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

3-year Anniversary of My Accident

I haven't written anything on this blog in a while but the anniversary of my car accident is a date I couldn't ignore.

If you happen to be reading this blog for the first time, read this post first, explaining my story.
(If anyone wants to see how things have changed you can check out my First Post After The Accident, Year 1, and Year 2)

This year has been one of continuing progress. I've had 2 different leg braces, ending the year using the Allard Toe-OFF AFO, an ankle brace that makes use of carbon fiber to make it durable and light. This is my smallest and lightest brace yet, compensating for the lack of ankle movement in my left leg.

Some of my old braces took about 5 minutes or more to get on. This takes about a minute.

I've still had my share of medical issues. I've had multiple surgeries for an ongoing infection that's gotten all the way down to the metal in my back. Once metal hardware is infected (especially necessary hardware that you can't remove) it's very hard to get rid of. Precautions have been taken and every measure is being taken to try and eradicate the bug in my back.

Read my 5 Insights From the ER

I finished another semester, leaving me only one more until I graduate with my bachelor's degree in biology. I'm already applying to graduate schools for next fall, where I'll study bioinformatics (a combination biology and computer programming).

I've been continuing to explore my new found passion for painting. This year I painted my Christmas gifts for people, coming up with a few really great ones. Some are better than others but I had fun painting each and every one of them.

 Wookie The Chew

 The tabernacle of a church, painted for my mother.

 The Four Seasons, for Q. Try looking at it upside-down.

 The final painting turned out really well, though this picture didn't do it justice.

The original.

 The Nightmare Before Christmas, for Kayla.

 Batman Celtic Knot, for Philip.

The Sun Over Lake Michigan, for my aunt.

Minas Tirith from Lord of the Rings, for my dad.

My friend Cat asked for a picture of me and I painted her this. 

There are still a couple of others in the mail that I won't post. Needless to say I've been spending countless hours working on these. The best part is that from all my brainstorming sessions of what to paint for people, I have a giant stack of painting ideas and sketches that I can still use.

Lastly I want to thank everyone who's helped me along this past year. I've worked hard but no one gets anywhere without some from help of those around them (family or friends). I first want to thank my Mom and Dad, who've been there to kick my butt over the years when I'd already given up. Dad, thank you for being there for advice, counsel, and a fresh pair of eyes. Mom, you've been there since since the beginning and have carried me kicking and screaming down the road to recovery; I love you both more than words can convey. To my siblings, thanks for being there to dish out the family gossip, to commiserate, to give me a patient ear when I've needed it, and helping to keep my life in perspective. Thanks Philip, a true friend through anything. Thanks Kelley, my amazing faghag, who helped keep me sane no matter what was going on in my life. Thanks Tony, for reminding me to relax and enjoy life and not to take things so seriously. Thanks Kayla and Eli, the cutest family I know, for reminding me what's important in life. Thanks all the staff of Coastal Rehab (though especially Mindy and Lynn) for tireless working to keep me improving. Thanks to all the staff up at the Kennedy Kreiger Institute and The International Center for Spinal Cord Injury (Kristin, Meredith, Brooke, Stephanie, Marjorie, and so many more) who've been the driving force in my rehab since I was first injured. Thanks to all the doctors (there's dozens), nurses (hundreds), and other staff  who've helped me with my ever climbing number of medical visits. Thank you to the orthotists who've worked tirelessly to make sure I have a working leg brace, without which I wouldn't be walking at all. Thank you to all the people who've read my blog, followed me on facebook, tumblr, etc; though this may be just a way to pass time for you, the support I've received from all of you has kept me going for all these years.

I'm currently up in Baltimore for Boot Camp again, so expect updates to follow in the next few days.

Why I Need A New Brace and What Happened in Colorado

When I walk I use an AFO, or Ankle Foot Orthosis. (A fancy name for an ankle brace) This little shell of plastic ends up doing more than its share of the work when I walk. I'll lean on the front to hold myself up, take full advantage of the small spring in my step that it gives me, and unintentionally bang it against nearly every object.

So True! Meanies!

While my old AFO has been good to me, it's time to move on to a new brace. I always feel better if I have a goal, something to work towards. And for the last year or so that goal has been learning to master my current AFO. Now that I've pretty much got that down, I'm finding myself getting comfortable again... and therein lies the trap! Once I'm comfortable I don't work as hard and I stop making progress, at least until I pick myself up and start again. This happened with my wheelchair, my KAFO, and now this. It's time to push on before I start sliding backwards.

My new brace, the ToeOFF. It's lightweight, it's cool looking, and it's something new to work on. What's not to love?

The new brace is called the Toeoff. It's got a sleek design, with only one very strong carbon fiber cable on the side. It gives me support but far less than I'm used to. The one feature that's vastly improved over my previous brace is that it has increased spring in the ankle, which propels your body forward. It's still hard to use and it will take a lot of practice but I'm confident that just like all the others I'm going to master this too. And I can guarantee that once I do my question will be, “What's next?”

