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

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Boot Camp - Summer 2013

This the long overdue account of what happened my second week of bootcamp. We did a lot activities that challenged me physically but were often a ton of fun.

1.Jenga balance
Anyone who grew up with the game Jenga knows how tricky the game at the best of times. As a balance exercise, they removed the brace and put me on a foam square to throw me often... and then we played Jenga. It was a blast but it is one of the hardest games I've ever played. To make things even harder, my therapist would occasionally try and push me in different directions.



2.Just Dance
I'm now in the process of getting a Wii for one simple reason: Just Dance. This video game forces me to move in ways that my body hasn't moved in years (if ever...). The music is upbeat and fun and the movements are challenging. Plus it's always fun to challenge other patients to a dance battle.



3.Turtle Races
Every year, in the courtyard you can find the Johns Hopkins Turtle Derby. The event benefits the Department of Child Life at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center and Perkins Day Care Center. $10 enters in a turtle with your name on it. Last year I was in the hospital when the Derby was going on. I named my Turtle "Calypso", after the 3 legged turtle that was the inspiration for this blog. Suprisingly, she won first place. This year I was all excited, hoping for another victory. I named turtle "The Doctor", but my racer decided not to move out of the starting circle until the race was well underway. Needless to say he wasn't a victor that day.


4.Vibration Plate
A relatively new piece of equipment challenges balance by shifting the left and right up and down. When increased to a fast pace, the machine will make your entire body feel like it's vibrating.


5.Splitbelt Treadmill
A simple concept, this treadmill has two narrow tracks instead of the one rubber track of a normal treadmill. This allows my therapists to set the speed for each leg differently, slowing my left leg down and allowing me to balance my step length on both sides.




6.Stairs
Going up stairs is a continual challenge for me. Though I can handle them worlds better than I used to, going up stairs still require that I take one step at a time. My new brace allows me to go step over step when going down stairs but even that required training of stabilizing muscles.


7.Gait Maping Gaitrite
The Gaitrite is an interesting contraption that maps out on a computer my step length, the pressure I'm putting on my foot (and a picture of where I'm putting that pressure). Though improved from last year, the gait mapping program illustrated a few things to work on, such as evening out my step length.


8.Therastride
The Therastride is a magnificent machine, a treamill that supports your weight as you walk. I used to require 4 different people helping me to move my legs and stand up straight; now I only require 1 person to make sure I don't trip over my own feet. Improvements asides, the therastride allows me to practice proper walking technique without all of my weight.



9.Meeting With My Therapists
I had the privilege of meeting with a few of my old therapists. Both lovely girls, they were the first ones who encouraged me to challenge myself. I was able to congratulate both of them on their upcoming weddings and give them updates on my progress.

10.Volunteer Appreciation
I was able to attend the appreciation dinner for volunteers at the Kennedy Krieger Institute. Though there are many ways to volunteer, I participated in the Patient Ambassador program. This matches me with potential patients who could use some advice on what it's like to reenter the world, newly disabled. I have a phone call or two with patients giving advice on things like what it's like going to college/a new city in a wheelchair or how to get involved in adaptive sports (it's so easy!). The dinner was tasty and the other volunteers were a cheerful motivated crowd with lots of interesting stories and good advice.



11.Walking to the Barn With My Cousins
During a trip to my Aunt and Uncle's house, bored with some of the conversation, I decided to join my cousins in the backyard. We walked across the grass to the barn that lies near the back of their property. Apparently while we were walking conversation stopped as everyone looked on, marveling at the improvement in my walking. Though I could manage with my wheelchair, I much prefer this mode of transportation as well.


12.Meeting Old Friends and Meeting New Friends
Coming back to Kennedy Krieger is always great, partially because of all the people I get to see again. I'm always happy to see old therapists, doctors, techs, nurses, volunteers, patients, and families that I've seen off and on since my injury. We celebrate accomplishments, commiserate failures, and share our dreams for the future. These random assortment of people are now part of my family and I love them all.

13.Underwater Treadmill Playing Volleyball
The underwater treadmill is one of the parts of my boot camp experience I look forward to the most. Like it sounds, the treadmill allows me to walk with water supporting much of my body weight. To challenge my ability to walk with distractions around me, they had me walk while hitting a beach ball to all the techs and therapists in the room. A fun game, it forced me to keep my technique while engaging in the next game after my Jenga battle.


14.Working On My Art Journal 
The newest art form I'm experimenting with, I traveled up to Baltimore with only pencils, a sharpie, and box of highlighters. Here are some of the pages that developed. I've since added to many of them. Here are a few samples.














