http://www.supportthewall.net/index.php/site/index/ en robbie@supportthewall.net Copyright 2008 2008-11-08T17:18:00-08:00 http://www.supportthewall.net/index.php/Monroe/updates/stairway_to_heaven/ http://www.supportthewall.net/index.php/Monroe/updates/stairway_to_heaven/#When:17:18:00Z Once again I have to begin with an apology for not updating as frequently as I should.  To make it up to you, I have posted a new video called "Stairway to Heaven". It’s captures me ascending the basement steps with my...well just check it out in the video section. Although I say in the video it is dedicated to the doctors I have encountered during my recovery, I would also like to dedicate the video to my friends at Project Walk-I am sorry I cannot be there with you for this years Steps to Recovery.  But keep up the hard work- I’m talking to the trainers and clients alike.  In other news, Mandy and I have finalized the purchase of my van.  The driving system is currently being installed and should be ready by the end of this month.  I done several hours of driver training with hand controls and I am excited and ready to get back behind the wheel.  As far as recovery is concerned, as you can see from the latest video, I am still progressing and getting stronger each day.  I now have a climbing harness in the basement that is suspended over a treadmill and I have been spending about 2 hours a day on it.  I cannot walk for 2 hours but I am on my feet the entire time and periodically take a few steps.  This has been especially important lately as I have been battling a pressure sore (my first)!  It is healing up nicely-thank goodness.  Thanks for checking in and thank you all for the birthday cards and wishes!    2008-11-08T17:18:00-08:00 http://www.supportthewall.net/index.php/Monroe/updates/3_years_and_counting/ http://www.supportthewall.net/index.php/Monroe/updates/3_years_and_counting/#When:19:04:01Z Sorry it’s been awhile since my last update. I haven’t really felt like things have changed since my last post.  However, today on the 3rd anniversary of my accident-a major BREAKTHROUGH:  I am pleased to report I just finished clipping my own fingernails for the first time in 3 years.  Mandy is so bummed because she just loves clipping my nails!  As small as an achievement as that may sound, it is a gigantic leap towards independence in my mind.  Speaking of independence and breakthroughs…today I was also able to get out of the basement completely unassisted.  Let me briefly describe what is involved in this feat.  Step 1:  Transfer out of wheelchair onto workout mat. Step 2:  Tie a rope to the back of wheelchair. Step 3:  Transfer back into chair and wheel over to the basement door.  Step 4:  Stand, rotate chair and insert rope in mouth. Step 5:  Hobble up stairs with rope in mouth.Step 6:  Sit down at top of stairs. Step 7:  Pull wheelchair up the stairs with the rope. Step 8:  Sit in wheelchair and untie rope.Step 9:  Call Mandy and brag about what I just accomplished.  A tad risky of an activity I realize but well worth it in the end?  In other news, I am still working on purchasing a wheelchair accessible van which has turned out to be a fairly overwhelming process. There are just so many choices and only 1 shot to get it right.  I do hope to be behind the wheel in the next 2 months though.  We are pleased to announce that a renter has moved into our home in Sparta and is planning to purchase the house in the next 6-12 months.  We are glad to finally have some financial relief from our mortgage payment even though the rent does not cover our mortgage completely, it does help immensely.   As soon as the deal is final, we’ll let you know! Well I"m off to the dentist to get a few cavities filled this evening . What a great way to celebrate my 3rd anniversary:(  At least this weekend I’m heading to North Carolina for a long weekend at the beach with family!  Thank you all for your continued support.  The last 3 years would have been much worse without you all behind me. p.s. This is Mandy sneaking into this post.....Rob doesn’t know this yet but we really aren’t going to the dentist.  A bunch of us our surprising him with an anniversary dinner!!!  Love ya Rob....hope you enjoy yourself tonight!!! 2008-08-20T19:04:01-08:00 http://www.supportthewall.net/index.php/Monroe/updates/slow_and_steady/ http://www.supportthewall.net/index.php/Monroe/updates/slow_and_steady/#When:22:05:00Z … Life with a spinal cord injury and the way I WILL BE DRIVING WITH MY BRAND NEW DRIVERS LICENSE !!!  Yep, that’s right folks by some miracle (or DMV mistake), I was issued a Virginia state drivers license. The DMV has a bad reputation but they put me through lickity split without even requiring a written or road test, even though my license expired some time ago. SHHHHHH.  