Exciting Progress

Now I'm standing with my half braces that don't block my knees.

Hi everyone,

Sorry it's been awhile since my last post. I've just been very busy with working out, volunteering at the schools and enjoying life with my family. :)

I finally got my half braces below my knees a couple of weeks ago. I can stand in them for as long as I want usually an hour at a time without anyone blocking my knees or touching me at all. At times I put very light touch on the walker or parallel bars, but I can also do it with no hands touching the walker at all. When I do this my therapist is still close by just in case my knees buckle. This doesn't happen often but locking out my own knees it is a new sensation for me to think about doing on my own while I'm standing.

The other day in therapy I had both hands up not touching and I got to play catch with a tennis ball against a little trampoline that was in the vertical position against the wall.My therapist was behind me just in case. Since both of my hands were up not touching, he was there to provide extra stability if needed. I played softball all through school so this was fun for me. Those of you that know me well know that I'm very competitive so this was a fun new challenge for me . I would work on throwing it hard against the trampoline then catch it with the opposite hand then switch to the same hand in all sorts of different angles to challenge myself. Sometimes I would forget that I needed to balance and just go for it when it was really low or high not even thinking. I of course never wanted it to drop. This was fun and I pushed myself hard with out even thinking about it.

In my half braces I can also take a few steps forward and backwards locking my own knees. Remember long ago I could walk pretty far around the gym in my long braces that locked my knees. But they were so bulky and it was still slow going and tiring. Well, this is exciting in my new super light half braces because I am learning how to lock my own knees as I step. It's a conscious effort to do so right now but we're hoping the more I do it and the more the stem cells continue to heal my injured spinal cord, the easier it will be. My knees aren't completely locking on their own all the time yet. The half braces lock out my ankle and this in turn helps my knees to lock a little in some positions.

I am still good at sit ups using the 4 inch wedge behind me. I can do up to 40 in a row all on my own with out the use of a weighted ball. Then I try each time to do as many like that until my abs are fatigued. I can do as many as I want with the weighted 5 pound or 3 pound ball. I usually do 100 of those before I try to do it with nothing in my hands which is much harder. I will continue to try and beat my record of 40 in a row.

In the next few months I'm going to San Diego to speak at a presentation about adult stem cell. Some of the Dr.s from Panama will be there and some of the other patients that had success with stem cell for many different reasons. I will write more about the details of it as it gets closer and we have the set date.

Well, that is it for now. I'll write more as things change. Please always keep me in your thoughts and prayers.


Take Care,

Trish