A Walking Poem


So I took about an hour break from studying and explored the area. It's a really nice area but this was forming through my head as they finally turned on the streetlights. Which were bright white and way too bright. While this was going through my head I tripped. I got back up right away but that made it in here too. I liked it enough I wanted to get it down before I lost it:

Streetlights

I walk along, under the streetlights.
Bright new city, strange new sites.
Strange new air, strange new nights.
And the streetlights burn.

The memories flood back of biking in the night.
Long runs in the cold, warm yellow light.
The long shadows of Fall,
That cause me to fall.

Falling over memories, falling over pain,
Falling over memories of utter loss and gain.
 I get back up like I always have
And yet its not the same.

I walk along, under the streetlights.
Bright new city, strange new sites.
Strange new air, strange new nights.
And the streetlights burn.

Different path through the streets, long rides back to home.
They look completely different from the ones I've always known.
I'll walk them still with confidence but inside I'll always know
Each step was fought for, as steps they slowly grow.

I don't know where these steps are leading me, looking for their path.
They don't know how far it is, don't want to do the math.
The lights are all on way too bright and the shadows are all wrong.
But I'll keep walking on and on, strides confident and long.

I walk along, under the streetlights.
Bright new city, strange new sites.
Strange new air, strange new nights.
And the streetlights burn.

Monday, May 20, 2013

Graduation, Boot Camp Day 1, and some more paintings

It doesn't take a genius to realize that I haven't written anything in a while. I've been busy, my attention taken by school, physical therapy, and art.

The first priority for the past few years has been working on my bachelors degree. I am proud to say I have earned my degree in Biology! They even wrote a little press item on the graduating CSU students and my 6 year journey to graduation.
Peter was in a traumatic car accident on Dec. 29, 2009 when his family was driving down the freeway and their car spun out of control, braking suddenly for stopped traffic. He shattered two of his vertebrae, broke both arms and suffered extensive internal damage, ultimately requiring a wheelchair and rigorous rehabilitation. He went through several surgeries and regained motion in his legs and was eventually able to start walking with a brace and walker. Despite wanting to resume his education at CSU, health problems made it difficult for him to be successful on campus, causing him to return home to North Carolina. There, he resumed his CSU education online. Since then, he is recovering more and more and has made such great progress that his wheelchair now serves as a bed for his cats. He is set to graduate this May with a degree in Biology. He also has applied to several graduate schools and is interested in Bioinformatics, the merging of genetics work and computer programming. In the future, he hopes to work in a lab doing research.
I'm glad simply to have made it this far, physically and academically, though I've a long way to go still until I'm satisfied with either. Physically I've been improving by leaps and bounds. And by that I mean I can actually jump (even if it's not very high).



 Who knew I could jump higher than the average house!

I'm currently up in Baltimore for another round of Boot Camp, the two weeks twice a year where I get pushed by spinal cord specialists to improve the best I can. The exercises are tailored to my injury and how much recovery I've made. This generally includes some work in the pool, work on balance, strengthening, using treadmills, or all of the above. Today was the first day and was mostly tests, evaluations, and deciding which exercises required more work and which were too easy. According to their tests, since last Boot Camp I've gotten stronger, faster, and better coordinated. The real work starts tomorrow and I know after 3 hours of grueling work I'll sleep like a babe.



Well... maybe not.



Finally, I've been busy painting. This past Christmas instead of buying gifts for people I gave each person a painting instead. This has started me on a painting rampage which continues today. I work mainly with acrylics on canvas and have come up with a few nice pieces. I've also begun Art Journaling, a combination painting and scrapbooking, layered with inks, stencils, stamps, stickers, and million different mediums.

 Sawfish, Spotted Eagle Ray
Crying Robot, Green Coffee Cup, Red Coffee Cup
Blue Coffee Cup
Green Coffee Cup
Red Coffee Cup
Blue Coffee Cup
 Painting outside on a warm day.
 Dragon on a teacup.
 Winnie the Pooh art journal page.
 "What day is it?" asked Pooh.
"It's today, " squeaked Piglet.
"My favorite day" said Pooh.
 "Life is art, live yours in Color."
 The first layer of an art journal page.
 You have no idea how much I love turtles!
 What happens when I get bored and have only highlighters and sharpies.
 Darth Vader Art
A Whale in Love
 A City in Flames.
Dragon on a cliff.
 The Peacock, done in highlighter.