Back on Campus

In one of my last posts I wrote I was traveling up to Albany, NY where I'm taking a summer class. If everything goes well I should be able to graduate in the spring. It is kind of bizarre being back on campus again, though besides the gurgling from the vacuum pump on my back my newest injuries haven't affected my class too much. At least the teacher always remembers my name.

I've been doing a lot of walking lately to the different parts of campus. We park near my class but if I want to visit the library (which I do nearly every day) or go grab food at the cafeteria, it can be quite a hike. At my usual pace it takes me a while to get anywhere.

One of my favorite lines when traveling with someone else is "I only have one pace, so SLOW DOWN!" I am usually yelling that at the backs of  whomever I am walking with. This, in all honesty, isn't completely the truth. I have two speeds: turtle speed and turtle hyper speed. Turtle speed is about the pace of a lazy stroll to anyone else. It let's me focus on staying upright, contracting the muscles I'm supposed to (abs, glutes, leg muscles, back muscles, etc.), and walking in a more or less straight line. Turtle hyper speed is the speed akin to a slow speed walk. Like a spaceship on any sci-fi show, I can only manage this over short distances and it wears me out when I do.

Recently, I've been practicing on these cross-campus journeys to try and maintain turtle hyper speed over longer distances. Only problem with this is that when I tire myself out I tend to catch my feet on things and I loose my balance. Which leads to me picking myself off the ground.

It is good to be back doing something. I'm terrible at self-motivating but if I have something to work towards I am an over-achiever. So here's to new places to go and new goals to achieve. Just slow down for me, otherwise you'll be doing a lot of waiting while I'm working on my goals.

The View From Up Here

I actually have an excuse (sort of) for not writing for a while. I'm currently writing from Albany, NY. I'm here taking a summer class for my bachelors degree, one not offered in Middle-of-Nowhere, NC. My aim is to graduate in the spring, finishing only two years after I initially planned (to be fair I had a few events that “interrupted” my scheduled course load). So here I am. At the moment the internet is only available though the local library and/or a local coffee shop but we're hopefully in the process of remedying this.
Care for my back has continued to follow me no matter how far I seem to hobble. The wound on my back is still open and healing ridiculously slowly. It's being drained by a Wound V.A.C. pump, a vacuum powered drain. My mother has now taken over the dressing changes for my back, mostly out of frustration from dealing with stupid schedulers. She's a registered nurse and does a better job than the majority of nurses who've done the job before her. My dressings need changing every 2-3 days so I'm lucky to have her.

Boredom in Wonderland

Sorry I haven't written in a while. I've been extremely busy with being completely bored. The last I had written I was out of the hospital on home care. We stayed an extra two week in Baltimore to make sure that the infection in my back didn't return. We've now finally returned to North Carolina.

It turned out I'm more stuck than I expected to be. I'm getting regular changes of the PICC line that delivers my antibiotics and the dressing on the vacuum pump on my back. I'm under the 'Home Care' box on their forms. Effectively this means I'm stuck to the grounds of this house. I'm not allowed to do PT or go out. I'm allowed to go to the doctor, get my hair cut, or make short infrequent trips for specific purposes. I'm lucky that I have a few great friends who've visited me regularly. I emphasize this point because I live 20 minutes outside town in the middle of nowhere.

Take the second right and go until you run out of land. Then you're almost there...

I've filled my time with watching shows online. I'm watching Sherlock (which has curiously homoerotic undertones) and United States of Tara, both of which have kept me quite busy.

 Though the show has maintained that they are both straight I still think they'd make an adorable couple.

I've also been posting pictures to facebook in an addictive fashion. I've certainly been paying closer attention to that than I have this blog. Here are some examples of the fun and hilariously random pictures that await you on The Turtle Walk's facebook.

Everything Turtles

 Not-For-The-Disabled Disability Ramps

 Walk This Way

More people are reading the blog and looking at the pictures but in the end I write this blog for my own mental well-being. If that's accomplished through prose or through random pictures... I'm okay with the outcome either way.

Losing my security blanket

As of the beginning of this week, I will no longer be bringing my wheelchair into town for any reason. I will now use only my leg brace in town, including when I go to swim at the YMCA.

I look back on the day that I got my own wheelchair. It was an exciting day, one filled with hope and the promise of exciting possibilities. I zoomed around the hallways, weaving in and out of nurses, doctors, aids, patients and family members at top speed. I started doing wheelies every spare second, though we weren't supposed to. I didn't have my legs back but I had my mobility again. It was like getting the keys to a new car, finally able to leave under my own power.


I think how far this chair has gotten me. The paint is scratched and the parts are slightly worn in, a testament to the fact that I wasn't content to sit at home. It got me through the summer months of rehab at Kennedy Krieger, crossing the country to Colorado, crossing back to North Carolina, flying to Minnesota. I've taken it to pools, museums, zoos, aquariums, to fine dining, to fast food, through memories of euphoria, and memories of pain that are forever tattooed across the vision of the past. I've wheeled through tiled hallways, city streets, grassy fields, and forest paths. Through it all, it has carried me farther than I ever imagined.

