Walking on water… I mean… IN water

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Finally a new blog post! Yes it has been a while and I’ve received more than a little flak for not posting a recent update so here I am.

Last summer I wrote a post about my newfound love for swimming and for being in the water. At the time, I had trained for, and completed, a 2.4 mile open water swim and since then my love for being in the water has not only remained steady but increased.

At the end of most of my swims, I usually spend the last few minutes standing, doing squats against the pool wall, bobbing up and down and playing around, and just trying to move my body in an upright position and challenge myself in ways that I can’t do on land, for fear of gravity getting the better of me and tumbling into the ground. In the past, I would try to walk in the pool by leaning my hands on Brita’s shoulders for balance (and in turn challenging her balance with my sloppy grabbing/leaning/pushing/pulling motions) and she would step my legs for me with her hands and keep me upright with her knees as I tried –and likely didn’t succeed– to look somewhat competent. Not too long ago, one day when Brita was out of the pool and I was lingering in the water, soaking up (pun intended) every last bit of the floaty, weightless, aqua goodness, I tried to give walking a go by myself.

In chest high water, I was able to keep my balance by thrashing my arms and pushing the water around as I would lean forward, back, or to the sides. Then I could concentrate on trying to take steps, which is still the missing piece of my walking abilities on land. It was ugly, and I was probably straining way too many muscles and contorting my body like a slow motion Frankenstein, but I was able to take a few very labored steps. While this has improved a bit over the last few months, it’s hard to work at it consistently because of the logistics of the pools I’m in, the varying depths of the lanes, fatigue, etc.

Recently, I spent a few days at Neuroworx, a state of the art non-profit neurological rehab center that I went to shortly in 2013, not too long after my injury (my posts here and here) and had the great fortune of using their incredible therapy pool. With parallel bars in the water, underwater cameras at every angle, and a floor that raises up and down and functions as a treadmill, this thing is BADASS. After doing some core exercises, we decided to turn on the treadmill at a very slow speed and see how I could walk.

Now let me take a moment to be clear and avoid any misleading or false hope.

I am still cranking and pulling with my back more than I ever should. Pulling my legs forward is extremely challenging and takes all of my effort. I’m holding onto parallel bars for balance. I’m supported by the water and the lack of gravity makes it a lot easier to move. At this time, I am NOT able to replicate this on land. You can’t see my upper body but my walk is still ugly and slightly less, but still undoubtedly Frankenstein-esque.

So with all of that said, here’s my water walking.

Not great, but not bad right? I’m pulling one leg through and maintaining support on the other leg, I’m not falling over (mostly thanks to the parallel bars) and once I get started and in the rhythm, I can keep this going for a couple of minutes.

Everyone always asks me what this feels like, does it feel like I’m walking and the answer is simple: I don’t know. It doesn’t feel completely natural or controlled but it’s also not a random, disconnected, spastic movement. I know that I’m compensating my weaknesses by walking in a very unconventional way, but at the end of the day, I’m taking steps. I’m propelling myself on my own two feet. And it still feels pretty damn good.

Utah Rehab Update – The Lokomat

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I wanted to send out a quick update on the rehab I’ve been doing here in Utah. I’ve had a great time here so far, meeting the inspirational founder of this facility and a fantastic group of physical therapists who are some of the most knowledgable and experienced professionals in the field of Spinal Cord Injury Rehab. It’s also been great to meet some other SCI patients, all at various stages of recovery and some even on their feet, walking independently.

I always said that I didn’t care if I never met anyone else with my level of injury who had recovered, because I would still push myself endlessly to reach my goal, but I must admit that it’s relieving, motivating and inspiring to meet other people who broke the same vertebrae as me and are back on their feet. That said, one of the things I’ve learned here is that no two SCI patients are the same. Even though I’ve met a number of people here with the “same” injury as me, there are many unexplained phenomena in terms of each person’s respective challenges and their prospective recoveries.

Ok so let’s get right to the fun stuff. I’ve been able to do some new exercises and use state of the art equipment that I had not previously tried which has been pretty fun.

You ever wonder what one $350,000 piece of equipment looks like??? Well let me introduce you to the Lokomat:

This is a revolutionary machine for SCI rehab as it’s adjusted to the exact length and size of my legs not to mention that everything – from the amount of weight I’m bearing through my legs to sensing how much effort and movement I’m giving to the walking – is precisely measured and captured in a computer. Nearly everything can be adjusted and tweaked to suit the particular person and well, it’s just pretty damn cool. Yes I do look a bit like Robocop walking but it feels amazing to stand upright and have such a natural stepping feeling for the first time since my accident.

One more video, just to show you a different perspective. Here you can see two important things: 1) the screen in front of me which is basically a virtual reality depiction of me walking and my movement is reflected in the digital game 2) the mirror below the screen, showing my legs walking:

There are only a handful of these Lokomats throughout the US so I’m very fortunate to have access to this one while I’m here in Utah. Stay tuned for another update soon…

A much needed change of scenery

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After months of the same routine, of going to the same places on the same days and feeling trapped in redundancy and “Groundhog Day” syndrome (you’ll have to see the movie if you don’t know what I’m referring to here), I decided to shake things up a bit. I’ve come to Salt Lake City, Utah for two weeks to try a different rehab center and to see what kinds of ideas, practices and exercises I can learn from their experienced team of therapists and SCI professionals.

I have to explain how important this change is for me. For years, I travelled frequently all around the world, mostly for work but also for pleasure and before I could get too bored or accustomed to any one place, I was on a plane to a different destination. Even when I was living in one place and leading a less itinerant lifestyle, I was constantly taking weekend trips to the mountains, camping, hiking and exploring the natural outdoors which I love so dearly. So adding to the long list of physical challenges from my accident is the challenge of routine and boredom from doing the same thing over and over.

Over the last few months, as so many of my friends travelled to different destinations and shared their excitement either directly to me or indirectly through Facebook and social media, I had to quietly hear them and fight the envy and jealousy I felt and battle the frustration of not being able to travel myself. In fact, before my accident, I had booked a trip to Lebanon and I’d tentatively scheduled a hiking trip to Patagonia. All of that went out the window. Now, while Utah isn’t a new place for me (I used to work here quite a bit), it’s the break from routine that I’ve been waiting for and I’ve come to Neuroworx to make the most of my experience.

Neuroworx is a non-profit founded by a man who suffered a bad cervical Spinal Cord Injury himself. He was a practicing doctor, with a family and a successful career and, as I know from my own experience, his entire life turned upside down in one instance. (You can read his story here, very inspirational) Although he had trampolines his entire life and had used them for years, his accident occurred on his trampoline in his own backyard. Being a physician, he knew almost immediately that he had suffered a Spinal Cord Injury and so began his own recovery.

Being told he would never walk again (sound familiar??) he teamed up with an incredible physical therapist who worked with him and helped him recover. Now, while he still deals with many of the challenges of SCI, he is walking and has recovered tremendously. That physical therapist became his partner and she is now the head PT at Neuroworx, coordinating the regimens of the many patients who come through their doors.

I’m excited for this change and will try to post a couple updates from here. Now it’s time to enjoy the mountains and the break from routine.