The next step in getting back behind the wheel is figuring out what type of hand controls and vehicle I need.  Then, the goal is to become proficient with said controls and purchase said vehicle.  Needless to say, now that Mandy has gone back to work fulltime, having my own vehicle will provide me with a level of independence that I haven’t had since August 20, 2005.  So we are all looking forward to that!Speaking of Mandy’s return to work, it has been as difficult as one could expect given the lengthy recovery from her foot operation and absence from the field of social work over the last year and half while we were in California.  She is adjusting, slowly but steadily and I am sure she will hit her stride just in time for her to go back under the knife for her second foot surgery.  Yep, you read correctly, there is a complication with the screw they used to repair her bone- it is TOO BIG and is poking through the bottom of her bone into the surrounding soft tissue.   We haven’t scheduled the procedure because she does not have any sick leave built up but we hope the issue will be taken care by the end of the summer.  She is able to walk now thankfully, but not without pain which has prevented her from resuming her workout routine which she got so much joy from when we were in California.  My workout routine however if finally beginning to take shape.  I located a physical trainer who will be working with me 2/week out of our home.  In addition to that, I returned to traditional physical therapy this past Tuesday via the local paratransit service (another motivation for getting back behind the wheel) and plan to attend 2/week. Sadly, in the time it has taken me to obtain physical therapy and training, my muscles have atrophied significantly.  I have however, been doing some walking around the house and have even mastered the stairs .  My therapist and trainer have not worked with spinal cord injuries before but both seem excited and ready to learn about the unique complications a SCI presents. At the risk of jinxing it, we are happy to report that we have an interested buyer for our home in Sparta.  We do not yet have a written contract but we are hopefully to obtain one over the next few days.  The downside is that buyer will be renting the home for 6-8 months prior to closing but the upside is their offer is a solid one and they seem as in love with the house as we were when we first saw it.  We’ve learned in that past that offers/contracts have a way of falling through but we are hopeful that after 18 months we can finally say goodbye to 1 Alpine Terrace. 2008-06-18T22:05:00-08:00 http://www.supportthewall.net/index.php/Monroe/updates/hooray_for_mandy/ http://www.supportthewall.net/index.php/Monroe/updates/hooray_for_mandy/#When:18:18:00Z Hello Everyone,I have several newsworthy items to report. Lets begin with Mandy this time. As if there was ever any doubt, she rocked her interview and was promptly offer a position with the Fairfax County government as a foster care/adoption worker. While she is excited about the position and looking forward to working in her field again, for now it’s hard for her to be really excited about anything. Foot surgery is for the birds! She’s in pretty bad pain and has been sleeping on the couch for the last week because I normally kick her 30-40 times in a night with my spasms. We are a sight! She’s using crutches, I’m in a walker or chair. My handi-honey is getting a taste of disabled life and it’s no fun. Please post some words of encouragement for her on the message board. I love you baby.I finally uploaded some photos from the Cross Country trip back east. With almost 500 images, it was really tough to cherry pick, but we managed to get it down to 126. You can check it out in the Photos section. I’ll be including some of the unposted 300+ photos in the upcoming video (god knows when this will get done), but you can get a good idea about what went on with the photo album. Not long into the trip we named the RV the "Birthing Wookie", because of the noises it made when you turned on the water. Use your imagination. The trip itself was amazing. We saw San Francisco, Napa Valley, Redwood National Forest, Crater Lake, Shoshone Falls, Devils Tower, Mt. Rushmore, gambled in Deadwood, stopped in Jackson Hole, ate a 13 pound pizza in St. Louis and sooo much more. The most painful part for me was calculating the 8.5 mpg carbon footprint we left as we drove. With a total trip mileage of over 4300, well, let’s just say I’ll be putting off getting a car as long as I can.We are settling into Virginia life and have spent some time with a few friends we haven’t seen in a while. The most frustrating part of the transition is locating qualified doctors and medical suppliers within a