a typical day

So are you wondering what a typical day of rehab is like when you've suffered a spinal cord injury? Here's a taste of what Jim has been doing (it does change a bit day to day) and will continue to do for another three weeks:

• 9:00 a.m. Lite Gait - walking on a high-tech treadmill with a harness while 2 therapists and Janelle manipulate feet, thighs and hips to simulate perfect walking form (funny, but most of us do not walk properly!!)
• 10:00 Occupational Therapy - Jimmy's therapist works on understanding the skills he will need to go back to his job, which is highly mechanical, and gives him exercises that will enable him to do his work more efficiently
• 11:00 Community Reintegration - A team asks What can we do for you? Do you want to keep working? Do you want to return to college? What are you goals going forward? How can we help you adapt to your life waiting for you?
• Lunch
• 1:00 Lifestyles - a class format that touches on everything from educational needs, how to get around, travel, daily life
• 2:00 Pool Therapy - it was awesome to watch Jimmy stand up out of his chair and use the handrails to WALK down the steps into the water!! He said he could feel his hamstring and his hip flexor "waking up" and yesterday did exercises to strengthen those.
• 3:00 FES bike - Jimmy has the second highest resistance in the hospital right now. Of course, he wanted to know who was ahead of him. That competitive spirit works well for him! He rides the bike hard for an hour.
• 4:00 Therapeutic Massage - 30 minutes of massage to loosen up severe knots in his back from the surgery, from using new muscles that he's not used to (such as the ones he uses to wheel around in his chair)

I always feel so proud of myself when I've made it to the gym and put in my 30 minutes or so of cardio - that doesn't hold a candle to what Jimmy is doing daily. Keep it up, Jimmy! You're an inspiration!