Coming in tomorrow at 3!
Click the picture for the story of Calypso, the Three Legged Green Sea Turtle, and why she's my symbol
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Don't actually have a post just a cool song
Not for everyone, it is the offspring. The lyrics are powerful and I think it sort of applies to this blog.
Can't Repeat - The Offspring
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogN6TnPaLUQ
Can't Repeat - The Offspring
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogN6TnPaLUQ
Monday, March 14, 2011
Direction and Dance
In the past week there has been a few additions to my life.
First I think I know where I want to head from here. Many of you know I've been struggling to figure out what I want to study in school and what I want to do with my life. Before this I had been focused on teaching at the middle/high school level. I was in my Senior year when the accident happened. After the accident I was all excited about teaching but since then I have been less and less enthusiastic about being in an elementary school classroom; the kids don't want to be there, the pay is lousy, tons of pressure is put on to meet test standards, and the workload is hell. It's not that I didn't know this before but it sounds less and less appealing.
I went to talk with a councilor at the community college where I'm taking a few classes. He suggested instead of scrapping the work I've done so far I should finish my degree and teach at the community college level. This would mean getting a masters degree but it might be worth it. The pay isn't much better but the students actually want to be there (mostly) and you don't have to worry about state qualifying tests determining your employment status. Who knows where I'll go from here but for now it's a good start.
Extracurricular, I've started working with the local community here. It's called Encore Theater; I joined the group after seeing the darkly comic play Books. I met the directors wife and daughter at the local bar, where I told them about my limited experience with theater as a kid. They were excited about the fact that I could understand theater and was interested in working on the plays. They were also excited because I was willing to learn lights and sound and that I'm pretty good with computers. I got a call the next day asking if I wanted to be the Assistant Stage Manager for the play. I accepted immediately.
Since then I've been to two practices. I write down the blocking, or stage directions, and remind people where they're supposed to be during their scenes. I'm in charge when the stage manager isn't there. I can't hop up and down off the stage but there is a really steep ramp that I can use when I need to get on stage for something. It's a good creative outlet and lets me spend time doing something other than physical therapy and recovering from physical therapy.
My last new activity doesn't come with a title but is even more fun. When I go walking I sometimes go past the farm fields into an area of the forest that's open with a thick carpet of pine needles covering the ground. It's here I've been practicing a little bit of dancing.
I got the idea form this guy Lucas "Lazy Legs," a break dancer. I saw him at the start of the Paralymics last spring. If anyone can find a video of his performance I would be very grateful. It inspired me to get out of my comfort zone a little bit and try a few moves. Now those of you who knew me before the accident knew I had two left feet even when I had both legs. So the moves weren't pretty but they were a blast. They still need some work obviously but if I make mistakes I have a soft bed of needles to land on.
So I haven't gone and finished my degree overnight, become a famous actor, or become a master break dancer. But it's the first step down the path. Who knows maybe these things will lead me somewhere I could have never expected.
Still no brace yet. Stay tuned.
First I think I know where I want to head from here. Many of you know I've been struggling to figure out what I want to study in school and what I want to do with my life. Before this I had been focused on teaching at the middle/high school level. I was in my Senior year when the accident happened. After the accident I was all excited about teaching but since then I have been less and less enthusiastic about being in an elementary school classroom; the kids don't want to be there, the pay is lousy, tons of pressure is put on to meet test standards, and the workload is hell. It's not that I didn't know this before but it sounds less and less appealing.
I went to talk with a councilor at the community college where I'm taking a few classes. He suggested instead of scrapping the work I've done so far I should finish my degree and teach at the community college level. This would mean getting a masters degree but it might be worth it. The pay isn't much better but the students actually want to be there (mostly) and you don't have to worry about state qualifying tests determining your employment status. Who knows where I'll go from here but for now it's a good start.
Extracurricular, I've started working with the local community here. It's called Encore Theater; I joined the group after seeing the darkly comic play Books. I met the directors wife and daughter at the local bar, where I told them about my limited experience with theater as a kid. They were excited about the fact that I could understand theater and was interested in working on the plays. They were also excited because I was willing to learn lights and sound and that I'm pretty good with computers. I got a call the next day asking if I wanted to be the Assistant Stage Manager for the play. I accepted immediately.
