12/1
Holy crap! MY RIGHT FOOT JUST STOMPED ON THE FLOOR! that was crazy! He is really trying to go! I just want to get up and stand up and move! Wow I really felt that and the shockwave through my body, that was intense! You know it really does feel like I’m kickstarting old muscles that need new signals. It’s crazy. And that right there was one of the most intense feelings in the bottom of my foot yet!
I’m so exhausted right now. My left temporal lobe inside my head hurts. My left eye is swollen. My nose is clogged. I have a hard time being able to use it. My body is feeling more and more like my body should. It’s really interesting. I’m exhausted. I’m extremely tired. Why is the left side of my head and eyes feel so weird? Why is my left side so much more affected?
I’m noticing too, that my hips are getting much more relaxed. Also, my legs, especially my calves, ankles, and feet have such a significant feeling change. I’m noticing that they are really relaxed after the astronaut pants right now. I wonder what he would do right now. The answer is rest. Can’t do anything without it. That’s the smartest answer.
It’s been a long weekend. My legs are really returning! And I’m very excited to see how they are tomorrow!
Had a wonderful day with the momma! Made it out to see Max and John’s place! Then we got dinner with the family for one last time before we head out! Last time just for this trip!
12/2
This was the longest drive ever. This was rough. We got stuck in the worst time for the snow! Turns out we made it to about Kalamazoo, and then sat in I-94 for about 1-1/2hr – 2hrs. This was awful. Peed my pants and everything. I guess this Alberta Clipper came at the exact wrong time for the trip back home! I can’t believe I didn’t check the weather, this was insane! First exit off the freeway, I tried to make a detour, and nope. Someone jackknifed their vehicle at the intersection, blocking the road and causing the road impassable. Great.
We tracked back, and then turned around finally after we weren’t sitting in park on I-94, and turned and booked it and found a hotel. It was already getting late, and my body doesn’t do so well in these instances. Got cleaned up, ate, and we are out.
I’m pretty sure this was an Alberta Clipper, I suppose I should have checked the weather, but where’s the fun in that?
12/3
Wow. We finally made it back home. I worked for the afternoon, I’m exhausted. We hit more snow in the morning, and caused us a bit of grief for another hour or two. Glad that is all behind us now! But boy, this sure worked the energy right out of us! Callie and I were driving in the storm, and also trying to work at the same time! Not exactly best case scenario.
This is interesting, I’m up in the standing frame. My legs, lower abdomen, low back, butt, quads are really going too. I can feel my left and right side of my abdomen really engaging when I’m activating my left and right side as well! I really needed this! I haven’t been in it all week!
12/4
I’m tired. I only ate half my sandwich today at lunch time with my salad. Turns out I definitely need the fuel to get me through till dinner. Im famished. My heart rate is elevated right now, just sitting here doing nothing. It’s crazy. This silly watch is really good at knowing what my body is doing.
So today at work, I had set my laptop on my thighs after it was plugged in, as I usually do. This is when it was weird, because as the conversation I was having continued, I realized that my thighs were warm?! This was insane!!
“The nervous system controls blood pressure, maintains balance, coordinates movements, and regulates sleep. – areas that are all affected by space flight.” This is the leading quote from the news correspondence letter about the mission STS-90. This is the mission where they launch Neurolab into orbit and start to complete experiments about the central nervous system! I wanted to do some research on links between the CNS and space, and here we are! I hadn’t known this was a mission! I’m reading all about it now!
Orthostatic intolerance – maintaining blood flow to the brain. A person whose cardiovascular system is having trouble providing blood flow to the brain when standing is said to have orthostatic intolerance. This is also similar to a symptom of Autonomic Dysreflexia, a syndrome that can take place after a spinal cord injury. What’s interesting too is that I had used to present symptoms occasionally when I first was introduced to a standing frame back in Aug 2023, but that has since diminished. I think the only symptom I may ever have now is abnormal sweating. I just find similarities between these terms, and if this research in space leads to any findings, I think it’s worth learning about, and how it can help me! I would like to see if there are any other similar ideas I can leverage here! More to come!
What’s interesting is how we develop and build ideas. Also, how much of science is about the more simple ideas of observation, and making records. Science has its foundations in both of these. Without being able to document what is happening, making observations, and interpreting data, where would we be today? This is so true for Edison, Tesla, Einstein, and Franklin! Lots of notes from all of them!
I truly feel the relationship between them, and how I am attempting to document any and all the information on my body I am able to observe. I know I’m not much, but I’m trying!
Whoa, my leg spasms are getting stronger, and with a greater range of motion?! I’m sitting at the table, with feet off the foot plate, and I just kicked the chair under the table in front of me? That was like a foot and a half above my right foot?
I’m trying something these past couple of days, it’s been interesting. I’ve been really giving myself a good couple of seconds before I do an action with my leg, to think and visualize deeply what it would look like. It’s been interesting because not always, but sometimes I can really get my legs to move the way I am visualizing! So after I do the movement, I try to really feel and remember how that felt. And tie that to the visualization of the movement as well.
Microneurography, a small needle is placed in a nerve, and the nerve signals traveling from the brain to the blood vessels can then be measured directly, letting us know how the nervous system is functioning. I would love to do something like this!
It’s interesting how we can read about studies they do at universities, sharing information, and apply it later in our own studies. This is when real accelerated learning can take place!
So my legs, especially my left leg, is getting so much straighter! This is exciting too, because the Botox has to be wearing off since September!
