Good Afternoon World….
Today marks the first day that I begin to blog to the world. I spent most of the night trying to set up/format this website. As you can see it will take me a bit more time to spruce up the pages so that itis pleasing to the eye.
However, I do want to begin to communicate with you right away because that is what I feel is the most important. My main purpose here is to share my experience in hope that it can help someone who is going through a similar situation.
I will add this disclaimer as I begin. I have never read a blogbefore (I know that may be hard to believe but its true) and I stopped myself from researching other blogs before I began. I don’t want to duplicate anything that I’ve seen elsewhere. I am going to just write from my heart and hopefully this will come out right.
I have set up my little writing station in my living room, behind the couch and near the window that looks out over the back yard. I can smell the jasmine that is growing on the trellis by the window’s edge. There is a slight breeze that brings the fragrance of the flowers wafting into the house. I can also watch television from where I am sitting and I am also very close to kitchen snacks. I’m prone to hot flashes so it is extremely important that I can get to the freezer and get a popsicle when my own little personal summer arrives – HaHa!
I woke up late this morning because I was up so late last night. I am feeling great today. My spirit feels uplifted. I turned on the television to listen to the Music Channel and the song by Smokie Norful began to play. It is called “I Understand” (Note: I love gospel music). I had to stop writing, throw up my hands in Praise to God and sing this song. If you like gospel music like I do, I recommend you listen to this uplifting song.
When I woke up this morning, I noticed a “new release.” When I notice that I can do something that I’ve not been able to do previously I will call it a new release (NR) because it is as if my body has released a nerve, or a muscle or a tendon from a locked position.
NR: I was able to move my little toe on my right foot independently of moving all the other toes of the foot. The day before yesterday the NR was the ability to move the ankle of my right leg in a circular motion. Now, I’ve been able to do this before, however, the range of motion has begun to increase. I am attributing this in part to the fact that I began to use a balance board over the past two weeks. Whenever I am sitting in this wheelchair and am not mobile, I have my feet on the balance board and I rotate through a series of exercises that I believe strengthen the muscles in and and around the foot. I am not ready to stand on the balance board without assistance. I have to continuously tell myself “safety first” because I get excited when I realize that I can do something new and I always want to push the envelope. So I will wait until I go to physical therapy to stand on the board to improve my standing balance. For now, when I am at home I will just practice simple standing up at the walker.
Pictured below is the balance board that I purchased from Amazon.com. Please note that I do not endorse Reebok, I chose it for the price ($17.00) and simplicity of the board
Another update I must share is that when I stood up at the walker today, I feel a loosening of the muscles in my groin area. I have to be honest and say that I’m not quite sure if this is so or just because I’ve sat here too long writing and formatting this blog site. But regardless of what may be happening, I am feeling activity.
2 Kings 20, 3-5
