Febuary

Written by Administrator | 02 March 2011

 Arriving back into Atlanta after my time at home the biggest surprise was the fact that everything was completely white from a snow storm that had just engulfed the Southern states. I could now see and understand why our flights were cancelled and why the city had been closed down. Before we really had time to settle down it was off to the Georgia dome to watch the Atlanta Falcons take on the Green Bay Packers in a playoff game. I had organised tickets prior to going home as a surprise for dad when he got here but the layover in Hawaii was going to make it a little rushed. It was Jono’s first game so he was very excited to see everything that goes with football in America. We went straight to the car park to see some of the most outrageous tail gating party set ups you can imagine. Jono didn’t really know where to look between the BBQ’S that are the size of small car, the young up and coming dj’s on the turntables, beer pong tables or just the families in their deck chairs enjoying a few cold beers. He now understood why everyone is there four to five hours before the games. The game itself was a bit disappointing with the Falcons getting thumped but I am sure it is an experience that dad won’t forget.

On Monday we headed up to the center to jump back into my rehab program. Well they didn’t muck about by putting me straight into the frame for an overground walking session. It was a relief to us all to see that my walking was exactly where I left when I went home. The focus now in beyond therapy was to get all aspects in line for next evaluation in NRN in two weeks which would determine whether or not I would receive a grant that I had been aiming for. We then went upstairs to level three where I participate in the NRN program for a tread mill session. This session didn’t go as well as the over ground and unearthed a new issue where my left knee was consistently buckling when I was walking. I put this down to being a little rusty having not walked for four weeks and thought it would works its way out by the evaluation.

For the next two weeks I did my upmost to get everything ready so I could pass the evaluation and in hindsight was probably creating a bit too much pressure than was healthy. My left knee still wasn’t 100% which was concerning both the therapist and me. The evaluation was two days of testing muscle strength and abilities where you must show improvement. I was feeling confident as my reaching ability had improved as well as my ability to control my hips when on the treadmill. Though due to inconsistency in my left knee I failed and missed out on the grant. I won’t lie I was bitterly disappointed in this decision as I had worked very hard and have I never been too good at losing anything, especially when I was expecting to win.

After accepting the decision it was time to move forward luckily the girls had put a fair bit of thought into it a came up with a new program which would benefit me even more than my last one. As now I would be able to use electricity but continue to work with both teams. In beyond therapy we would increase my hours focusing on overground walking sessions and rebuilding my core strength. While upstairs Anneke and her team would continue with the treadmill sessions using electricity and get me back on the FES bike. While dad would assist me with my daily independent weights and fitness program in the gym. Upon looking over this i was now very pleased and quite excited about the new program that would last for the next six months.

Only other thing left was to get an MRI on my left knee to make sure that everything was ok down there before I started the new program. I was very nervous about having an MRI not for the fact that something may be wrong but more so if there was a problem what would that mean and how will we deal with it. By not having full function of my legs most surgeons would very reluctant to operate if there was ligament damage. Well after a long wait the news was good there was no ligament or cartilage damage in my knee but what the scan did show was that there was a bone bruise on the inside of my knee. This was the result of a fall out of my wheel chair at the airport when I arrived back here in Atlanta. It also explained why my knee was collapsing only on my treadmill sessions. As the bruise is where the therapists hand will sometimes push when walking on the treadmill.