Since then I've been to two practices. I write down the blocking, or stage directions, and remind people where they're supposed to be during their scenes. I'm in charge when the stage manager isn't there. I can't hop up and down off the stage but there is a really steep ramp that I can use when I need to get on stage for something. It's a good creative outlet and lets me spend time doing something other than physical therapy and recovering from physical therapy.
My last new activity doesn't come with a title but is even more fun. When I go walking I sometimes go past the farm fields into an area of the forest that's open with a thick carpet of pine needles covering the ground. It's here I've been practicing a little bit of dancing.
I got the idea form this guy Lucas "Lazy Legs," a break dancer. I saw him at the start of the Paralymics last spring. If anyone can find a video of his performance I would be very grateful. It inspired me to get out of my comfort zone a little bit and try a few moves. Now those of you who knew me before the accident knew I had two left feet even when I had both legs. So the moves weren't pretty but they were a blast. They still need some work obviously but if I make mistakes I have a soft bed of needles to land on.
So I haven't gone and finished my degree overnight, become a famous actor, or become a master break dancer. But it's the first step down the path. Who knows maybe these things will lead me somewhere I could have never expected.
Still no brace yet. Stay tuned.
Monday, March 7, 2011
A Trial Brace
So I got to try on the new brace. It's not finished yet because they wanted to make sure everything worked and it was comfortable. It worked pretty well. Here are a few clips of me trying it out. The buzzing sound you here is the motor kicking in at the knee joint. You can see some of the wires poking out going from the knee to the computer. About the size of an iphone, the computer sits in my pocket and emits a series of beeps to tell me that when things are working or not. I'll have to learn that code but other than that things are looking pretty good.
The final brace will be here in a week. They're going to laminate the fiberglass and add the finishing touches to it. I'll let you guys know as soon as it arrives for real.
And check out the video at the bottom. It's a link to Helen Exner's first music video and in my opinion her best song to date. Please check it out and also check out helenexner.com. She's got great music and she helped me with a lot of fund raising for free. Seriously consider going to her website and buying one or both of her CDs. You won't regret it.
The final brace will be here in a week. They're going to laminate the fiberglass and add the finishing touches to it. I'll let you guys know as soon as it arrives for real.
And check out the video at the bottom. It's a link to Helen Exner's first music video and in my opinion her best song to date. Please check it out and also check out helenexner.com. She's got great music and she helped me with a lot of fund raising for free. Seriously consider going to her website and buying one or both of her CDs. You won't regret it.
Friday, February 25, 2011
The Brace is Here and a Really Talented Musician
1. We got the call that the motorized leg brace finally came in. I'm going to get it fitted for my leg on Monday. I'll post pictures as soon as I can. I'm really freakin excited!!!
2. I'm asking everyone to go to helenexner.com and check out her new music video (or just look at the video below). I would ask that everyone seriously consider buying one or both of her CD's. Besides simply being an amazingly talented artist, she held multiple fundraisers on my behalf. She received nothing out of it, giving her own time and talent to help raise money for equipment that I will need now and in the future. Helen you're amazing; you're not too tall at all, you're just perfect.
2. I'm asking everyone to go to helenexner.com and check out her new music video (or just look at the video below). I would ask that everyone seriously consider buying one or both of her CD's. Besides simply being an amazingly talented artist, she held multiple fundraisers on my behalf. She received nothing out of it, giving her own time and talent to help raise money for equipment that I will need now and in the future. Helen you're amazing; you're not too tall at all, you're just perfect.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Wish my life came in four wheel drive
Because I'm stuck.
Things are actually going fairly well. I'm working out in PT, swimming at the YMCA, and walking a whole bunch with my brace. It's not that things haven't improved at all; look at last year compared to now: no movement vs. walking around a ton. So in perspective things look pretty good.
I'm just kind of stuck in the "making do" phase, where I have to live with what I've got and learn to use it. Not to say that I won't improve, but there's not much I can do to force new nerves to grow any faster. So in the meantime I'm stuck waiting. I have the hope of my new brace coming, which is very exciting believe me. But it'll probably be a few weeks until it comes in, gets adjusted, and I can finally use it. I'm working hard to strengthen the muscles I already have, but I'm only one or two miles in and I have the rest of the marathon to finish.
