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

Boot Camp Week 2

For those who missed Boot Camp - Week 1

Spinal Cord Rehab Boot Camp - Week 2 
Highlights: I'm no longer using a cane to walk! Plus parties and artwork!

Monday, Day 5:
On Monday I used the Therastride, a very useful (if uncomfortable) machine. The harness holds you over a moving treadmill and with the assistance of some therapists it allows those that haven't walked in a very long time a chance to step again. I no longer need much of any direct help though my therapists are still there to assist my legs and hips as needed. The harness takes a little of my weight off the ground so I can focus on walking correctly, instead of focusing on simply not falling over.

 An old picture of me on the therastride. This was back when I needed someone to help with both legs (I only need help with the left leg now).

Another machine they've had me use before is a vibration plate. Depending how far apart you put your legs, the more the device throws off your balance. The last time I attempted this, a few boot camps ago, I could barely stay on at all. Now I'm able to work my legs halfway out, which is a medium difficulty. Either way I still end the session just as wobbly.

Your whole body feels like it's buzzing after you step off the vibration plate.

A large part of our focus these two weeks is on my hamstrings (the muscles behind the knee that allow most people to bend their legs back) muscle groups that have slowly been returning. In previous boot camps I focused on getting these muscles to contract at all. Now I can get the muscles to contract consistently but they're still very weak. I can get my leg to bend in the pool and when I'm lying on my side, though bending the leg on land is still a work in progress. Still, to see my leg act like it's supposed to in the pool is encouraging.

These are the hamstrings.

Tuesday, Day 6
On Tuesday we went to a lower floor to the children's gym to use the split belt treadmill. It has two rotating belts instead of just the one, with adjustable speed on both belts. This allows me to work on the timing of my walking. We had planned to use it the first week but it was having mechanical issues. This week everything worked fine with each leg getting its own individualized workout.

Harder than it looks to have two legs at different speeds.

Wednesday, Day 7
One of the strangest experiences of my two weeks but also one of the best was the "Bro-Party". There were a few other early 20-something guys there for bootcamp so someone decided to throw a "bro-party", a tradition one of my fellow patients had started at a previous boot camp. While doing our various balance exercises, we listened to "bro" music, wore cool sunglasses (I got the leopard print) with fake mustaches, while playing Gatorade pong (we're in a hospital, gotta keep it PG). It was one of the strangest experiences of my two weeks but I had a blast! My team ended up winning so that was an extra bonus.

 Me at the bro-party with shades and a fake mustache. Brotastic.

Thursday, Day 8
Another group of us got into a dance-off playing Just Dance for the Wii. It was me, a young girl using a walker, and an old guy in one of the standing machines they have around the gym. It was hard to come to a consensus on which song to play, though mostly because all 3 of us were so indecisive. I don't remember who ended up winning as far as points but we all looked extremely silly so it's a draw in the end. But we had fun and I got to spend some of my exercise time dancing (badly) to some of my favorite songs.

 We were not nearly this coordinated.

Friday, Day 9

The last day, like the first day, is always reserved for evaluations and tests to see how I've progressed over the two weeks. I did make significant improvements, walking slightly more even on the Gait Rite, the machine that takes a digital image of your walking pattern. I also improved my times in all the walking tests they had me do. I can attribute most of this to my therapist teaching me how to use my brace so that I get more spring in my step, which propels me forward.

.

Gait Rite

They also gave me a home program of exercises that I can do from my room, such as spelling out the alphabet with my weak leg (this practices strength and coordination). It's full of exercises that'll keep me busy and challenged hopefully for the next 6 months.

AFTER I GOT BACK
When I got back to North Carolina I started putting into action the suggestions of my therapists. 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.

Oh my god, shoes! 

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!

Artwork
I've been in kind of a winter funk and hadn't felt like writing for the last couple of weeks. I did however channel that weird mood into artwork. I've post some of my paintings up here already but you may not know I also enjoy drawing. I was given a giant sketchbook for Christmas and have been slowly filling it up ever since (plus more paintings). These are just a few examples of what's been filling my time instead of my blog (sorry internets!). I have dozens more and I will post more in the coming days. Enjoy.

Boot Camp Week 1

It's that time again! Every 6 months I return to Kennedy Krieger Institute to do physical therapy, known as BOOT CAMP! I go in for therapy for 3 hours a day, 5 days a week, for two weeks (with an added hour in the pool 3 times a week). This grueling but necessary addition to my PT program has helped me to improve as far as I have; they help me push the limits of what I can already do and get me to try new skills. In the end I leave a step ahead of when I arrive, ready to put my new skills to work.

You and I will never be this hardcore.

Day 1
Every time I come to Kennedy Krieger, the first day is filled with tests and evaluations. These give them a baseline of my strength and balance; it's not generally very exhausting (that comes later) but it lets them have numbers to compare when they're comparing my progress. I've been lucky that my numbers continue to improve, though over the years they have started to slow. The measures that continues to improve the most are standing balance and walking endurance.