If you like the art, are a fan of my recovery, or just like turtles, 'like' The Turtle Walks on facebook. I'll start keeping the blog updated but my facebook is where I spend most of my time online. Also check out theturtlewalks.tumblr.com

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

It's Like Riding a Bicycle

For the first time in 3 years, I rode a bike. I fell a time or two when first getting on but once I found my rhythm I could have rode for miles. It was dark so I didn't get to ride for long but this experience has me extremely excited. I'm already walking without canes and now I can ride a bike. Hell yeah.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

My Story As Of Today: From Wheelchair To Walking

I was 20 at the time of my accident. I've moved around a bit in my lifetime. My dad worked in the army and then the Public Health Service. We moved everywhere from West Virginia, Germany, Wisconsin, to Seattle. Not strongly connected to one place very closely, I was going to college at Colorado State while my parents lived in North Carolina. Minus a few crazy events here and there I had a pretty boring childhood and early adulthood. I had never even had a broken bone.

Me pretending I know what I'm doing on a longboard.

After spending Christmas with friends, I flew out to spend New Years with my family. We were up in Maryland where much of my extended family lives.

THE ACCIDENT - December 29th, 2009.
The plan was to spend a few days in the Baltimore area then drive home to North Carolina the day of the 29th. I've always hated long car rides, so I always tried to sleep through them. I figured I'd be sleeping the entire ride to North Carolina, so I spent the entire night before my accident playing video games on my little cousin's XBOX (Lego Indiana Jones). I was asleep practically before we left my Aunt and Uncle's driveway. I did wake-up momentarily to hug my older sister as we dropped her off at the airport but otherwise I was down for the count.

How I spent the last night before the accident. I finished the entire game about 30 minutes before everyone woke up.

I slept in the back seat up against the door with my seat-belt on. From what I'm told, my Dad was driving on the freeway when he saw the car ahead of him stop suddenly. My dad slammed on the breaks and our car started spinning wildly out of control. Our car slammed into the bumper of a neighboring truck.

My Mom was in the front seat and had been knocked unconscious. My dad, awake and unharmed, told me later that I was screaming my head off; I have no memory of this. They shipped my off to Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland. I had two of my vertebrae (L1 and L2) completely shattered, broke both arms, and had lots of other internal damage. They put two stabilizing rods on either side of my spine but the surgeons felt it was better not do any surgery that could damage potentially intact nerves. The bones in my arms were set and a metal rod was placed in each.

I broke L1 and L2(top of Lumbar curve) but my injury level is considered T10(bottom of Thoracic curve) since that was the initial line of what I could move.

I woke up not able to move anything below the level of my belly button. The next few days were a morphine haze interrupted by a swirl of visiting family. I was sort of emotionally numb, staying upbeat the entire time. I just kept repeating that I wasn't going to be stuck using a wheelchair. They moved me out of there and into a rehab hospital. I starting to learn about the realities of my new life and what it would be like to move and live in a wheelchair. 

I eventually went through all 5 stages of grief and loss over my legs. I felt that the part of my life where I walked had died.

It was about 6 days after the accident when I finally broke down. I wasn't able to wheel myself around with both arms in slings, I couldn't move very well, couldn't even control when I shit, and didn't know what I would do. It all hit like a ton of bricks.

NURSING HOME (rebreaking my right arm)
About a week into my new rehab I rolled on my right arm in therapy and rebroke it. My surgeons, extremely irritated with me, said that I wasn't allowed to continue therapy there for at least a month and advised me to go to a nursing home.

In the nursing home after I rebroke my arm.

Though some of my darkest moments were in that nursing home, this was the place that I regained movement in my legs. After a month not moving anything I wiggled my right big toe. The next day I wiggled my left big toe. Progress slowed for awhile but over the next few weeks I regained good chunks of my right leg back.

KENNEDY KRIEGER
During my stay at the nursing home we heard about the spine program at Kennedy Krieger Institute. An offshoot of Johns Hopkins, the hospital had a reputation for significantly improving function after spinal cord injuries. A few people warned me, including my physical therapist at the nursing home, that they felt Kennedy Krieger made too many promises. I was hesitant but after the dismal conditions at the rehab hospital and the nursing home I felt that anything was worth a shot.

The staff of KKI helped put my mind at ease and helped push me forward. Shown here trying out e-stim on my leg. 

It turned out to be better than I could have ever hoped. Primarily a kids hospital, the spine program's inpatient wing will take you if you are under 21. Full of energy and excitement, the feelings were infectious. They advocate activity based rehab. This is the idea that muscles needs to be used and exercised, in the hope to promote new nerve growth. They make no promises but the research shows that if the spinal cord isn't cut completely the working of muscles will help to promote the growth of nerves. This is accomplished through electrical stimulus, in the form of portable electrical stim-units and electrical stim-bikes. They use these alongside more traditional mobility, balance, and care training.

