The Good, The Bad and the Closing Ceremony

Hello everyone. I apologize for the delay in putting up a new post. I’ve been busy strengthening my shoulders and transferring to and from my bed (actually milkshakes and watching the Olympics-closing ceremony is going to be great)-Spice Girls are on in 30). A lot has happen since the last post-some good, some bad. This injury has taught me to start with the bad.

The nurses call it tone, my PT calls it clonus; I call it spasms. They struck with a vengance in the last few days. It began with a few leg shakes, then progressed to more intense movements. These spasms have moved from my legs to my mid-section to my arms. This often happens with a spinal cord injury. I’m not worried because this is a sign that my body is waking up from the initial spinal shock. Fortunately, God invented a thing called drugs. In this case a antispasticity product called baclofen, which helps reduce the intensity of the spasm. However, it may take some time to get the full benefit from it.

Now on to the good news. I’ve officially regained the use of two muscles-one in my upper chest and in my wrists! The one in my wrists is controlled by the C7 area of my spinal cord, which is two better than the original injury. That’s a good thing. Beyond that I gotten stronger and much more competent in use of my manual wheelchair, which is the chair I prefer to use. Along with my muscles, I’ve also regained sensation in several parts of my body including my back, my legs and, most excitingly, tingling in my feet. Understandably my doctors are not able to tell me this could mean, but I do know its a good thing. Is another sign of my body waking up.

With an official discharge date of Aug 20, reconstruction of my parents home in Edina has begun. The re-modeling will accommodate my wheelchair and unique needs (Thanks mom and dad). Though the 4th floor rehab team at the UW Hospital has treated me well, I’m excited about coming home and beginning outpatient rehab at Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Institute in Minneapolis so I can focus on re-gaining what I have loss. I’m looking forward to being close to my many friends in the Twin Cities, which will allow me to take another step toward returning to a normal life.

Millions of thanks for the millions of things you have done to help me and my family through this unfortunate period of time. Goodbye to you all. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be training like Missy Franklin in my recovery.