reasonable driving distance. My mother in law, Eileen has helped out immensely by driving us to the several appointments we have had thus far and has signed on for a ton more in the next few weeks. Thank You!!! I did start the process of obtaining my drivers license, however the first appointment for driving school is not available until August and I cannot get an appointment until I obtain a doctor’s note (wish I would have know that last week when I was at the doctors!). Needless to say, it looks like I won’t be driving until well into the winter months which is a tad frustrating considering Mandy will not be able to drive me anywhere once she starts work.In other news, the house has still not sold. We have begun the process of removing the oil tank, which will hopefully make it more appealing to buyers. We would have done this sooner, but our insurance company would not allow us to remove the tank prior to the one year ‘waiting period’. It looks like we will have to dump more money into it to get it sold (destroy the deck which was stupidly built (not by us) on top of the tank, remove the tank, replace the deck). What a nightmare! It is still empty, not staged for sale, God knows what the yard looks like, or the driveway. And now with Mandy going back to work full time on the 14th, things feel really chaotic. If I can work it out, I might hire an aide and go live up there by myself for a while to help sell it. No one does what they say they are going to do unless you are sitting on top of them!Exercise has kind of taken a back seat to solving the house/doctor problems which is tough, but I do have a trainer coming next week for a trial workout (thanks to Ann McGavin for making the connection). Hopefully I can get back into a routine, my sanity depends on it. That’s all for now, thanks for checking in.Rob 2008-05-01T18:18:00-08:00 http://www.supportthewall.net/index.php/Monroe/updates/we_made_it/ http://www.supportthewall.net/index.php/Monroe/updates/we_made_it/#When:19:54:00Z Hello Everyone, Just wanted to post a quick note to let you all know that we arrived safely in VA. Mandy and I are settling into our "cozy" basement Shangri-La and the animals seem to be adjusting well.  The cross country trip was quite an adventure and we have the pictures to prove it! I’ll be posting them in the coming days along with some video. We actually arrived several days ago, but have been unpacking, cleaning and setting up the basement for handi-living.  Kyle has setup my workout mat and parallel bars and is in the process of installing hand rails for the basement stairs. I’m currently looking for a trainer to work with, but am trying to stay as active as I can until I find one. I’m also looking into some gait training programs in the area, but will need to make a trip to the DMV before I get much further with that. Mandy has hit the ground running with her job search and already has an interview scheduled for this Friday. She also is going in for foot surgery on the 22nd of April. Good luck baby! Now that I’m reconnected to the internet, I’ll be posting some new/old videos and working on Care Code.  That’s all for now, I hope everyone is doing well. Rob 2008-04-16T19:54:00-08:00 http://www.supportthewall.net/index.php/Monroe/updates/big_moves/ http://www.supportthewall.net/index.php/Monroe/updates/big_moves/#When:01:46:00Z We are heading home!  After 1 1/2 years of hard work and sunshine, Mandy and I are packing up and moving to Northern Virginia.  We have made the fiscally prudent decision to move in with Mandy’s parents and take up residence in the basement (yes we still own the house in New Jersey which is 100% wheelchair accessible).  Conquering the basement stairs is not the biggest concern (I’ll consider the stairs free exercise), it’s how our animals will integrate with theirs.  They have two dogs, one is a thoroughly insane Dalmation with an addiction to chocolate and broken glass.  The other is a geriatric mutt who’s dominance is well established but often questioned by her maladjusted sibling.  How Marley will fit into this hierarchy is indeed a question for Cesar!  As for the cats....we stopped clipping their nails, the rest is up to them.   Several factors played into the decision to leave California:1.  Money2.  Mandy’s Career/Cobra3.  Robbie’s Career/Cobra4.  Fleas5.  Coyotes6.  Wildfires7.  Rattlesnakes8.  Sand...it’s everywhere!In all seriousness, we both get the feeling that we are ready to move forward.  I have accomplished alot in terms of recovery at Project Walk and have learned the skills necessary to continue the work on my own with a personal trainer.  