Showing off my wheelchair biceps and my scars.

MORE BACK SURGERIES
Repeat imaging near the end of my inpatient stay showed that the broken pieces of spinal column were pressing on the cord. I had gotten significant function back in my right leg by this time but the left leg was still mostly inert. Even electrical stimulus couldn't get the muscles in the left leg to move; the hope is that another round of surgeries could improve my overall function.

They cut into my back and removed the broken pieces of spinal column. They then put in a metal cage and put the pieces of bone back in. The alive bone cells would regrow into the shape of vertebrae, this time without pinching my spinal cord.

It is safe to say I've seen more hospital beds than I care to mention. Here I am reading a stack of get-well cards

I stayed in Baltimore with my Aunt and Uncle until the end of the summer, doing outpatient rehab at Kennedy Krieger. While the effect wasn't immediate, over the next few weeks I began to get significant function back. I had my right leg completely back by the end of the summer and few more trace muscles in the left leg. I now had enough function back to walk around with a leg brace for short distances, with the help of a walker or crutches.

 Out stretching my legs.

COLORADO
It was my goal to return back to Colorado State again. I was still using the wheelchair but I felt confident enough to move out there on my own. I happened to have an older brother who was taking graduate classes at CSU at the time who was willing to share an apartment. I was excited and pumped to start things off again.

Though things started off strong, I eventually started having various health problems. I'm not naturally self motivating so when I felt down I would just lay in bed which only made things worse. Eventually I was in so much pain I stopped going to class altogether. By halfway through the semester I hit my lowest point ever. My mother came for a visit and saw the condition I was in. She asked if I wanted to move back home with them and I said yes.

NORTH CAROLINA
Having someone to kick me out of bed was exactly what I needed and my parents obliged. They started by getting me to wheel around and to do more and more walking. Though this was still difficult I got better. I slowly began to work up stamina and endurance. I had a 3 times a week PT program and worked out/swam at the YMCA. I transferred to Elizabeth City State University, our city's university. Though no Colorado State University they were close and offered a biology degree program. I'm still in North Carolina today, working on finishing up my degree. I'm set to graduate spring 2013.

My physical function continues to improve. I go periodically to Kennedy Krieger for additional rehab. These 2 week bouts, nicknamed “Boot Camp”, yield the most exciting results. In January 2011 I trialed using two canes instead of walking with crutches. In June 2011 I trialed using an AFO (Ankle Foot Orthosis, up to just below the knee) instead of the KAFO (Knee Ankle Foot Orthosis, up to the hip) I had used up to that point. I started out the fall semester of school vowing that I would not bring the wheelchair from the house; every time I left the house I would have to take my leg brace. I was still using my KAFO when I walked anywhere and used the AFO only in therapy. The KAFO was a heavy mess of wires and levers. October 2011, one of the wires on my KAFO snapped during a long holiday weekend. Since I had sworn to not take the wheelchair from the house I used my AFO the rest of the weekend; I never went back.

Trialing out two canes instead of crutches.

I finally ditched the wheelchair completely this past January, two years after my accident. I was using the AFO and canes well enough that I felt it was time. It was hard to get used to at first but I managed eventually. My wheelchair now serves only as a bed for my cats.

My most recent accomplishment is to have regained enough strength and balance to switch to walking using only one cane. Not quite as dramatic a shift as some of my others, it still wasn't easy to adjust to losing a walking aid. I continue to work toward my eventual goal of walking without any leg braces or canes. I'm not there yet but these past two and a half years have shown me it's more than possible.

With one cane and my AFO.

I'm not the boy I was. Who can say what I'll do with my life now since I almost lost mine. The focus of my journey has changed quite a bit, from learning how to use my wheelchair to walking again. I'm walking full time now but it wasn't quick or easy.

I fully acknowledge I was lucky my injury wasn't as severe as it could have been and that I had a lot of help along the way. I can't speak for everyone with a spinal cord injury, since each experience is different. I do know that the most important thing is to be up and aiming toward something. Whether this is finishing the next level of school, getting back function, or simply being fit enough to try something new. At one point I would have stayed in bed and given up. And if I had stayed there I would never have gotten out of my chair. So who knows where you might end up.

One suggestion was to get shoes with more ankle support. I'm pretty sure they were talking about hiking boots but since I have a sense of style I got a pair of Chuck Taylors, the old school high top Converse. Though I wasn't expecting these to make any difference, I found myself walking better and better.



I began walking  so well that I decided to leave the cane at home. That first day was kinda rough but after that I just kept going. It's now been 2 weeks since I used my cane at all! 

No I didn't break my canes. They're in the corner collecting dust!