Click the picture for the story of Calypso, the Three Legged Green Sea Turtle, and why she's my symbol

Thursday, August 11, 2011

One Small Step For Man (or Why You Should Never Tell A Therapist You've Been Lazy)

After my last post I received some mild scolding for lying out and not doing a whole lot. But nothing compares to when I admitted to two of my therapists I had been a little lazy this past week.

My first therapist Courtney is my aquatherapist. We work at the YMCA pool exercising my legs, arms, core, etc. On a normal day she works me hard enough that I collapse into a small puddle when I'm done.


It's my own fault for telling her but I try and maintain a policy of honesty with my therapists. Her response was to make we swim endurance laps, kinda like wind sprints in the water. She had me swim a lap, wait a minute, swim a lap, wait 30 seconds, swim a lap, wait 15 seconds... you get the idea. She did this with the butterfly, then made me do it with just my arms with a piece of foam between my legs so I didn't cheat. Then she had me use just my legs using a kick board. Then all together. Broken up with underwater jogging, crunches and a whole lot of evil. Needless to say the usual puddle I melt into had turned straight from liquid to vapor. (take that metaphor how you like)

On Friday, apparently not learning from my mistake, I told my therapist I had a pretty easy week. We never left the workout mat, working entirely on core and abdominal exercises. What I normally do is bridges:


They are a hard exercise that work all your core muscles. I've been doing those for months in various forms. Now to make them even more work I wasn't even allowed to have my feet on solid ground. She put an exercise ball under my feet to turn it into this:

I know I deserved it but sheesh! During the workout she warned me "you will be sore tomorrow so prepare to hurt." ...and I did! So I got my comeuppance in the end for my week off. Oh well the summer is almost over and I ended it with a bang.

Speaking of a bang here is something for those who have kept with me this whole time: my first real steps!



2 comments:

  1. Peter,
    You will have no idea who I am, but I actually met you on the day you were born when my mom picked up your sister and brothers and took us all to the hospital to visit you and your mom. Kind of funny to think of it like that. My parents are the Murphy's (Jim and Jeanne) and have been long time friends of you family. I just spoke with your mom for the first time in a very long time and she filled me in on your progress. I am absolutely amazed and your strength, your perseverance, your work ethic, and most of all your faith in yourself and God.
    The last I heard from my parents was that you had been in a severe car accident and would likely never walk again. To hear that and then to look at this video of you walking on your own brings tears to my eyes for a boy I only met on his original birthday. I know the road has not been easy, but I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers as you continue to amaze everyone!
    Sincerely,
    Elyse (Murphy) Knight

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  2. so when do you start running? i mean go forest go! :) super proud of you! love you pete :)

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