Evening Commute

As previously mentioned, I'm stubborn, and in my stubbornness, I'm determined to learn to walk to school. Well, I'm determined to learn to walk in general, but goals are good. The apartment I have is, according to Google maps, less than three hundred meters from the school. It's a nice downhill slope all the way there. From experience walking up a ramp at REHAB with Alex, I was aware that my backside lacks the muscle strength required to push my body up inclines. I was concerned that I'd have a harder time walking from the school home to my apartment. Wouldn't do me much good to walk there and be stuck.

This morning I told my dad I wanted to start at the school and see how far I could make it home. I'd made it about two-thirds of the way there from my apartment, so I was hopeful for a similar distance, considering it a harder hike. However, I discovered some interesting facts about walking in REHAB versus the real world. First, the downhill slope is actually more mentally terrifying because I'm tilted towards a precarious face-plant rather than working with the slope to bend my body correctly (remember - I can't bend my ankles at all or my knees very well). Second, the strength necessary for the slope home is, in fact, existent in my behind. This is a huge praise. I was able to very, very, very slowly and methodically walk the whole way from the door of my building to the door of my apartment with my dad following with my wheelchair. I never once needed to sit down to make it home.

It'll certainly be a while before I have the skills or confidence to make this trek home alone, but some day considerably sooner than the medical experts ever anticipated, I'll be making my evening commute on foot instead of in my wheelchair. I'm still very hopeful for the ankles to connect back to my brain and make the walk loads easier. I'm also very hopeful, as always, for the best of the bathroom activities to be made easier. Join with me in prayer that I'll regain some more function in the coming days and weeks. 

Days would be a huge blessing, and I'm now just 11 days away from my first travel experience post injury. I've not posted anything about this previously, but back in November I was asked to complete an AP training course in Oxford, and I asked my therapists and doctors if this was a possibility back in March. At REHAB, for the past three months, the therapists, doctors, and nurses have been encouraging me to make progresses, "because you'll need that at Oxford." "We have to get you ready for Oxford," they kept telling me whenever I'd want to be lazy. My release date was set with Oxford in mind so that I'd have almost a month away from REHAB before the trip. 

My life isn't easy, but easy isn't synonymous with good. Please keep praying I'll face the tough things with wisdom and grace as we continue to petition the Healer for good gifts of nerve regeneration.