12/5
My legs. Their proprioception is really high! They are getting stronger! I was going to the bathroom in the night, and my ability to lean forward, outstretched with different objects is so high! I need to keep being mindful of that and keep doing that! It’s incredible! Lots of things to research, and lots to do. Always busy, and always be mindful.
It’s really interesting how much of my abdomen, lower abdomen, hips, inner legs, and lower legs have all spiked in sensation and movement! So much to report on! Let’s get to it! These past couple nights of good sleep are really helping me get back on schedule! Hard to believe it’s already Thursday this week!
Man, my legs are really engaging with my modified sit to stands, my little stands are getting better and better!
12/6
I got stuck in the elevator just a bit ago. Actually it was the elevator crack, and I forgot my winter gloves, and I decided halfway into the elevator I was going to turn around and grab them! Nope. Glad I have Callie cuz that could have been disastrous!
I didn’t have the slide board for getting into the car, and as I was leaning into the car to try to grab it from the passenger seat, I slipped off the chair, my legs stretched out, and I had to hurry and “schloop” myself into the car! That could have been a mess! Two close calls back to back!
So, let me just think about this. I just got up in the standing frame. It’s 9:27pm. The feelings that I am feeling definitely are partially from digestion, but also this warm, tight, tingle-type of happening? It emanates from my low abdomen, extends really to the surrounding areas as well. My upper thighs, my glutes, hips, underneath my sit bone between my legs, it’s really tight. It’s interesting.
And, yeah. Something interesting did happen, again. Uh, I mean I guess it is good that it happens!
So I’m in the standing frame right now, and I’m doing some exercises. These movements went really well, and I’m realizing something. I really need to work my body and weight shifting while at least still in the standing frame! This is really important, so I need to stay focused!
If I At least try to feel, anything that’s going on, and if I move the muscles right now that I can move, the muscles adjacent do start to gain voluntary contractions. I’ve been noticing down my entire anterior and posterior side. It’s crazy, from my back down through my glutes, hamstrings, and calves. Then my front with my chest and abs, lower abs, pelvic/ hips, quads, knees, and tib anterior! These muscles also are firing! I have been noticing how if I just start to contract my muscles in the range of motion they are in, the muscles adjacent will start to pick up and fire after I slowly ease into the available range of motion (ROM).
My breath when I do single arm overhead raises, is very difficult to do, especially in my left side. My breaths are shallow, and my left side has less than half the capacity or height as my right.
12/7
So yesterday I learned that there is a new type of deep brain stimulation (DBS) that deals with stimulating the lateral hypothalamus. I think this is interesting because I have also recently learned about vagus nerve stimulation, and it seems as though these both are related? Those scientists over in Switzerland are up to some good things! I need to finish that 2hr webinar I found, from the Lundbeck Foundation! I need to see if these are the same researchers!
But back to the initial lateral hypothalamus, I wonder what I can do? What can I do to help stimulate it without a brain implant? Obviously we stimulate our brain in so many different ways throughout the day, taking in and processing different information. And it turns out this part of our brain does deal with many different functions as well, and to be honest, it sounds like we are just learning what this part of our brain does. I see that it’s our brains “feeding center”. But also, it’s been more recently discovered that it’s important for food related learning and cues as well?
Taken from the Department of Psychology in UCLA & Sydney, Camperdown, “Despite the physiological complexity of the hypothalamus, its role is typically restricted to initiation or cessation of innate behaviors. For example, theories of lateral hypothalamus argue that it is a switch to turn feeding ‘on’ and ‘off’ as dictated by higher-order structures that render when feeding is appropriate. However, recent data demonstrate that the lateral hypothalamus is critical for learning about food-related cues. Furthermore, the lateral hypothalamus opposes learning about information that is neutral or distal to food. This reveals the lateral hypothalamus as a unique arbitrator of learning capable of shifting behavior toward or away from important events. This has relevance for disorders characterized by changes in this balance, including addiction and schizophrenia. Generally, this suggests that hypothalamic function is more complex than increasing or decreasing innate behaviors.” [1]
I think this is a very interesting fact, and I wanted to share because all of our current understanding of the brain, spinal cord, and central nervous system (CNS) is really blossoming and growing! This article was from 2023, and this information is all very new. So for us to be able to apply this information now is also going to take time! This makes me think about the innate need and want to get up. To get up and walk. I really do. Every dang day. I’d love to just get up, grab the leash, and take Max out for a walk. I wonder what more I can learn and apply with this new information!
Wow! My legs are really kicking! Laying in bed, my legs get some force going! To me, it almost sounds like I’m fast approaching this crossroads where I need to learn more about kinesiology! I seem to talk a lot about this subject, but with no formal learning of it!
I need to get a stationary under desk bike! I have an idea! Okay so I bought one.. haha!
Wow, first day back in the gym in well over a week! This is probably the longest break I’ve had from going all year! It feels good to get my muscles working!
The stretches I was doing last night in the standing frame were HUGE! The weight shifting/ arm stretches, and movement in my hips and back were all so helpful in learning where some of the limitations are in my body, and how to expand them!
Holy crap. Did a back to back workout today! This felt amazing, and honestly it was really hard! I decided again to change it up! In an effort to do more things with my feet on the floor, I decided to try the punching bag with my feet on the floor! And I did! Boy was I slow, and I really needed to focus, but I did it though! I held myself upright, with feet in the floor, for a full half hour!
This was a full week. So much to learn, so much to research, and so much to do! Let’s try again for this upcoming week!
Works Cited
[1] Sharpe, M. J. (2023). The cognitive (lateral) hypothalamus. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2023.08.019
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