Extra Motivation

I woke up this morning ready for coffee as usual and feeling no more energized than normal though just as determined as ever. I ate my breakfast at a leisurely pace, and after a nurse helped me wash in bed and put my socks on, she left me with my clothes and a handy tool from the occupational therapy department to help me dress myself. I spent the next several minutes methodically dangling my pants in front of my feet and maneuvering my feet into the appropriate holes before reaching out and pulling my pants up and rolling side to side to get them all the way over my hips. My shirt is no problem now that I have the freedom to sit up on my own in bed. The new obstacle this morning was to put on my shoes myself. I practiced once with Isabelle, but it was a long and laborious process.

This morning it was me against my shoes as I sat on the edge of the bed. Aside from my socks, I'd done everything else myself. I knew I could do this, so I patiently positioned my feet in the braces and held the tongue of the shoe with my handy pants helper tool. Once both feet were in, the hard work began as I slowly bent over, discovering how far my muscles would let me reach this morning. I made it to the top Velcro strap of my braces no problem; it toke a little more time to convince my muscles to stretch to the second strap near my ankle. However, I was pretty pleased with my handy work once I had the braces strapped on. All that was left was to tie my laces. I knew I couldn't reach my feet on the floor, so I shifted one foot up onto the bed and slowly sought out a position where I could reach my legs without any pain from over stretching my muscles. It took quite a while, but I made it.

I was then delighted when Sarah arrived to cheer me on the rest of my incredible day. After the huge accomplishment of getting dressed and tying my shoes, I had a relatively easy morning and got to rest in bed for a little bit before my physio with Alex in the afternoon. Unfortunately, we got distracted talking, and Sarah and I were late for physio. Alex found us in my room and decided I should walk down to the physiohalle instead of wheeling. I happily obliged, eager to take any opportunity to walk. I'm pretty sure Alex knew I could make it the whole way, but she told me we would go as long as I could. I had a lot of energy after my midday rest, so I started at a decent pace, and we joked I was running to physio. Sarah followed with my wheelchair, and I only needed to pause one time on the long journey through my station, across the spacious landing to the elevator bank, and into the physiohalle. I even walked to the far end of the physiohalle at an impressive turtle pace and passed Jo before taking a rest on a bench. I was still grinning when Jo came over to tell me he had dismissed the person who passed his field of vision with my shirt and glasses because I was walking too fast. They joked we needed to keep Sarah around longer if she gave me the motivation to do such incredible feats. Once I managed to contain my stupid grin, I spent the rest of my physio time practicing balance while passing a ball with Sarah.

Sarah was pretty wiped after ten minutes of tossing a ball, but we only had a half hour break before her real workout began. I got to play rafroball with her and a couple other patients and physios. Rafroball is a version of basketball played with a volleyball - with all the players in wheelchairs, of course. Sarah sat down in a sporty wheelchair and stripped down to a tank top ready to sweat in the summer sun. After an intense hour and a half of three-on-three where Sarah and I attempted and failed to recreate an epic Batum to Lillard inbound three, she challenged me to a race across the court. Naturally I schooled the noob, but it was a fun way for me to see my enhanced skills. I'm the pro at driving a wheelchair after four months. We did discover, though, that we both sweat profusely while getting good cardio sitting down. I, however, didn't have to show off sweat marks in my chair as we made our way back to my station. Sarah proudly walked back to the room looking like she'd peed herself as a trophy of the shared experience.

There's some things you'll never understand about my experience, but Sarah gets what it's like to lack a breeze from behind when confined to a chair during physical activity. I'm so grateful for these shared experiences as they overshadow my frustrations. Praise God that the good things always outweigh the bad. I'm incredibly grateful for the huge firsts today of tying my shoes alone, walking further than before, and finally getting to participate in the basketball games I longingly watched for months but couldn't play with my corset. When you praise God with me, please also keep asking for continued healing in the bathroom functions. I'm also able to begin thinking of life after REHAB Basel, and there are lots of details to figure out as I transition back to Kandern. Please pray the transition would be as seamless as possible.