I now need to leave it behind, for good. I've been using it for shorter and shorter bursts, using it mainly on either side of sleeping and for going to the pool. My body is now at the point where I can walk around without the help of the chair almost the entire day if I'm wearing my leg brace. I'm mostly using the wheelchair out of habit, though a part of me doesn't want to leave it just yet. My chair has become the security blanket that I've been clinging to with childish abandon.



I decided at the start of this week that I was going to leave it behind when I went into town. The reason this was a big step: I'd never before used just the leg brace when I've gone into the YMCA pool. It's physically demanding and require some extra planning:

1) I normally had my backpack full of personal items, bathroom supplies, wallet, and my phone; my backpack stayed on the back of my chair, wearing a smooth divot into my backrest. I now have to carry these in, along with my swimsuit, towel, and water shoes. You try carrying all that on your back without tipping over. Yeesh!

2) My leg brace can't get wet. I have to leave it locked up in the locker room, which mean I don't have it to use as I walk out. I leave the locker room with no brace and my crutches. I'm able to kick out my leg effectively and move it in time so it doesn't fall behind though the muscles surrounding the knee are not strong enough to hold my weight. While I do have to worry about the crutches slipping on the wet floor I still have one good leg to lean on through the process.

3) Getting in and out of the pool. This is actually the easiest step in the process. There is a pole near the deep end which I can use to lean on while I set down my crutches. Then I simply jump in! (no cannon balls yet) When I get out I use the pole to help me stand and then I pick up my crutches.

4) This is all a lot of work. I try and get the most out of my time when I swim so I'm usually pretty tired by the end. With my chair, when I was finished I was able to slouch and wheel myself to the showers. Now I have more walking ahead of me before I can look forward to going home. This is a positive in the long term, though when I'm tired I tend to care less and less about the long term.

Despite these concerns I've done well. The most exciting part of the process was the people, most of whom already knew me as the guy in the wheelchair. Few knew I could walk at all, since I'd never walked in before. Even those who knew I was doing some walking were unaware that I walking as well as I am. I got lots of encouragement, praise, and support. The one comment that never fails to crack me up is "I had no idea you were so TALL!"*

All in all the loss of my security blanket went pretty well. It was tiring but I know it will be worth it. It seems that I'm going through the steps of childhood all over again: learn to sit up, learn to roll over, learn to crawl, learn to walk, get rid of security blanket... and I thought going through this the first time was hard enough.

*This is actually a fairly common observation. I'm 6'1" but in my wheelchair I was under 5 feet. I've lost track of the number of times I've heard this.

Beach Fun, AFO, and More Leg Brace Problems

Sorry I haven't written in a while. I just started two summer courses, Intro To Computer Programing and Psychology. So for a while I won't be blogging as often I used to. I went to a gay pride festival in my wheelchair. Or should I say my rainbow wheelchair. I had lots of fun, though some people made me feel vaguely uncomfortable. They kept coming up to me and saying things like "You know you're real brave, you know that," or my favorite "you're such an inspiration!" Random people kept coming and giving me hugs. I should have expected it. But I've become so accustomed to people knowing who I am and who are used to me. Meeting this many strangers made me feel strangely separate. I was a weirdo way before I was injured, so it kind of fits. I hung with an awesome group who were weird in vaguely the same ways as I am. I met some people from all over the state and I won't be forgetting them any time soon! I wheeled around on the moderately hilly grass, people occasionally stopping what they were doing to help me wheel through. I'm just not one of those people who will refuse help when I could actually use it. For anyone who doesn't know, wheeling on grass is really annoying! As the day went I took my crutches and grabbed my swim suit and hopped over to the pool. People tried extremely hard not to stare. *stare* *look away* *stare* *look away*. Finally in the evening we went to the beach. Here I put on my old leg brace and walked on the beach, where the dance party was. By that time I didn't do any dancing but hung around with my cluster of friends on their beach towel. Walking on sand was an intense experience. My canes sunk into the sand if I leaned on them very much, so I ended up walking with almost no support whatsoever. Needless to say at the end of this day I was dead tired. I slept well that night. Outer Banks Beach Frence by Randy Steele I managed to get my AFO (ankle foot orthosis) which I got casted for the other day. It's pretty boring, just molded plastic and Velcro. We got the most bare bones version we could so that we could take it in the pool, to practice walking underwater. The AFO is extremely useful because it stabilizes the ankle, which otherwise has a tendency to roll out from under me as I walk. The difficulty is that it also pushes the knee forward due to muscle tightness in the hamstring. This forces me to use my quad and hold the knee tight, which I need to be doing anyway. And finally my leg brace is on the fritz again! The wires are beginning to pop out of the case, with the possibility that my cats got to the wires. Not majorly, just enough that when you tilt the wire to the side it shuts off power to the brace. As I was leaving physical therapy it went on and off three times in less than 50 ft. All the orthotists had left for the day. So it's broken for a while. Most likely they will send it off to Minnesota to get repaired. It may be a while before I get it back but I guess we will see.