Christmas eve i managed to roll the boma wheelchair! – means i’ve been on the floor twice in a week… today i’ve started back with physio, i was back on the treadmill, things really kick in quickly now.. i’m going to be doing my fes sessions tomorrow and on Saturday, i will be doing transfers and using the e-stim for core stability – it is going to take 4-6 weeks to start to see any progress with the new pad positions on the bike.. so mid-Feburary i will be testing my upper body strength using the parrallel bars with no leg braces or harness… just me and my core strength!

now with my new sitting position (and now i’m recovered from saturday) the leg session feels better, higher resistance and a smoother ride – i can now feel my muscles really pushing through. The arm session has had the pads moved around now so they stim different muscles, and the session has now been split into two fifteen minute sessions the first backwards then forward to really work the lats.. plus by raising the bike (for the legs) the arm cycles higher, so now i’m cycling further “up hill” so a more intense session all round

welcome to the family Abbie!

i’ve had a couple of physio free days due to my bro’s wedding, i’ve been a little worse for wear due to the celebrations – it’s best to allow my body to rest and recover.. plus i fell backwards out my chair last night on the ice so now have a sore shoulder

A fun link for the spider lover’s….. LINK

now with my new fes routine (i’ll add pics soon.. once i’ve loaded them) im firing “E-stim” into wrist extensors, triceps, upper lats.. and some muscles next to my spine (i forgot the name) instead of biceps and supraspinatus… (which i have function in, so i will build on ” what i havent got” this should increase my upper body strength and core stability – which will assist me on the tread mill/parallel bars… AND WALKING FRAME! alexWILLwalkagain

Half Moon Cay - Bahamas

three years ago today i went for a swim…. poor Alex – the journey that i have been on since.. i wouldn’t wish on anyone! there has been many many times i just wanted to give up.. but each time i press through – i need to keep going, i’ve been improving all the way along, i need to see how far i can go! plus with so many people behind me helps so much – THANK YOU

i’ll be back on a roll soon

Yesterday i was back at Stoke Mandaville hospital as a test subject assisting cyclone mobility show the FES RTI 300 leg and arm bike.. the bike (as with all disabled equipment) is expensive but out of all my equipment is the thing i use most – it has proven to be a real god send! and as it’s still relatively ”new technology” and with a spinal cord injury each one is different the sessions that i’m having are being tweeked and improved all the time, tomorrow in my physio session i will be using the bike with Stephen Barwise and see what new things i can get from it – yesterday was a great insight into the machine

So many people follow my progress, it really spurrs me on knowing so many people are behind me – thank you.

one of my (many) cousins - Tracy (Quinn) Hansman asked about my catherdar (my reply may help others so i’ve posted it here :-

The blood does come because my catheter… i have a supra-pubic one.. thru my stomach ((( – people with my level of injury (tetraplegic/quadriplegic) are paralyzed
from the nipples down – but i have now got some core strength stomach/back muscles, so by using that horse thing and slendertone belt it really helps build my core strength and stamina.. but cause’s tensing and retracting of my muscles around the catheter (that “should” be dormant) (i have to way up pain against recovery… i do choose recovery) i’d put up with a bit of bladder trauma to be walking again x to be STILL recovering after 3 yrs is extremely unusual.. i do keep a good eye on it, i have bladder wash outs – and have stayed off the horse since the ambulance prob to give things a rest.. but unfortunately in the case of a c5/c6 it’s not if another autonomic episode will occur but when… so people with this injury or around them need to be aware of what to do (and how to do it quickly!)

the treadmill worked well today, my core was very good, with good weight pushing through each leg equally – on tuesday i will be using the parallel bars to see how much weight i can take through my legs in preparation for using a walking frame

saturday i had physio on my treadmill, we stayed off the “crazy horse”  just to be on the safe side -recently after using it, i tend to pee blood..! (using along with the slendertone belt) i think maybe a bit too much stimulation causing trauma to my bladder (along with the autonomic dysreflexic episode last saturday) – i do love being paralized! but anyway… a good physio session – same again tomorrow