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Written by Phillip Sherwood
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Friday, 04 July 2008 |
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This day holds a duel meaning for me. Obviously the first is our nation becoming independent from England but the other is my own personal independence; both being a struggle for one’s own personal freedom. We take a lot for granted for the sacrifices made by Americans in the past who’ve given us the quality of life we all enjoy today. Likewise as a paraplegic, I am reaping the benefits of personal independence from others before me who didn’t have the luxuries I enjoy today but paved the way so that my life can be made better by them. Today is a great day…Phillip |
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Written by Phillip Sherwood
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Thursday, 03 July 2008 |
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I’ve been gradually increasing the intensity and duration of my workouts being careful not to overdo it and it seems to be having a positive effect all around. I begin my routine with about 45 minutes of stretching. It’s really difficult at first because the initial manipulation of my legs provoke very hard spasms. When the spasms subside, the initial stretch feels like trying to work out rigor mortis. My flexibility has really improved but the legs are incredibly stiff in the beginning. For my 30 minute aerobic routine last night, I did laps around the little indoor running track while alternating every other lap by going backwards. I only ran over two people and one stationary machine J Going backwards was a killer and I could really feel my heart rate increase. One light-heartening moment was when I was coming around the bend where the water fountain is, a little sweet old lady was there with her arm reaching out towards me with a half a cup of water as if I were in a triathlon or endurance event. The next lap she handed me another and said, “here’s the other half of that cup of water” and put her hand on my shoulder and told me congratulations. Truly a priceless and uplifting moment. These past twelve hours have been met with unusually high IC outputs. Last night my “smurfs” I wear on my feet fell off because the Velcro is at the end of its lifecycle. I decided to double my body pillow and prop my feet up which resulted in some serious drainage. Today is my day off of work so I took a mid-morning nap and propped my feet up again and voila, another high drainage output. On another subject, I saw on the news about the American hostages that were freed yesterday from Colombia in a remarkably successful rescue orchestrated by the Colombian Military Intelligence agency. This is the same group that gave me the pseudo-name and credentials of “Felipe Gomez” to race under. One of the hostages, Thomas Howe, worked as our fixed-wing standardization pilot when I woked as an advisor to the U.S. Department of State in Bolivia, South America. He was just recently captured when I reported for duty in Colombia. He’s a good man and I wish him the best as he resumes his life. This afternoon I have an appointment with a local mobility specialist to have a different brake system installed with a camber-locking system that prevents rollback when engaged. This is coming to me as a gift from Curtis & Melisa…Phillip |
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Written by Phillip Sherwood
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Monday, 30 June 2008 |
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The past several days have been restful and rejuvenating. I was at the gym Friday getting a great workout in when I decided to transfer to the upright bench press machine. I was having a difficult time trying to maneuver my wheelchair into position to facilitate a transfer but the machine next to me was really close and getting in my way. I was thinking to myself that yesterday when I did this with the instructor it wasn’t difficult at all. This sweet little old lady walked up to me and asked me if I needed a hand but I said no thanks that I’ve just about got it licked. She told me that she had recently lost her husband who was bound to a wheelchair for the past nine years. Finally after transferring, I went to unlock the brakes to my chair and move it away when again that dang machine next to me was getting in my way. I took a good look at what that machine was causing me so much difficulty when I suddenly realized… that was the machine I was supposed to be using that I transferred to the other day. Whoops?! On Saturday we all went to watch the Blue Angels air show at the Huntsville Airport and it was a great show. I watched it from inside the air conditioned confines of my beloved Honda “Christine” Odyssey while listening to NASCAR. I found that by taking Tramadol to help relieve my back pain has a side effect not worth the price. Although it takes the bite away from the immediate discomfort, it also “numbs” the bladder and I can’t tell when it gets full thus making it harder to judge my self-catheterization (IC) intervals if/when needed prior to the timed event. There is a very nice article in today’s Huntsville Times newspaper about the courtship and wedding of Curtis and Melisa last weekend. I’ve included the link here: http://www.al.com/living/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/living/1214730989124260.xml&coll=1&thispage=1. I’ve still had no luck in selling either of my two houses so I’ve decided to renew my apartment lease another six months. I have faith that something will happen soon…Phillip |
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