Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Reality Check

After all the excitement of going through with the treatment and seeing some exciting progress, reality has set in. I have a long way to go in terms of physical therapy and will need to wait awhile to see how much muscle I really can regain. There are many bad habits I need to break in how my body has compensated for the weakness. Retraining the body to move like it should and not do what is easiest, is my challenge. Every move is intentional and connected to a thought.

A lot of work is needed in the legs and back to be able to climb large steps without a railing and to be able to pull up my upper body when getting up from the ground. Doing bridges, lunges, squats, and forward bending. Arms can now be lifted overhead when lying down and we are up to 2lbs. Walking backwards is easier. Walking forwards is good after I have been walking for awhile to warm up but still takes a conscious effort to not lean back, to not swing legs, to engage the right muscles. I don't feel as nervous walking unassisted but do always sigh a bit of relief when I reach something to push or a hand of support.

After HiCy you take an antibiotic for 6 months and I hope to change to something other than Bactrim since my skin is very itchy. CK is a little lower but still around 930.

So improvement is real but I always strive for more. I sometimes push too much at therapy and then the fatigue follows. Finding the balance...

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