Alex will walk again

It has been nearly two years now… December 14th 2006 a day i will never forget, by fighting each day to improve i have surpassed all expectations and will continue to do so.. it’s a journey that i did not choose, but either way it’s a journey i have found myself on…… but everything has a beginning, a middle and finally and end.. when that will be.. who knows?? 

Along the way i have lost touch with some people.. but also met new people.. it’s just life…. along with all lifes problems.. someone thought it was a good idea for me to have to learn how to walk all over again….

i will

I’m going to Cambridge tomorrow for the start of another week at Standing Start, i will also be fine tuning my standing here at home with stephen Barwise, using a harness.. instead of expelling all my energy before i get to stand, i will use the harness to get upright then i can concentrate on my stability, kicking in any dormant muscles.. then as i improve i can work on strength and stamina. My journey is only begining.. 2 years from the beach in St Maarten.

It can be done.. it will be done

This wheel chair is the next step in freedom, it can go any where a mountain bike can go and further.. it would give me the abilty to take tyler baby for his walks by myself, it doesn’t give me anything other than freedom.. which in itself is priceless… (but does come with an £8000 price tag…) like all disabled equipment they put everything just out of reach…. http://www.bromakin.co.uk/handcycles/powered

PAIN…. its temporary you can work through it! it hurts but can be done.. the human body is versatile you can push through! my body was broken.. but it can be rebuilt, each day the aches get shorter and i can go for longer… coming off the drugs my body burns.. it’s “the nerves talking..” it doesn’t get easier - not yet anyway… focus on whats ahead, not on the past - that has been!

Bring on the future - who knows what will be…

find your paradise - i have mine…

I am looking into buying a tread mill.. using parallel bars (instead of crutches - they are more stable) and a sling (instead of the chair) i should be able to “simulate” walking.. using my new found skill of standing, i will do this at home in between Standing Start, i do need to be careful though.. standing today - my shoulders are on fire, if i do too much to quickly i can do more damage than good.. and as always i have to wait on everything..(i am very inpatient, but you would be if you were paralyzed!) you have to be strong and stand up and face what life throws at you..

Today in physio i stood using my leg braces.. its getting better every time, i stood for a full two minutes weight bearing through my legs and stabilizing with my arms away from my chair.going through this injury to try and recover is the hardest thing i have ever had to do.. even with the support of everyone around me… there is one person Elina, a girl from Greece, we are going through the same thing.. today as i stood Elina was as well.. she was able to take her first step using her hips and stabilizing through her arms!! she is also using similar braces to me - we can work through this thing together… its a really big boost having someone to work “along side” (even though different countries) who knows what the future holds… we will reach our goal ! 

Now i have completed two weeks at Standing Start, along with my normal physio (Stephen Barwise), it is working out really well.. although i am noticeably fatigued (but that shows that i’ve been grafting…) doing both types of physio works out well, my whole body is getting worked. over the past few weeks i have cut back on my RTI300 FES bike, purely so i don’t over do it straight away, it will be more beneficial to me in the long run to work it back into my routine as i build up tolerance and stamina.. i will work back up to doing it each day, this will give me 6hrs physio 5 times a week!! i’ll be getting good results sooner hopefully.. just over the past couple of weeks i have been working my hip flexors! on all fours and kneeling at Standing Start.. and standing (with Stephen Barwise) using my crutches and knee braces we are working new muscles..!!

for the past few weeks the pay pal button has been disabled - just letting you know that it is back in working order, thanks again.. just click the donations button

one of my good friends writes his own music, the happy pills is very close to my situation, so please take some time to have a listen. Each day i have 14 different pills through the day.. i am now in the process of reducing these down… two in particular, Baclofen and gabapentin.. they make me more comfortable, but inhibit the nerves “talking” - again no pain no gain!

Monday the 24th

i’m a C5/C6 injury level.. from these diagrams you can see the movement that i’m ment to have, and how far i have pushed the medical boundaries so far..signals should be getting blocked by the level of the cyst, but they are getting passed the injury site, through physio we are trying to wake up the muscle memory..  slowly both sensation and motor function has been returning.  While in Miami, we visited the Lois Pope research centre, there was a talk on their research into the cure for paralysis, and i was introduced to this lovely spinal cord!! at that point i had to leave the room, its an actual human spinal cord..