April 7th – April 13th 2024: Look Ma, No Hands!

4/7

Welp, that was a morning for the books! I really haven’t felt that good in a very long time. I’m really fortunate. Also, the feeling of having to go to the bathroom is getting to be just the feeling of the movement, and isn’t a bunch of pain!

We made it to Culver’s and Woodman’s in the rain today, and there’s not a much of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon in Wisconsin, to be honest. I’m pretty sure that a bag of Culver’s cheese curds are the most diverse thing in the state, with all their yellow and white curds in the bag, but that’s just my own silly opinion I guess!

Made it back to the apartment, and I was all fired up today! I was feeling very loose and relaxed, and my muscles really wanted to go! So I took some time to get my braces on, and get up in the walker for the first time here at home! I was able to get a good stretch in, and kick each leg forward, to get a deeper hip flexor stretch that I can’t get moving both legs together. I was able to do 100ft with just me and Callie helping me with my legs from criss-crossing, and that was it!!! I was able to get down the hall, Callie helped spin me around, and back!! It feels so good to move my legs in any way, even if it’s just my hips and glutes! I really can feel the rest of my legs being recruited!!

Just trying to get up and moving feels so good! My legs really are going!

4/8

Well now! We are a week into April! Boy does time move fast! Crazy to think that time isn’t slowing down for anyone, so it’s important to make the most use of it as we have!

I’m seriously engaging with my legs so much in the morning! My left leg has developed an interesting spasm pattern, where it will literally step back and forth! I wish I could get a video or something, it’s kinda interesting to feel happen, but also it’s kinda weird too, because my leg is moving a bunch…..

The feelings of going to the bathroom in the morning isn’t excruciating pain anymore! It’s just the feeling of having to go! Which honestly is such a relief!

I need to make sure I do the e-Stim this week!! And get in the braces and get some walking in at home! I sat in a long sit on the bed with the braces on, which was a great way to end the day after getting a good walk in! Those hamstrings….. always so troublesome….. my right leg is a lot more cooperative in the past day or two! Left leg needs to catch up!

I still need to work on my right leg being able to lift as well as the left. He’s struggling a bit more. But they are both moving pretty dang good!!!

So it was really interesting to read yesterday that less than 9% of Americans get enough vegetables for the day, and less than 12% get enough fruit. Those are some low numbers, and I really can’t see how that goes for more folks than we realize! I know that before the accident, I was definitely below that number! I really didn’t eat hardly any vegetables at all.

Holy smokes….. I just realized something…. I did literally everything I needed to do myself this morning! That was freaking amazing! Everything, down to making breakfast, and getting my braces out to the car!

4/9

Okay. so the focus is narrowing a bit. I really need to focus on my quadricep muscles. I really need to focus on giving them some consistent exercise, and attention. Any and all the ways that I can stress them, and get them moving, is going to be pivotal in getting me out of the KAFO’s and into a more directed form of walking.

I’m not sure if this is even at all possible…. Not sure where this thought was going, welp…

Okay, I’ve had a bit of a breakthrough! This is honestly a really cool realization!

4/10

Okay, so I have had a lot of thoughts on what’s going on, and what I’m feeling, and have had some really interesting conversations with Callie about them as well! It was really interesting talking about sensations!…..

Okay, at the gym right now, and I’m definitely putting up more weight! I’m also able to get my heart rate up a bit more, and also am feeling more tired between sets! This is interesting, because the more I do, the more I can do! It really does remind me of what it is I’m learning about for practicing and the 10,000hr rule, that so many folks have learned and spoken about. It’s the idea from Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers, and how practice makes such an impact for not just professional athletes, but everyone.

I was doing some abdomen exercises, and the more that I did, the easier they were becoming. It’s so weird, because I know that our muscles fatigue, but I know that I’m also trying to work my neurological connections as well, which is definitely not the muscle. It seems as though there isn’t a terribly large amount of information out there on how we strengthen or rebuild our neurological connections, so I’m going to have to do some digging on that.

4/13

So, i learned two new things this morning. 1. That almost all our muscles besides our hands and face contract during the gait cycle, and 2. That co-contraction of muscles is actually a pretty normal and good thing!

This is really fascinating to me, because of all the reasons that our muscles do this, for instance: Muscles can co-contract for various reasons, including:

1. **Stabilization**: Co-contracting muscles can provide stability and support to joints, especially when there’s a need for increased joint stability or when there’s uncertainty about the direction of force.

2. **Injury Prevention**: In situations where there’s a risk of injury or instability, muscles may co-contract to provide extra support and protect the joints from excessive movement.

3. **Compensation**: Sometimes, when certain muscles are weak or fatigued, other muscles may co-contract to compensate for the weakness and maintain movement or stability.

4. **Motor Control Issues**: Co-contraction can occur due to issues with motor control, where the nervous system struggles to coordinate the activation and relaxation of muscles properly.

5. **Task Requirements**: Certain tasks or movements may require simultaneous activation of antagonist muscles to control movement more precisely or to maintain balance and stability.

Overall, co-contraction of muscles is a normal part of movement and can serve various functions depending on the situation and the needs of the body.

Like, this is super fascinating stuff. I’m not sure where or why my brain is always thinking that was a bad thing, about the co-contraction, but it’s honestly pretty refreshing to know that I’m doing okay!