9/22
So after getting up to go to the bathroom earlier, I made it back to sleep. And boy did I sleep hard again! I got caught back up on sleep I definitely needed! And boy am I feeling some different feelings!? Cool toes? A change from tingling to temperatures? I really am feeling the changes in my shins, my gastroc’s and tibialis anterior is so very much there! My knees are both really there! I’m so glad to be able to be feeling them so much! My thighs are feeling some changes after the Botox as well, I think it might be starting to work? My adductors have toned it down, and I’m really really starting to feel some changes in my hips!
So I’m in the floor, and I’m really noticing how much better my inhibitory signals are sent when I’m very consciously trying to send them! As in, I can consciously think, ” okay muscles, relax!” And they’re actually trying, albeit slightly slower than they typically should! So, I figure if I keep on practicing this, it should come! I really have to take dedicated time to work on the inhibitory signaling, I really can feel when it’s working, but it’s slow. I know that with practice, it should come! I know my abs have been responding really well to this, when I’m on the floor and get in a plank position, I consciously work to contract them, and I can really feel my abs contracting, and then when I consciously work to get them to relax, they do! Just a process, I’m thinking! Let’s see how it goes!
Okay, taking time to lay on my back while using the astronaut pants is definitely more bang for my buck! (The buck being time) and I really am feeling everything in my legs relax! It’s incredible! Let’s see how this week will go, I need to get a bit better about scheduling out my week, so I’m going to be better about that by using my time on Sundays for this. I am really excited to see John and Jill’s new baby! She’s going to be great! This is so exciting!
I can feel my breaths getting deeper and deeper. I know how hard it is to get a full breath while on my back or vertical, I like the change that is happening with this last session of mindful breathing. So much to do!
9/23
I woke up this morning with some feelings I really haven’t had before, and a lot of it goes back to a feeling fullness? My joints have a heavier feeling to them, my right leg I think feels warm, and the beds of my feet also are changing. I can really feel the tightness from my low back go into and down into my butt, it’s really weird. I feel like my hamstrings and glutes are connecting, down lower even on my posterior side, my quad’s proprioception is through the roof!
Oh my goodness my legs are the most relaxed they have ever been after a round of therapy?!? This was incredible! Getting out on the bike, and then a session on the treadmill really did some wonders for my legs!
9/24
So I know my legs this morning are feeling fuller than ever! It’s just that I gotta get up! I really gotta go!!!
I’ve had quite the day. I’m exhausted. I’ve been sitting for far too long. I really don’t like that. I’m in the car right now, ready to get back home. I really was feeling a much more significant fullness to my legs today, and the tingling in my feet is really different, I feel a coolness to it. Like a weird slow moving “slosh” from an icee or smoothie. They feel cool, too. That’s a first. My butt is very much feeling the tiredness from sitting too much, and my legs are antsy. I really do not like how days like this require me to sit this much. It’s tough, my butt is sore. It’s lame.
I don’t know what the heck I want to do right now, it’s weird. I’m tired, exhausted, antsy. I want to simultaneously move around, go for a run and get some exercise energy out. And then, I want to just lay down. I am tired. And I think it is days like this that create this dissonance. I need to make sure I’m taking care of myself. I know these things, but why is it that whenever I get to work, I seem to forget all about myself, and my body’s priorities? I think that I need to think about that, because it really would make a difference with how you are feeling right now.
I’m antsy-tired. I don’t know where this conflict comes from, but I need to work on it. Just taking some time right now to try to get my thoughts out, get my body moving, I think is what I need.
9/25
Well, this is a good way to start the morning! My hip flexors and hamstrings are finally relaxing a bit! I did stretch them for quite a bit yesterday too! But I’m laying on my back right now, and that’s not typically a position I’ve been able to lay in for the past year! It was incredibly uncomfortable, and it would make my legs spasm quite a bit. But! I think they are opening up! This is great! And with that, I am having such a pleasant change in sensation as well! The fullness throughout my legs is increasing a little bit every day!
I can shake and wiggle my hips, and my upper thighs feel full! My feet aren’t having this immense sense of tingling, so much as a coolness now over them. That one is wild! I will say, that things are definitely changing! I wonder how therapy will go today!
Wow. Therapy today. This was incredible! I am really happy with the progress I am making on the “Trike”! I suppose the air quotes aren’t necessary, because that’s what it actually is! An adult size pedal trike! I’m so happy to be outside, in the fresh air, and a normal height, moving something with mostly my own body! I am getting help from the therapists, but it’s still me out there pushing the pedals! Every time I’m on it, I am getting better!
My whole right side right now, is feeling some changes! I can feel the pain in my right side, but I am learning and experiencing more and more that the pain in these areas, isn’t really pain. It’s more than that. I really have been feeling how this is my bodies way of working through the signals. The part of my body that hasn’t been feeling a lot, is now feeling something. And, with these these new signals, it’s working on understanding and differentiating what they all mean!
Time on the bike was amazing! I can’t wait to do it again!
9/26
It’s 1:41am. I can’t sleep. My hip flexor is spasming. I’m not having a good time. This is tough. I need to get some rest. I’ve been up for far too long.
And with that, I feel like I had a pretty interesting day. It’s 10:09pm. I need some rest. I’m please with how my legs responded today, the crawling sessions went really well! I know that when I’m tight, they get increasingly uncomfortable. When I’m not moving around, they get antsy. I really have felt today my legs responding so well to all the external stimuli that I had been exposing them to! I really do think that the bike is helping me with this so much!
9/27
Therapy went so well today! I had another session on the Trike! I was so glad to get outside, breathe the fresh air, and get to go for a walk with Callie! It was really a nice time, and the campus of Marquette turns out to be beautiful! I’ve been coming to Therapy here now for 10 months, and I’ve never made my way through campus. It’s been a good change of scenery, pace, and muscle activation! I’ve really been liking how my body has responded so well to getting on the bike! And I’m even able to make complete revolutions on the pedals on my own! It’s incredible!
I crashed HARD after therapy! I was completely exhausted after the session on the bike!
We had a nice light salad for dinner, and back to sleep for me!
9/28
Got on the floor to crawl around, Callie and I had a nice day exploring Port Washington, going out on the Breakwall, and getting soaked! There were quite the waves!
Tonite, when we got back from our day out, I think I just made a couple of PR’s, down the hallway, down the sidewalk, and the curb cutouts?! My abs are working in better sync than they ever have been before! I can honestly say the Botox, paired with all my other activities are really helping! This is amazing! I also don’t get the spasms as hard in my abdomen or hip flexors to pull myself forward, which really helps with my mobility! I wonder how this is also going to help translate to my standing and walking! I should definitely be able to get up straighter! I know that the last day of therapy I was doing that already!
The Astronaut on Earth 
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