When I first arrived at Project Walk, I could barely slide my right leg off of my chair, had difficulty standing due to blood pressure and general weakness, and had no activity in my left leg. Today, I am using a walker, and have confidence that my gait will continue to improve and that one day in the near future I will not need this chair at all.  I have made lots of friends and had a tremendous amount of fun during my stay in Southern California.  Although we are excited to begin the next phase of our lives this departure is bittersweet.  Mandy and I have developed great friendships with the people we have met here. Thank you for having us over for holidays when you knew we were alone, for keeping us company during the wildfires, for helping me surf, for watching our animals when we were away, for laughing with us, crying with us and helping us fight the good fight.  I will never forget my experiences in the gym from taking my first steps post injury to watching others take theirs.  I know I have said this before but I’d like to thank all of the trainers I’ve worked with at Project Walk. Your creativity, work ethic and dedication have helped make my dreams come true.      Our plan for the return trip is as follows: Depart March 28th-head north to the Redwoods and then south east to Northern Virginia with hopes to arrive April 7. We have rented an RV which will house 3 animals, 5 pet beds, a basket of dog toys which includes at least 20 tennis balls that Marley has collected on her walks and that Mandy is refusing to throw away, a litter box, two wheelchairs, parallel bars, stairmaster, a shower chair, and food/water for 10 days. Mandy’s brother Kyle and our friend George will be accompanying us on the trip to help drive the RV and Escape which is coincidently too heavy to be towed behind the RV because it is a Hybrid and chuckablock full of batteries. This is the same Hybrid that is currently in the repair shop because it suddenly needs 4 new tires, new brakes, a wiring repair, new windshield wipers and an alignment.  Have we mentioned our luck isn’t so hot?  The Escape will contain our clothes, Rob’s cath kits (thank God for that Thule!) and our supply of audio books to get us through the midwest.   We have several stops planned along the way and we’ll be sure to take lots of photos and video of the adventure.  That’s all for now-we’ll be off the grid for a bit starting Friday but we’ll post an update once we are settled in on the East Coast.  2008-03-26T01:46:00-08:00 http://www.supportthewall.net/index.php/Monroe/updates/i_have_much_to_report/ http://www.supportthewall.net/index.php/Monroe/updates/i_have_much_to_report/#When:00:01:00Z Hello Everyone, I have lots of wonderful things to report and a new video to share. First, an update on the Sparta house. Thank you all for your positive thoughts and prayers. Despite our initial concerns about our insurance coverage due to the house being vacant, we are going to be reimbursed for the repairs of the damage caused by the frozen and subsequently leaky pipes.  The house has had a lot of showings and interested buyers but no solid offers have surfaced yet.  We sometimes wonder if the house has not sold because it wants us back!  We miss you too Alpine Terrace…but if you love something let it go (LET US GO!). Now let’s talk recovery.  Approximately 2 weeks ago, I started working with Ted Dardinski, creator and owner of Project Walk, twice a week for one hour sessions. His experience is obvious and his approach is creative. It’s been a pleasure to learn from him and to plant seed in his head about a northern Virginia Project Walk. Come on Ted, you can’t beat the weather in NOVA! In addition, I have discovered with the help of my trainer, Eric that using a weighted walker gives me more stability.  This has led to me walking unassisted around the gym faster than I have ever been able to before.  The walker does get a little heavy on the arms, so God bless my BBJ’s (Biceps By Jerry, more on that next post).  I retook my DAS exam. The DAS is an assessment exam you take at Project Walk which attemptsto quantify any physical return you might have achieved as a result of your exercise program.  When I got to Project Walk, I scored an 11 out of 40.  Last week, I retook the exam and scored a 27!  A gain of 16 points in 17 months- EUREKA!  To go from not being able to stand at all when I got here, to being able to do unassisted sit-to-stands during my exam felt really good. Yesterday it was gorgeous here! In the morning, Mandy and I when to the Batiquitos Lagoon which is a nature reserve here in Carlsbad. We spent about 90 minutes exploring the backyard paradise with Marley in tow and the sun shining down. It was a hoot! Mandy has off on Wednesdays so we’d like to make it a regular trip. Most of the paths are flat and hard-packed so it was pretty accessible, and when it wasn’t, Mandy made it accessible. I’m also posting a new video of my trip to Lake Tahoe. Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted a new one, let’s just say there were some “hardware issues”. You should be able to see the video below or in the videos section. That’s all for now and thanks for checking in, Rob 2008-02-29T00:01:00-08:00 http://www.supportthewall.net/index.php/Monroe/updates/hello_world_its_been_too_long/ http://www.supportthewall.net/index.php/Monroe/updates/hello_world_its_been_too_long/#When:05:28:00Z Well it’s been quite a while since my last update, much has transpired, good and bad.  I’ll do my best to get it all out in a somewhat coherent fashion. Let me begin with my recovery from this adventure that is a spinal cord injury.  I can do a sit-up now, usually only one but sometimes two or three in a row.  That is to say, laying on the bed/workout platform with legs hanging off the edge, I throw my hands forward to gain momentum and sit-up! Also, triceps are getting stronger.  I can now hold a 10 pound bar above my head while standing and keeping my arms straight.  Yesterday I was able to do 3 sets of 15 tricep dips.  It’s nice to be able to hold my hands above my head without hitting myself in the face. I also feel some return coming from my lower abs/hip flexors.  I see leg lifts in my future for sure!  Walking is about the same, I can do a loop or two around the gym depending on when in my 2 hour session I make the attempt. I’ve been using a walker more than arm crutches these days in an attempt to improve my gait. More support mean less twisting and arching to get that bum left leg to do its thing. My outside the gym workout has changed also since I last posted.  I still spend about an hour or two in my parallel bars but now I’m using a stair climber inside the bars and Therabands to continue working the upper body.  I also spend an hour on my bed stretching and Puppet Pumping (more on that next post, video coming soon).  I can now get my right foot behind my head and I’m about six inches shy with the left.  I’ve also started practicing Anusara Yoga with Michael Fukumura (http://www.loliyoga.com/).  I’m hoping Michael and I can work to improve my breathing and mind/body connection. Still plenty of spasms and still in plenty of pain, but I refuse to make either one the focus of my life or this post!So what else? Let’s talk about the house in Sparta. Mandy and I got a call from our agent about two weeks ago with some urgent and exciting, um, info…..no, not an offer, don’t be absurd, that would be good news. No, the kitchen was flooded and there was about 2-3 inches of standing water in the basement! Woo-hoo! I asked her to change the ad to read “Beautiful 3 bedroom colonial lake house with built-in ice rink.”.  We don’t know how, but the heat was shut off and pipes throughout the house suffered as a result. Wait, it gets better. The extent of the damage to the plumbing/heating system is yet to be determined; however, we have been informed that because we do not “live” in the house, our insurance policy is restricted and will not cover ANY water damage. I’ll give you a minute to stop laughing, I needed 2 or 3………….Don’t worry, we won’t concede that one without a fight. “It’s not that we don’t care, we just know that the fight ain’t fair!” –John Mayer, I Don’t think he was talking about the insurance industry, but it certainly does strike a chord with me.  In light of all the stress Mandy and I decided to head for the hills. We hopped on a puddle jumper out of Carlsbad airport and hit Lake Tahoe. It was time for some fresh air, beautiful scenery and adaptive skiing. Have I ever mentioned how much I love my wife? Mandy and I hit the slopes at South Lake declaring “Take your best shot World! We see your burst pipes in an unsellable house and raise you uncontrollable leg spasms and beautiful mountain vistas!” Anyway, adaptive skiing was a blast and I recommend to anyone willing to try. My, it’s getting late and alas I must retire. I do promise to update more often and like I said, video of the home workout routine is coming soon.  I also have some great footage of my time in Tahoe I would like to post.  Thank you all for your cards and support.  We love you all, Rob and Mandy. 2008-01-18T05:28:00-08:00 http://www.supportthewall.net/index.php/Monroe/updates/oh_christmas_tree/ http://www.supportthewall.net/index.php/Monroe/updates/oh_christmas_tree/#When:19:47:00Z Yesterday we set out to buy a Christmas Tree.  A little history first...When we first got married and moved into our house in Sparta we promised that we would always cut down our own Christmas Tree.  Mandy had fond memories of traipsing through the woods as a child and decided that was one tradition we needed to uphold.  Unfortunately, Rob was still spending his days and nights in the hospital when the first opportunity to honor this tradition occurred in Dec 05.  