Let Them Eat Cake

Ice Cream Cake:
I went into my normal physical therapy session last Thursday; I was asked by my therapist if I knew that this was my 100th Session. I had no idea. I have enough trouble remembering what day of the week it is. She smiled mischievously and the session continued. At the end of the session I attempted to pack and up and leave but she stopped me in my tracks. She disappeared for a second and reappeared with cake and balloons.

For those who are unaware, your average physical therapy patient never reaches 100 sessions, with the average recovery time for a basic injury being around 6 weeks. So to have seen someone make the type of gains that I have is quite rare.

Needless to say I dug into my ice cream cake and shared it with the rest of the clinic. I was glad that had decided to at least wait until after my PT session to bring out the ice cream. I think me hurling up the nice cake would slightly ruin the mood.


Beefcake:
Those who follow The Turtle Walks will know that I have been making significant strides toward normal walking recently, shedding my leg brace and switching to the lower AFO (Ankle Foot Orthosis). These type of gains can only be made by an accompanying gain in muscle mass.


For all of 2010 and large sections of 2011, I wheeled myself around everywhere using my wheelchair. While this did lead to an increase in the size of my arms it caused the muscles in my legs to atrophy. Now finally I am starting to see some return of muscle mass to my legs. The right leg, the better working one, has been slowly gaining mass since late last year. Now that I've given up the leg brace the left has decided to join the team.


Metaphorical Cake:
Inspired by a blog called Therapy, Thoughts, and Learning I've been thinking of my life as a cake, baking in the oven.

Sometimes my life can feel a bit like this cake... Candy Mountain Charlie!

I know that all the ingredients I need to become a complete fulfilled individual are already inside me. I just need to let them sit and let the pressure do it's work, forming me into something I've been craving for. Right now my cake is only half baked but I hope that in time I'll be something I'm happy with. But no point dwelling on it too long. After all, if you watch the cake too long it'll never finish baking! So best just to get on with life and see how things turn out.