One of the tests they always do is the 10 meter test, a test of how fast I can travel 10 meters. A long time ago my dad commented that it was how fast I could outrun a bear. I said that I didn't think I was fast enough to outrun a bear just yet. He qualified his original statement, saying it was a test to see how fast I could outrun a disabled angry bear. Since then we've called it the disabled angry bear test, a name that never fails to crack up the person timing the test.

I dare you to try thinking about outrunning a disabled bear without smiling.

Day 2
The second day we really got down to work. We started off the day with various exercises for my left left (the weaker leg). After this we went off and used the Gait Rite, one of the few pieces of equipment that I hadn't at least tried before. The Gait Rite measures step length, foot placement, and the relative amount of weight you put on either foot to get an idea of how to improve your walking pattern.

The computer records a picture of your steps as well as all the associated data.

I walked over the sensor using my cane and again without my cane. The data showed that my steps were more even when I walked without a cane. Though this is exciting news, meaning that I am ready to slowly start weaning off the cane, it's hard to let my cane go. I've walked using so many assistive devices that the idea of walking without one is a little scary. It's as hard to let go as a security blanket.

Day 3

My therapists love to try different pieces of equipment out on me. I've been around for 3 years so I'd thought I'd seen most of them but I was surprised again. We worked out using the Biodex System, a machine that allows you to isolate every conceivable muscle in your leg, hip, and trunk. It has a dozen or more attachments (that I saw) and we worked as many as we could before I was exhausted.

The data generated from this machine is accurate enough to use in peer reviewed studies.

I always end up working hard but that's not to say there isn't some fun mixed into the day. There is a Wii used for different exercises, though it's largely there to distract the kids who come to KKI while they do therapy. Along with Wii Sports and Wii Fit, I'm regularly roped into a dance battle using the game Just Dance.

Nothing screams irony more than a group of disabled people rocking out to Moves Like Jaggar. 

Day 4

The pool at KKI is one of the best things about coming here. The pool has a floor that raises and lowers, cameras in the sides so you can watch your legs as you walk, and an underwater treadmill.

They also have more aquatic therapy equipment than I knew existed.

This pool session was unique in that it was the first time I was able to walk without any assistance on the underwater treadmill. I can walk without a cane on land with relative ease but moving underwater with at least a rail to lean on is always challenging. The therapist I worked with made the same observation as my therapist on land, that I walked more evenly when I didn't have something to lean on. 

All this week I'd seen people with the same T-shirts, from 3E Love. I've followed them on facebook for a while but this trip has made me determined to go and get myself a hoodie with this design. How can you not love these?

You can find different designs, different styles, different colors, T-shirts, hoodies, decals, jewelry, temporary tattoos... the list goes on.

It's the end of the week, I'm tired and I'm sore but there's already some progress made. I still have another week to go but this week has reminded me what I'm working towards. I am grateful to everyone at KKI who works with me, kicking my butt all week. I've worked hard but they've worked just as hard on planning my program and molding it based on what I can accomplish. KKI rocks!

Boot Camp Day 2-3: Exciting Possibilities

Days two and three of Boot Camp have gone pretty smoothly. There are a few things that are exciting, ignoring the grueling exercises to build strength and endurance. The two most exciting were getting to trial a new type of ankle brace and getting to work on one of their high-tech treadmills.

Carbon Fiber AFO (Ankle-Foot Orthosis)

The carbon fiber AFO is made of stronger material than the soft plastic one I'm using now. This allows them to use less material. My real one most likely won't look exactly this; it may have more straps, more plastic along the sides, and I will likely need some kind ankle stabilizer to keep it from rolling. Regardless of what it end up looking like it is something to work toward. I will likely be trialing a few different models in the coming week and a half. I won't be ready to switch to the new brace full time right away but just having a goal will help me push myself forward.

Split-belt Treadmill

The model in the PT gym had belts that looked like tank treads. I secretly hoped it transformed into a tank and would run down its enemies. Sadly it was not and did not.

This is essentially just a treadmill with a bunch of extra functions but it was cool to test out some of these "fun" features. For instance, the two belts are capable of moving at different speeds. The treads can also move backwards, and at an incline.

Okay it's not really all that exciting but it beats walking in place and staring at a wall. These different features help to challenge my balance, strength, and coordination through walking.It's simply another tool in my therapist's arsenal.These will include different walking devices, leg supports, electrical stimulation units, and a wii (I have played it during past trips though not during this one. Yet.) We'll see what I end up using and what I will take away and use in my PT program at home.

Boot Camp Time Again

It's that time of year again. BOOT CAMP! For any who doesn't know, Boot Camp is the name given by the staff at Kennedy Krieger Institute for a two week booster shot to my therapy program. Twice a year I go for two weeks to work 5 days a week for 3 hours a day. While this is not a substitute for regular PT, it allows my original physical therapists to see my progress and point me in new and exciting directions.

