Today, being a Saturday and thus part of the weekend, I got a day off from my therapy sessions. The idea is that patients need a break from the often intense workouts we get during the week. Did I rest? Heck, no! I see days off as chances to just experiment and see what I can do. Now, small things like bending at the waist on my own and lifting my legs against gravity have been major obstacles for me since I've been sick. This is because polymiositis affects the proximal muscles first, and thus affects them the most extensively. I'd also spent the better part of a month lying in a bed, which will make anyone at least a bit stiff in the back.
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| Proximal Muscles (image shamelessly borrowed from mda.org |
Well, because of that, my back had been so stiff for a while that my abdominal muscles were just too weak to bend me, and even other people struggled to help me do things like sit up and lean forward. Well, you know what? Thanks to being stretched every day and my body healing up, I can now lean forward in my wheelchair far enough to do things like unlock my foot rests and get my hands about halfway down my calves. This means that I'm that much closer to regaining the ability to do things like get my own shoes on and off!
As an added bonus, my legs have finally become strong enough for me to take very real, but small, steps while in the chair. I've been able to kick my legs out just fine for several weeks, but this is lifting them against gravity, stretching them to put a foot out, then pulling myself and my chair forward. This is how I'm starting to walk again. This is how I'm going to take my life back and beat this disease. Even if it looks a little funny to watch someone taking teeny tiny steps while in a wheelchair.
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