We considered skipping the whole tree thing that year but Mandy was bound and determined to not let a little paralysis stop them from having their tradition.  So Mandy solicited help from her friend Pam and they went with their dogs Marley and Jack in search of a tree.  After stopping at several farms and obsessing over the ‘feeling’ they got from the first few, they found the perfect tree, hidden like a Christmas orchid, resting deep in the New Jersey wilderness.  Unfortunately, the tree had a dead chipmunk in it which should have been a sign that cutting your own tree isn’t always the way to go.  After a moment of thinking, "Am I really going to chop this tree without my husband on our first Christmas together in our brand new home while he is stuck in a hospital in agony?", Mandy began hacking away.  Her friend Pam stood aside in awe of the emergent lumberjack. For 20 minutes the sawdust flew, and when the beast fell, it was carried a mile and a half back to the car and loaded for transport. In the end, we had our fresh cut tree and celebrated Christmas in our home together as a family.  When Christmas 06 came around we were living at the beach in Carlsbad in a temporary apartment.  We had arrived in California just a few months prior with just a few bags of clothes and medical supplies.  When December rolled around, we began to realize that we needed to extend our stay at Project Walk which meant deciding that we would sell our home in Sparta and that Mandy would resign from her job.  At a time when we should have been preparing for the holiday, we were worrying about how we would afford Project Walk while keeping up with our mortgage payments.  Chopping our own tree was never even a thought....we were still trying to ‘justify’ the purchase of a tree at all that year.  Decorating for Christmas was really just an afterthought as we were busy making decisions that were changing our lives...big time.  So one afternoon after Rob completed his treatment at Project Walk, we pulled into a cut tree lot just as a huge fog layer overtook the California sun.  As we selected our tree, it actually felt like we were on the East Coast again just before a snow storm.  We of course had no decorations for the tree or the apartment but a quick stop at the local drug store fixed that.  Even though the tree was only decorated in the front and was the smallest tree either of us had ever had- it was perfect.  Our 3rd attempt at actually following through with our tradition occurred yesterday.  We were in foul moods yesterday morning and really needed to get out of the house.  We did a little research and were very surprised to learn that you could in fact cut your own tree in the state of California.  The excitement started to rise and our anger at each other started to subside as we loaded Marley into the car.  We listened to awful Christmas music on the radio and snacked on roasted almonds as we drove the hour and half to the "tree farm".  As it turned out, 50% of the drive was through the fire damaged area.  A sad reminder of the events of last month but one that ‘justified’ us driving so far to buy a tree-at least we were supporting the community that had been devastated by the fires.  We could hardly imagine a tree farm actually existing in an area that is surrounded by desert.  Just as we were about 5 miles from our destination we came to a screeching halt-the road we were driving on was crumbling.....  Apparently the wildfires damaged the integrity of the cliffs and there was a construction crew on site to complete a makeshift repair.  So we sat, and sat and sat until we were able to continue on the now one lane road to our destination.  We pulled into the parking lot of the tree farm wondering if we were in the correct location.  Tree farms in California look very different then they do on the East coast.  Essentially they are made up of a flat sandy terrain with thousands of hoses.  It was very bare but there actually were trees in the ground.  Yeah!  A gentleman greeted us and said we could select our tree and then he would cut it and haul it for us (of course he would...we are in California remember).  As we maneuvered the wheelchair over the hoses with Marley in tow we were content and excited to make our selection even though it wasn’t exactly as we had pictured it in our heads.  Then our moment was interrupted by the sound of a collar jingling.....a HUGE barking rottweiler was charging for us.  Yikes.  The dog reaches Marley and she immediately sits down looking very afraid and then she turns around and we both know she is on her way to the place where she feels safe- Rob’s lap.  