Update Friday!!

I had an appointment with my neurosurgeon Dr. Jason Cormier yesterday; my spine is healed, yay! He's the only one that actually saw my spinal cord and even though he can't know for sure how much damage was done, he's the one that can give the most accurate prognosis. HE says I'll definitely be racing again; I'm not going to jump up and down for joy just yet but it's good news!

I'm 99% out of the wheelchair and mainly using a walker. Wulf gave me a cane to start practicing with. I'm visiting with my job next week so we'll see if I can get back to work!

BUT my hand still has a way to go. Also, my quads still overpower my hamstrings so I still can't bend my right knee trying to walk. I can make it bend at other times, but my quads don't stop firing when I'm weight-bearing. It's getting better but very very slowly. This is because there are inhibition neurons in the spinal cord that shuts the opposing muscle (quads) off when the muscle your trying to get to work (hamstrings) is on. Since I have damage to my spinal cord this is not working properly and unfortunately there is no real "fix." It may heal.

Rectus femoris, THE muscle giving me all the issues!

One thing I'm trying is to overcome it cognitively; getting my brain to convince my nerves to bypass the problem and function correctly. I'm dong this by challenging my brain by pushing my body's limits. For example, I stand on my right leg, try to balance, and only catch myself after I begin falling. Nic has to be here at all times to catch me. It's scary! I don't have proprioception (knowing where your limb is in space) in my right ankle so balancing is not working. But I keep trying!

Balancing, balancing, balancing...

This is such a bad picture of me! Oh well, get used to bad pics :)

Another thing I'm trying is this machine that hooks up electrodes to my quads & hamstrings to help them fire at the right times. Wulf says if it works I need to buy the machine, which will be thousands of dollars. Ugh. He says he knows it's going to be expensive but it might be what finally allows me to actively bend my leg. If it doesn't work, he's going to recommend me to a place that has a special machine. It supports your body weight in a harness while you walk on a treadmill, and I will need to do 5x/week for 2-3 weeks. He's Determined for this knee to bend! I'm skeptical, but hopeful.

In other news in my life, well it always seems to be something, ha! This time there was a glitch about me getting paid, and though my awesome employer is fixing it I have all kinds of overdraft fees! Dang. Also the legal visitation case continues with my ex...sigh. Have a good weekend my friends!