Today marked the start of rehabilitation at the Lindsay. It began with the Ergo Therapist coming to my room to see me. She began by explaining some of the details of my wheelchair to me. She then outlined the procedures for getting into and out of my wheelchair. These were then put into practice. We also discussed what my goals were. She asked me for three. The first two, which I prefaced as being long-term goals were to walk and ride a bike. The third I qualified as a nearer term goal, which was to be able to shop in the wheelchair.
The Physio came while the Ergo was still there. She guided me to a gym on the ground floor. She directed me to a set of parallel bars. She raised them to a suitable height. There was a period of instruction about the proper procedure before she fitted a belt around my waist to allow her get a good grip on me should she need to control my body. After some discussion, a fair bit of trepidation and couple of false starts, I pushed and pulled myself up. It felt much easier than with the walker at the Champlain. I gingerly experimented with various positions for my left leg as well as varying the percentage of weight I was putting on my right leg. It seemed like more than a minute, if not two I was up. I then got back into the wheelchair with less control than was truly desirable. No harm done, just a bit too fast.
It was time for a well deserved cup of water. After catching my breath and quenching my thirst, I did it again and I believe I stayed up for longer. My return to the wheelchair was better controlled. Overall, the Physio said she was proud of me. She went to fetch the Ergo who was nearby. They wished to see me stand again, but after getting into the “start” position, I just felt I didn’t have it in me. There was then a session on a therapy bed where the Physio tested the ranges of motion of my left knee, ankle and wrist.
Next up was a session with the psychologist whose name I hadn’t memorized making it a bit difficult for the Physio to guide me to. However, we found him in the end. Because of the spike in Covid, we were wearing masks. At the end of the hour, he said he would like to do the next session via Zoom or Teams so he might see my face. I found that quite interesting.
Then, I navigated and propelled myself back to my room. There was an orderly sitting on a chair near the entry and I asked her to help me get back into bed. (At present, I need someone to move my left leg while I make the bed-chair transit.)
After lunch, the afternoon was mine to while away. Around 4:30, I was chatting with Steve, when a certain parcel arrived from Amazon. I quickly put the contents to their proper use. In doing so I did something I hadn’t done in more than 3 months. I wore trousers!
Someone had mentioned that trousers with side snaps or buttons existed. After some internet and soul searching, I ordered a pair from Amazon. They arrived a day earlier than promised which was very nice. They seem to fit, though I haven’t worked out how I will wear them below my left knee or if I will pin them up somehow. How to do that will be first on my list of things to discuss with the Ergo tomorrow. The pants make me feel more dressed and therefore closer to normal.
They made me presentable to Lynn and Katie, a pair of co-workers who were kind enough to come around bearing shortbread. Always be presentable to guests bearing shortbread.
A good day.
No comments:
Post a Comment