Another step

I’m back on the road. Got back behind the wheel this week. Started Monday, driving to a poker game of course. Game was close to home so figured it was a good place to start. Had intended to start over the weekend but the stomach virus put the kibosh on those plans. Since the grip is still a bit weak I had Dad put a knob on the wheel to give me an assist but I find that I do not really need it as much as I thought though it does come in handy every so often. I was going to wait a bit longer, trying to get more strength in the arm and hand, but came to the conclusion that waiting wasn’t really helping. Over most of the rehab the last couple of months I concentrated on doing exercises to build strength but lately had seemed to hit a wall. While I tried using the arm and hand it was more hit or miss than I like to think about. Over the last couple weeks I decided to make a major effort to do things left handed, things I might not even normally do just to push it. Carrying things, opening doors, picking up objects. It’s not easy, especially since I’m a natural righty, but the more I did with it the more I was able to do. I came to the conclusion that it wasn’t strength that was needed but reeducation of the limb also. Hence the driving. Figured the sooner the arm got used to the wheel the faster it would return to form. So far, so good. While driving I try keep my left hand on the wheel as much as possible to retrain it. It seems to be giving the arm and hand a hell of a workout. I’m getting some swelling on the hand that’s affecting the grip somewhat but overall it’s not too bad. The arm itself must be getting a hell of a workout though since it’s tired as hell. Had what I take a good signs the last night and today, got some muscle flex in both the bicep and the forearm, something I hadn’t seen in 5 months. It ain’t consistent yet but I know I saw and felt it. Means I’m still improving.

That last sentence means a lot to me. I was starting to get worried. A lot of reading I had been doing was starting to scare me on the rehab. I was trying to get a timeline on things and checking on the Net and everything that I was reading about rehab was stressing learning to adapt and do things with what was available rather than about recovering use of the affected limb. Now my therapists seemed to concentrate more on the bad arm and had a lot of encouraging words for me but the reading was getting me discouraged. Was the happy talk just encouragement or was it straight talk. As I read deeper though I started to find more recent stuff that helped my mood. It seemed that more recent findings on stroke rehab contradicted the long time accepted principle of adaptation and encouraged the use of the stricken limb to get it working again and even mentioned certain device developed mainly to assist in these tasks. So I started on my reeducating program. Word of advice for anyone who might be rehabbing and reading this, push yourself to reeducate that limb. Do, or try to do, things with the bad limb. Don’t wait for recovery, you have to chase it. There will be frustration along the way, that towel will drop, that switch won’t turn, especially at the beginning. Just remember, most progress in recovery is done in the early months so the sooner you push the better.

BTW, thought I was gonna make Eh-Vegas if I could get behind the wheel. After all it’s only about an 7-8 hour drive, piece of cake. Don’t look like it’s happening. Did not realize exactly how tired the arm would get after just a few days of driving to work and back. By today I could barely keep my arm up and on the wheel. It obviously ain’t makig no 8 hour road trip. Damn.

Pooped ain't the frikkin word

Calling for rain tomorrow so even tho today wasn't as nice as yesterday I decided I had to try and get some plants in the ground. Unlike the sun yesterday today was overcast but otherwise a decent fall day. Wanted to get an earlier start but was still tired and fell asleep after breakfast and didn't get up until noon. Thought it was going to be a bitch but turns out it made no difference. Started late and Dad decided to give me a hand. Thought I might just be able to use a heavy pointed rod to make some holes but when I opened the box of plants we noticed that, even tho the plants were bareroot, the rootballs were still fairly large. Meant bringing out the post hole digger. Amazingly I was able to get a grip on the damned thing and was able to operate it after a fashion something unthinkable just a week ago. Things are improving. Couldn't get enough leverage to get real deep so I started the holes and took a break while my father finished them off. All in all we got a dozen red raspberry canes and half a dozen blackberries in. After that I was bushed. My therapist going to kill me tomorrow as, from the way I feel now, my arm and hand will be totally useless. They got a good work out today however and while I'm pooped it's that good feeling you get from a great workout. Can only be good. Just hope my raspberries make it however. While most of the plants still had a lot of foliage and the bags they were packed in still had a lot of moisture in them so they weren't dried out the plants are supposed to be dormant but the red raspberries have sprouted new growth, probably due to the warm spell last week. Just hope they survive the cold. Still have a dozen golden raspberries, a dozen blackberries and about 15 blueberries still to go. Plus have about 15 trees coming in in the next couple of weeks also. A lot of digging still to go. Blueberries going to be the toughest as they are going into a section where I have to cut thru grass to get them in and they need bigger holes than the raspberries. Luckily they have some dirt around the roots so may be able to survive a few more days as long as they stay dormant. Have to say thanks to my father because without him nothing could have gotten done. Just have to make sure I don't wear him out or let him wear himself out. If it was up to him we would have gotten another dozen or two in the ground today, as least.

So, as the title suggests, my ass is dragging. Feels good to have accomplished something even if someone else did most of the heavy lifting. Did what I could and suprised myself with the ability to be able to do what I did. Hopefully the rest of the planting will build up stamina in my arm if I can get it done. The rain ain't going to be helpful for planting tho the wet ground will definitely be a benefit to the plants once they are in. Have a feeling tho that I'm hitting the sack early tonight.

Last, but definitely not least, today is my daughter's birthday. In case her mother has somehow stumbled across this blog, tell her her father sends birthday wishes. It's times like this that really get me down, not being there for the occassion. Have already called and wished her Happy Birthday and had a little chat but just not really the same as being there. In case you see this, Happy Birthday Scoot.

Hokay, arm is starting to feel like it's ready to fall off so guess that is the signal I've bored you enough for today. Thanks for the ear, or in this case, the eyeball.

Addendum. Just my frikkin luck. I had hoped to make the Dec gathering but that idea has gone by the wayside. So what arrives in the mail today? An offer from the Mirage for a 3 day stay in either a suite or deluxe room, it depends on which days you pick as to which you get, plus $250 towards play, good Dec thru Feb. Don't know if it was for me or my father but as we share the same name and he had no intention of traveling it could have been all mine. Never rains but it pours.

Further addendum. Fuck pooped, right now my damn muscles are stiffer than my dick got after perusing Bam's Halloween post or the one about contacts.