Inspirational Person #9 - Lyle Anderson - Ironman World Championship

Lyle Anderson was diagnosed with MS almost  six years ago - and this year, he is compting in the World Ironman Championships in Kona, Hawaii.

The ironman competition consists of:

• 2.4 mile swim
• 112 mile bike race
• 26.2 marathon

I found this story on AOL everyday health page.  Click here for the story on him.  If the link doesn't work the first time, refreshing the page will usually get the correct page to dispaly.

Another Walking Milestone

Yesterday, I was able to walk 5 miles round trip without a cane.  The 2.5 miles going away from my home, I took a liesurely walk, and stopped many times.  However, when I reached my desired destination, I looked at the time, and decided to walk back the 2.5 miles without resting.  I was able to walk this distance in 1 hour 15 minutes. As a point of reference, when healthy, I was able to cover the same distance in 45 minutes.

With 18 blocks to go, I must have looked like I had a bit too much alcohol to drink, becuase my gets got kind of weak, and I started wobbling.  With 8 blocks to go, my legs got really weak, and I thought about resting, or pulling out my cane, which I had in my backpack for an emergency - or risk a fall. 

I decided to risk a fall - but luckily, my legs held out and I made it home without falling.

I am quite happy with my leg recovery - if only my bladder and bowel would recover just as much.

I Have an Alter Ego

As well as my recovery has gone for me over the past 15 months, I do get frustrated that I am not 100%, or that I may never reach 100% - although I am confident that I will recover 98 - 99% eventually.

Until that happens though, with hard work and exercise, when I am not active, I need to visualise that I am recovered.  One way is through my writing - the Toe Up to 10K book, which pretty much journals my recovery serves as a "that's were I was, this is where I am,"

The other way is through fiction writing, and I just finished a short story, available exclusively on Amazon Kindle, about a ninja named Kaze no Katsumi, who must save commuters going home from work from zombies who attack their train. Kaze no Katsumi contracted transverse myelitis as a child, and when not in ninja form, walks with a cane.  As the story is in the horror/samurai genre, it is violent, but also humorous and sarcastic.  Please check out Zombie Brawl, or Rants and Raves of a Mass Transit Commuter the Day the Zombies Attacked the Train.

Inspirational person #8 - Rocky Bleier

Rocky Bleier was a football player in the 1970s for the Pittsburgh Steelers.  In 1968, after his rookie year, he served in the army in Vietnam.  He was shot in the thigh, and then a grenade blew up near him.  He was told he would never play football again.

But guess what? After being discharged, and walking in pain, for two years he worked hard , until he made the Steelers roster - and 1n 1976, he rushed for over 1,000.

Practice Walking Without a Cane

Boosted by the news i got at the doctor earlier this week, since yesterday i have been walking outdoors without a cane.

I can feel more muscles working and being taxed, for my lower abdomen tightened up the same way it did when I switched from the quad cane to a regular cane.  Of course that meant I would start having more bladder accidents again when i walk, but that's okay - I know this will get better. 

I think I have two more stages to go before the bladder gets back to near complete recovery.  That is is I can run for a distance longer than my living room, and then it would just be my muscles closing up shop while I sleep.

Again, I think how much improved I am now compared to a year ago when I was in a wheelchair and voided via catheter, and evacuating via digital stimulation.

Strength Almost back

I went to the doctor and after the examination, told me that my strength has almost returned to normal, with weakness just in the toes. 

I still have a slight problem with balance, co-ordination, and continuing issue with my bladder, but all is getting better.

Whenever I experience a symptom

I've written about how I worry when I get a headache nowadays, but it is the same with any other symptom - nausea, trouble urinating, lack of appetite....

I can't remember the hundreds of other times I had experienced the same during my life, but remember the time it happened to me before I landed in the hopsital.

It is a feeling I cannot shake.

A difference a year makes

For the last 3 months, and for the next 3 months, on any day, I can look back and see the difference in my health.  Actually, I could do the same for the next 12 months, but the greatest improvement would have taken place between June 2013, when I was first afflicted with spinal cord injury, and June 2013, when I became fairly comfortable walking with a cane.

Today is September 5, and a year ago, I could stand up for a few seconds in a pool, and today, I can walk a mile, slowly, but surely.

A year ago, I could not evacuate stoll on my own, today, my bowel movements are about 85% normal.

A year ago, I could not urinate naturally, and today, I have the opposite problem, but not nearly as bad.  During waking hours, I'm in control about 80% of the time - I make adjustments to get it that high.  It's at night, that I continue to have issues - but different issues than from a year ago.

I am writing a book on my recovery, and it will probably be a short book - and I hope to have it out by Halloween, of all days, but certainly by Thanksgiving.

Animal Instinct

I was at the store today when a lady brought in her dog.  My legs were tired, so I rested and invited her to go first.  She sat her dog down at the side of the room, and I took the second chair away from the dog.  The dog looked like a lab/golden retriever mix - really beautiful and behaved.  It had the most piercing brown eyes.

The dog kept staring at me, and finally, it got up and placed his neck on my thigh.  I kept nudging his neck and patting him on the head. and scratching the back of his ear.

The lady saw the dog and apologized, but it was a-okay with me.  I found the dog's company comforting.  I told the lady that I thought her dog knew I was recovering from a medical illness.

She said that her sister raises therapy dogs, and although this dog isn't a therapy dog, he has gone into the hospital and visited patients and takes to people right away and has a gentle disposition.

This dog had never seen me before today, and I really felt the comapssion it had for me, a stranger recovering from spinal cord injury.

I don't have a pet, but this epce is a great example that animals can have a positive impact on one's recovery.