the c-legs before. It's very cool, but hasn't been very useful until now. After switching into the second mode I was able to make it down the hall and back with no major problems! I'm no where near ready to try this outside of PT yet, but I hope that with continued practice it will become a useful option for me.

So, things are good. New doors are opening in regards to my career, as well as my mobility. My 33rd year is definitely off to an interesting start!

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