Spring Break - And My First Train Ride!!!!!

Emerald Bay at Lake Tahoe

Check out these narrow stairs!

So much time has passed since I posted my last blog!!! Sorry about that! Physical Therapy has kept me busy and have I ever been busy! I have been testing out the durability of my EBS 3R60 knee and walking quicker! I have even begun walking without a crutch! I am still not that confident going down or upstairs without one though! So now I have fallen approx. 10 times in four months! I think I may walk a little faster than my leg can keep up with!! In fact I scared the heck out of the Occupational Therapists. My father and I were walking down the hallway at the U of U Hospital going to see the doctor and I had a good fast pace going, we walked passed them. They thought since I was walking ahead of him that he had pushed me down and they came charging across the room. I gave them the hand signal I was okay and that loud thud was my prosthetic knee hitting the floor and I was fine! Luckily I had again "folded up" in slow motion and was just fine! No cuts or bruises! My poor dad! I must say I have definately kept his life exciting since I had this accident!

WELL now to the real story - - My son, myself and my parents took the train to Reno for Spring Break (to visit my daughter)! Eventhough it was approx. an 11 hour train ride it was really great! On the way over we stayed in a sleeper car as we left at 10:30 at night and didn't arrive in Reno until 9:30 a.m. I was quite surprised by how NARROW the stairs and hallways were, but it worked out to my advantage! Walking on the train was pretty difficult while it was moving for me, so can you imagine what was like for someone with two good legs?! I know my son wobbled back and forth!!!
The train rooms, of course were small, and my son was surprised we had to stay in bunkbeds. I think he was expecting a little bit of a hotel room situation, hmmmm. However, after the train headed out his matter of thinking changed and he thought it was quite cool and he actually enjoyed sleeping on the top bunk and it was a pretty neat room after all! I on the other hand did not really mind the tightness of the room, it would have been nicer to have a little more room, however, when I made the reservations I knew exactly what to expect on the sleeper. I just expected a little more room, but for as small as the rooms were I was surprised how easy it was to remove my leg and place it upright and then put it back on again the next morning with no problem! Nice. . . The next morning when I got up I yelled over to my mom "Help, me my left leg is missing!" She just laughed about the whole thing as we can joke about these kind of things now!

The trip to Reno was wonderful and it was just what the therapist ordered for me! We took a day trip to Lake Tahoe! We drove up to Emerald Bay and there was snow on the ground and it was pretty cold, but we still walked around. It was a bit rocky and rough, but I walked around the terrain with little to no difficulty at all! It was beautiful and I took a few pictures, one which is shown up above! It was really such a great and enjoyable trip! The train ride was such a great experience for all of us!

Physical Therapy - Yoga - - - Whewww!

Have I mentioned I go to Physical Therapy three times a week, yes three times a week! Yes I have quite the work out between therapy and Yoga! I put my leg to the test not to mention my prosthetic device! Or should I say lately my therapist has really put me through the test. Three times a week - from the wonderful harness (to keep me from falling in case I loose my balance) walking on a balance beam or obstacle course (too much fun), disc balancing ball and of throwing the ball while on the disc, the wonderful mat exercising to build up that core to handle that prosthetic device (which gets pretty heavy) and OF COURSE the walking with and without my crutch!

Now for the Big No No and the Big Mistake - I mentioned in a casual conversation with my therapist that my mother, who happens to be a "pretty fit" 73 year old. That she has now been walking faster than me when we go to the grocery store! Well that does not look good on my behalf. She use to get really exhausted when I would take her anywhere and couldn't keep up with me! So my therapist decided we really needed to put "the pedal to the metal" and do our speed walking around the hospital! I have slowed down considerable since my accident and with my new hardware! So Friday of last week and on Monday we kicked butt! It was a good thing there was no small children or older people in the way because my leg was really "burning rubber!" I beat my old timed walking record!

However, in Yoga I have put my leg to the true test with all the bending, twisting and kneeling down on the floor. I have learned how to get down more quiet now. I truly am beginning to fit into the Yoga groove! I am earning the thumbs up from the instructor and many of the other ladies have approached me and told me how proud and impressed with my growth they are (Today I even kept my leg on, the last two weeks it has popped off!)! It's really going to be tough to leave Salt Lake City in the next few months!!!

Keep posted the next adventure will about the TRAIN RIDE my family will taking during Spring Break (Nevada Spring Break that is)!!!

Yoga for a new leg amputee??? You bet!

Wow!  I as really afraid to try Yoga, but my sister talked me into trying it!  For a newly amputee it takes balance and coordination (actually I guess it takes that for everyone)!  I walked into the room and the Yoga instructor came over to me and welcomed me into the class and told me if there any were moves I had a hard time with; to not do them and by all means modify them.  I was amazed that I could pretty much keep up her!  I could balance myself and put both my arms up in the air and circle my arms around and even close my eyes with the help of my one crutch to help me keep my balance.

I did have a hard time when it came to bending my left leg (this is my amputated leg) but I improvised.  It's amazing when you don't have that calf strength or knee there any longer.

THEN came the sitting on the floor to exercise.  All the ladies gracefully sat down and here I am "PLUNK" as my leg hit the mat, no gracefulness from me!!  I must say I rocked in these core and floor exercises!  I do many of these core exercises in physical therapy - they are beneficial in helping to build my body strength!!!  

Oh then came the getting up from that mat in Yoga - luckily my Physical Therapist helped me yesterday with those moves!   So while we are doing our last stretches and everyone's eyes were still closed, I made my move and did my "prosthetic leg kick back and good knee bent move" and pushed myself up - without crutches!  I was afraid of biffing it big time in front of everyone, but I did so well!  Which was a BIG move for me!!

Many of the Yoga participants came up and congratulated me on how well I did and hoped to see me again!  They will. . . 

I think Yoga is a great way for me to start building my body strength along with of course my physical therapy!!!