The first day is always evaluations, tests, and the like. I don't generally do a whole lot of work the first day, being the object of intense scrutiny by my therapists. After the initial tests we spent most of the rest of the session brainstorming possible goals and ways to achieve them. This sounds simple but if you have ever tried to write down a list of concrete achievable goals you will know how hard this is.

My widest goal is to walk without the need for my cane. I can already do this for short periods of time. The problem is that if I do this for more than a couple minutes the muscles holding me up get fatigued. I simply don't have the endurance to walk around without the cane just yet but I'm getting there.

Along this vein there are various strengthening exercises we will fine tune. We'll also be working on balance, which has improved greatly over the past year but is still not where I want it to be. Finally we'll be working on gait, fixing my walking pattern so that I don't waste energy or trip and hurt myself. There are various ways these can all be done, using some tools that I've used before and probably some that are new to me. I deliberately told my therapist to try any off-the-wall ideas she may have, that I'm willing to try most anything. This tact has yielded successful, if somewhat odd, results in the past.

I'm not sure of everything I'll be doing in the next two weeks. What I do know is that it'll be insanely hard work and will help me improve in the long run. I have no illusions that it'll heal me overnight but if it kicks me off my butt and spurs me on to bigger and better things it's worth every second.

One last thing. When it came time for lunch we decided to try a new restaurant. On a sidepath off the parking lot we found a rock garden that had been decorated with giant stone turtles. Thanks to the wonders of the internet I learned that a group of turtles is called a "bale of turtles."Who knew?

Turtle awesomeness.

Me, overwhelmed by the turtley awesomeness.

Post-Surgery Physical Therapy

Sorry I haven't written the whole last week. I've been so exhausted from PT every night that I was barely able to keep my eyes open. So here is the quick version of my week in PT.

The week of physical therapy following surgery was more intense for my legs than any normal sessions would have been. I have multiple back restrictions (no bending, no twisting, no lifting over 10 lbs) from my back surgery, making it harder to find activities I could do. Most of the activities I was able to do involved my legs, which meant that my legs got worked out 3 times as much as they usually do.

I did a lot of walking and standing balance activities. One of my goals was to increase the distance I could walk without getting completely exhausted. I'm not sure exactly how far I could walk before but my therapist set a distance of 1200 ft for my new goal. Needless to say by the end of the week I blew that goal out of the water. The balance activities included putting my feet at different elevations, on different surfaces, and standing with and without my AFO (Ankle Foot Orthosis). My legs ended up feeling like jello after all of that.

 This exercise forces the weight onto my left leg, the one that still has considerable weakness. The small step was replaced with steps of varying heights, the tallest reaching about 6''.

After I mentioned the soreness these exercises were causing my legs, we eventually switched it up. I was given several exercises that focused on my hamstrings (the muscles running behind the knee) and I experimented with the use of the biofeedback machine.

A bit of background: When I first started getting muscle contractions in my legs it used to take every ounce of concentration I had to get even one muscle firing. Now that I have significant use of much of my left leg I am having trouble turning some of these muscles back off again. My hamstrings, the group of muscles that together bend the leg at the knee, are being hindered by the fact that my quadriceps, the thigh muscles responsible for extending the leg, won't turn off. In essence I am fighting my own muscles every time I attempt to bend my leg. 

The biofeedback machine, the NeuroMove.

The biofeedback machine is connected to multiple electrodes that tell me when certain muscles are active. The particular model I used, the NeuroMove, sets measurable goals so that you are able to see when a muscle is moving. In this case, I was able to use it to show when my quadriceps were kicking in. This way I could consciously relax the muscles and see visible results on the screen. I achieved limited success with the machine, as far as machine measured results. What I did gain was the sensation of what it was like to have normal functioning muscles again, something I can attempt to repeat from now on.

The last noteworthy exercise I did was jumping on a mini-trampoline the Friday before I left. This was something my therapist had wanted to experiment with once she saw how high functioning my legs were. Harder than it looked at first, I had difficulty even bouncing gently. My main problem was that because I have greater weakness in my left leg it is hard to move both my legs in unison. Eventually I was able to get them both moving in a rhythm, even getting a small jump here and there. As easy as this sounds, this was one of the hardest workouts I got all week.

At the end of the week I was given a home program, a booklet with exercises and stretches handmade just for me, even though I'm not able to practice all of them yet because of my spinal restrictions. The exercises in the booklet focus on strengthening the muscles and areas that still have some weakness. I've received one after each round of therapy at Kennedy Krieger, each one with slightly different exercises based on how far my body has recovered. 

This was not where I was expecting to be after surgery, though I am pleased with the results. I'm only a step behind from where I was before surgery instead of the three I had been dreading. At the end of the day, I'm tired but I know I will be back to where I was and farther in no time.