This also happens to be the place where she protects Rob, the place where other dogs can’t go, the place where if other dogs even try to sniff Marley quickly changes from the sweet, gentle dog to a protective growling one. We realize that if Marley makes it to Rob’s lap and the rottweiler comes near Rob (which she will because that is the purpose of her visit) there will be a royal rumble.  So Mandy takes Marley and starts walking very fast in opposite direction, leaving Rob alone in the middle of the trees with the rott.  He can’t wheel himself away because of all the hoses and he is definitely a sitting duck.  Mandy can no longer see Rob but knows he is feeling very vulnerable.   He finally yells over the trees that he is fine, "the dog is nice" and after the owners collect the dog...the hunt for the perfect tree continues.  Folks....there is a reason that California is not known for it’s Christmas trees.  The Monteray pine is nothing to write home about.  Every single tree was already brown on the inside and we decide we were destined to select our tree from the tented area of imported trees from the East coast.  We finally decide on the ‘Grand Pine’ and it smells great and is beautiful even though you can barely see the 10 ornaments that adorn it.  At least our house smells like pine and we are ready to celebrate our last (hopefully) Christmas in California.  Maybe next year we’ll actually cut our own tree together or maybe not???  P.S. – If you’ve had some trouble posting a message it’s not your fault.  It was not working for a few days (along with Rob’s email) but should be fixed now. If anyone has the correct mailing address for the following please email me at mandyheller@yahoo.com: Elizabeth Nimtz, Karen and Daniel Gerolstein, Robert and Marilyn Forney, ! 2007-12-05T19:47:00-08:00 http://www.supportthewall.net/index.php/Monroe/updates/sweet_dreams_an_explanation/ http://www.supportthewall.net/index.php/Monroe/updates/sweet_dreams_an_explanation/#When:22:53:00Z A few, not many, but a few have asked why....Let’s all consider the “Sweet Dreams” video to be a demonstration of “chaotic” behavior. The random occurrence of some highly unpredictable or, some might say, unlikely event. That’s how I feel about my recovery from this spinal cord injury.  When you exercise every day with the objective of discovery and improvement, it’s bound to happen.  And when it does, it’s an exciting and invigorating experience (much like filming oneself working out in a zebra print spandex singlet (http://www.spandexman.com – behold, the internet)) One of the goals of the Sweet Dreams production was to pass along that fun experience of unpredictable recovery.  One day it’s just a Monday morning and then BAM! Some guy shows up at your gym wearing a zebra print nothing, lip-synching sweet dreams with no music on, while his wife films him and he acts like nothing strange is going on. Or BAM! I can voluntarily contract my left calf muscle today, and I couldn’t yesterday. Or BAM! I’ve got 27” biceps! Well that last one hasn’t happened yet, but you get the picture. I’m sure everyone was thoroughly....excited. Anyway, when “getting better” is your job, and you love what you do, and you work with great people, recovery is fun. If a spinal cord injury is anything, its fertile ground for improvement.  I’ve been working out at project walk for a year and two months, and there’s lots of things I still can’t do, but that list is getting shorter all the time. The list of things I can do though continues to grow. This is the life of exercised based recovery from a spinal cord injury. Months or years spent in a gym punctuated by random, exciting and fun episodes of marked improvements. And by the way, thank you ALL for making this possible. From my family and friends, to random donors, to the people at Project Walk and of course my wife. Thank you for helping me make my recovery my job and my focus.  Thank you for keeping me motivated. Thank you for making something hard, something fun (that’s what she said). And thank you for your continued support. Anyway, statistical anomalies aside, when you embrace exercised based recovery less as a method and more as a lifestyle, functional improvements become less of a goal and more of a consequence. What at first blush seems odd and outside the standard curve of human experience (or SCI recovery experience), becomes a statistical inevitability, like me in zebra spandex.  I must say I also pulled this stunt because one of my trainers decided to take a three month vacation to help her sister get married and have a baby (she’s the blonde in the video).  It was kinda like a welcome home punishment.  Let it be known the next one who leaves me for three months is coming home to a two hour session in a g-string and pasties. Wink, wink, nod, nod, say na-more! Sweet Dreams. 2007-11-06T22:53:00-08:00