A New Way of Walking!

"Walk right in, sit right down

Daddy, let your mind roll on

Walk right in, sit right down

Daddy, let your mind roll on

Everybody's talkin' 'bout a new way of walkin'

Do you want to lose your mind?

Walk right in, sit right down

Daddy, let your mind roll on!"  (Music performed by a variety of musicians.)

If you are our age, you might remember this song!  However the words seem to ring true for Tim.  In March of 2008 he started at a completely new rehab facility.  It was close to home and strictly out patient.  It was one hour sessions and the only thing they concentrated on was walking.  The style of these physical therapists was no nonsense, come in, sit down and let's get to work.  And boy did he work.  Tim's goal was always to be able to walk again and not with a walker, but with a cane.  He was told in the past that he would not be able to do this.  A single cane was out of the question.  He could take some steps with a walker, perhaps they could teach him to use a four pronged cane...but this is not what he wanted.  He wanted to walk with a single cane.  He expressed this desire to his new physical therapist.  So without batting an eye, she said, "If you want to do this, I will make sure you do this."  The first part of this new way of walking was getting Tim to be able to stand alone and balance.  She pushed and he practiced.  (And I mean she was really pushy!)  But whatever she did, Tim followed and absolutely thrived!  Part of this therapy was also addressing his arm/hand issue.  It was so tight, he could not use his hand to help hold him steady,  So she talked to the resident occupational therapist. There was a new type of therapy that just came out, using a dynamic splint and she wanted to try it out on Tim.  He agreed.  Part of using this splint was being able to stand upright and using his right hand, move spongy balls back and forth between buckets.  Piece of cake for you and I.  Not so easy for Tim.  However between his excercises with his physical therapist and doing this work out, (and I am not kidding about it being a work out!) Tim for the first time in years was able to stand alone up right, balanced and looking good.  Loose his mind...did he ever.  It is hard for me to ever imagine not being able to do a simple thing like just stand up.  We take it for granted, but Tim was so pleased.  Now that he could stand, the next step was to take a step.  More pushing and pulling and walking, yes walking with a cane.  He wanted to do it and he finally did after these nine months of intense therapy.  Now, he doesn't walk fast or far or perfect, but his can go several feet with a cane and he is the happiest man in the world. 

With this new ability, daily tasks became easier, transfering became easier, going to the bathroom became easier.  It opened up a whole new world of independance.  (I'm getting ahead of myself with exhuberance!)  He went from being totally wheel chair bound to a bit more free.  He can now walk from our back door to the car without the need of a wheel chair.  It is certainly easier on me with out having to lug his chair.  He can walk from the family room to his bathroom and out into the kitchen.  He still needs the wheel chair as he can't ambulate great distances, but he achieved his goal and that is what he wanted to do.