My dad once told me that war was 99% pure boredom and 1% pure terror. If that's the case this is definitely war on my body. It's not like I don't have things to do here (lord knows I wish I could do away with a few) but my routine stays the same. I'm not even close to done and yet the road keep stretching on into the distance. I just wish I could have a clear concise YOU DID IT! and move on. Such is life I guess.
And for all those other people who are single on Valentine's Day, here's to us:
Things are actually going fairly well. I'm working out in PT, swimming at the YMCA, and walking a whole bunch with my brace. It's not that things haven't improved at all; look at last year compared to now: no movement vs. walking around a ton. So in perspective things look pretty good.
I'm just kind of stuck in the "making do" phase, where I have to live with what I've got and learn to use it. Not to say that I won't improve, but there's not much I can do to force new nerves to grow any faster. So in the meantime I'm stuck waiting. I have the hope of my new brace coming, which is very exciting believe me. But it'll probably be a few weeks until it comes in, gets adjusted, and I can finally use it. I'm working hard to strengthen the muscles I already have, but I'm only one or two miles in and I have the rest of the marathon to finish.
My dad once told me that war was 99% pure boredom and 1% pure terror. If that's the case this is definitely war on my body. It's not like I don't have things to do here (lord knows I wish I could do away with a few) but my routine stays the same. I'm not even close to done and yet the road keep stretching on into the distance. I just wish I could have a clear concise YOU DID IT! and move on. Such is life I guess.
And for all those other people who are single on Valentine's Day, here's to us:
Thursday, February 3, 2011
New Brace
This has been in the works for a while but I didn't want to post anything until I heard for certain. I initially was called in by the orthopedist in town who takes care of the leg brace I have now. They wanted my to come look at a possible new leg brace from a company called Otto Bock. They had me look at at the Sensor Walk, a stance control KAFO (Knee Ancle Foot Orthosis) which instead of wires to hold and release my knee uses a computerized knee joint.
You can watch the video to get a better idea of how it works. It uses a combination of a motor at the knee, signals from sensors underneath my foot, and a small computer which I have to carry in a pocket. I was told that the technology has been around for years, used in computerized artificial legs for amputees. It's only in the last 2 or 3 years that they've started using these in regular braces. This is truly state of the art machinery.
This was back in December and there was a great deal of uncertainty over whether I would even qualify for a new brace. For one thing my current brace was only 6 months old at the time. Plus with the brace I was using I was continuing to show improvement. We were worried that in the minds of an insurance company this would translate as "he's doing fine with what he has, so why should we shell out any money?"
What were the problems of my old brace? The stance control system that I am currently using uses a a set of wires that are strung from the ankle to the knee. It uses the tension of the wires to control when the knee is locked or unlocked. This can be problematic for several reasons: The biggest is that the knee has to be entirely straight in order for the knee to lock. If I didn't swing my leg out with precisely the right amount of force the leg will buckle. The wires are connected to the foot behind the ankle, causing the knee to unlock when the angle of the foot decreased i.e. when I'm stepping forward. This is highly useful because I don't have to bring my leg through with my knee locked out straight; it would lock again once I swung the leg straight. Unfortunately since when it locks or unlocks is based on the angle of my ankle, if I lean too far forward the leg would buckle (are you sensing a pattern here?). The brace was highly useful, allowing me some mobility for the first time, but it had many flaws. (See pictures here: http://theturtlewalks.blogspot.com/2011/01/boot-camp.html)
While it wasn't certain whether I would be approved or not, the vendor brought in a trial brace to see if the technology would work with my particular type of injury. Since it was made to fit practically anyone it didn't fit very well but the technology was amazing. It allowed me a sense of stability I had never really known. My old brace did give me mobility but I constantly had to be on guard in case of a sudden buckling (which happened fairly often).
It's been a few days now since the insurance company finally approved the brace. Today I went in to the Orthopedist's office and they made a fiberglass-caste of my leg, which will be sent off to make the custom-built brace. I don't know exactly how long it will take for me to the actual brace but it's coming. It's finally coming.
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