1/11/26 – Neuromuscular Reeducation
So this morning I am really trying to breathe into my lower left abdomen. Also I was trying to flip the script a bit, and stop saying how “tight” I was! Truth be told, my legs are literally almost all the way extended! That’s ALOT different than them being so tight! Also I think I have an idea for how to modify the braces! Stand by!
My hips and legs right now! Are really feeling full! Trying to keep them all engaged, relaxed, breathing, and clam is honestly a mental workout in and of itself! If you think about it, if your mind is so preoccupied with a task, that would kinda qualify as a mental workout, right?
Neuromuscular reeducation… so even if regular fully able bodied folks need to do this, why do I think it’s such a stretch that I need to do this as well! I need to look up some techniques! I was finding some cool videos on this!
What’s also interesting, is how I was trying to “push” my leg away from me, at the hip joint. On my right, I could get some pelvic rotation, but my left? Nope, not quite! I think I found some work to do! Found 2 really good videos from a physical therapist in Australia! These were cool I’m gonna mess around with the exercises today!
On the floor for a quick session right before bed! I was able to really focus on some glute isolation for my left and right glute, as well as focus on some adductor work as well! Really trying to incorporate some consistent floor time, more and more everyday!
1/12/26 – Human Connection & Movement
I woke up this morning, did a quick scan of the body, and noticed, “wait… is that…. Can I?….. Feel all 4 sides of my legs???!” And sure enough, I scan my legs again, and do some small contractions, and sure enough! There they are! I cannot only feel but activate (even if just a little!) all 4 sides of my legs! This is incredible! I honestly cannot believe this right now! I had a quick little session on the floor last night, and those magic circle adductor work, on each leg, is really helping! I need to keep it up!
Honestly, slowly but surely here I keep going, it’s honestly crazy. I’ll have to keep my trust in the process! Working the muscles, getting rest, getting signals sent, you name it! It’s all coming together!
I wonder how the astronaut pants would do today? Or this week? My legs have been getting so much more stretched out? And I wonder what it would feel like, too?
Wow. Just wow. My legs during PT today responded like CRAZY!
Today was nuts. I got done with PT, my legs were still charged. I was feeling my leg swings, stance, you name each part of the gait cycle, and I was feeling it!
It’s been a huge amount of movement today, and I got a lot of work done, inside and outside of work, projects, body, mind. It’s been a day.
I even got on the floor and used the astronaut compression pants, and boy did that get my legs feeling crazy! I haven’t used these in a long while, and they were alive with sensation!
My entire lower body is waking up and reactivating so much! Today my left medial area of my brain was “tender” or sore, from all this work! That’s literally where my motor cortex is, and I feel how fatigued I am, because this is the most localized, “head ache” that I’ve ever felt. It was crazy. I’m almost “woozy”.
We’re all connected in this game. It’s crazy to think about how connected we are, because in my darkest moments, I still know that is true. It’s wild because I am not sure when people ever think about this connection? Weird?
1/13/26 – Mental Predictions
Wow I needed all that rest! This routine on my back is going really well! I’ve expanded the narrative while on my back, thinking about how our body works on predictions.. I figured, “let’s not tell ourself how tight we are, let’s talk about how strong + relaxed and straight my legs are!” So instead of focusing on the tight, I try to melt into the bed, relax, and not think about it all too much. But rather, let my body do what I want it to do, and that’s to be relaxed, engaged, and active!
I’m really building some momentum with this idea, I’ll have to continue with it! Mixing in the activation and the rest, my body is really liking this! It’s a slog, and it’s slow, but day by day my legs are filing out!
1/14/26- Short Note
It’s another good morning of a supine “session” I don’t have a lot of time to write! But this is getting better everyday! Glute med and max and really filling in, as are the vastus medialis and lateralis in my quads! Hip flexor is relaxing! Slowly focusing in on the rest of my legs, and filling them out as well!
1/15/26 – Handcycle // Pilates Day
Getting my legs extended in every position, opportunity, chance they can, I can feel how much it is really telling my legs they need to be online, more and more. I can feel the readjustments, recalibrating, the “making sense” of all the signals down here, and it’s absolutely wild sometimes. I don’t understand how it’s all possible sometimes, but I keep up the hope.
Trying to figure out the communication between Medical Supplier, Healthcare Provider, Insurance, and Me, is no small feat. This has been an awful process, especially when you need something to keep you alive. Talk about a way to really drain you, these conversations stink. They are not fun, there’s no way around it. I guess I’m glad I’m getting it figured out.
I’m working on the balance, the push and the pull, the contract and relax. My body is slowly learning that extended legs are safe. I’m really glad to be getting in the Exo, and working to be able to do this more and more, and getting my legs used to this!
Had an issue last night where my session was cut short because the battery died on the Wrist Control Unit (aka smartwatch). I have so many things I need to keep track of, I gotta get this figured out, and wrangled!
I’m trying to think too, how I could get some more supine/ prone time worked in my day? Like in the middle of my day, to give my body a bit of a break? I think I would really like that.
Core, chest, low back, glutes, are really engaged and firing more and more as well! The compression wear helps!
So I got to use the hand cycle today! This went absolutely AMAZING! I think I’m hooked! I went on this for 52min, and I pedaled almost continuously the whole time! It felt great!
Pilates went really well today, I’m really pleased how on the Reformer, the cue, to “tuck my shoulders down and back”, or “expand my chest”, really helped! My body is feeling so much activation right now it’s incredible!
WOW! It’s incredible!! The sneeze I just had felt incredible! My body didn’t hurt! It’s kinda miraculous im able to do this again!
My body is seriously filling out, and filling in, like crazy! I cannot believe it sometimes!
1/16/26
I have to say, this morning, on waking up, my body, MY LEGS, have made one of the most significant over night leaps to date! Shoulder down and back cueing has been so significant for posterior change activation, I’m feeling parts of my QL, glutes, glute med firing that haven’t fired like this to date! My TA is firing like crazy, as are my abs! My quads are feeling exceptionally strong, and then some of the biggest changes! My lower legs! Going into my gastroc’s and soleus, my tin anterior, my ankles, and muscles/tendons/ligaments of the feet are feeling more than they have to date!!!
Truthfully I need to learn up on the feet and ankles! There’s over 20 muscles down here, and the amount of ligaments is staggering! All the foot work and stabilizing + stretching Therese was doing with me on my feet has got them waking up like crazy! This is unreal!
I have a lot of Hope in my body, and mind, for my legs. The more I do, the more I feel. Instead of thinking of any form of movement as ‘limiting’ I’m flipping the script, and seeing it truly as the opportunity that it is. Like yesterday, on the hand cycle, I could have thought that the usage of this meant I would never get on a standard bike again, but what if this is helping me accomplish this goal? Who knows? Also it’s getting your body moving, your heart going, and mind working in incredible ways as well!
1/17/26 – Mark Drug // Stomach Flu Symptoms from Hell
I can feel so much activation in my low back, glutes, legs! This has been HUGE! What a day, stacking compression wear, 50+ min of intense Cardio, THEN Pilates? Wow, seriously what a day. It was wild too? My watch showed me as being in a ‘restful’ state, after getting done with Pilates PT? I had the urge to “go” to the bathroom, but instead my watch was like, “you’re resting”?? What is it that I have to do to quell these urges? Just that? Ignore them? Redirect them? I have tried to continually redirect sensations into my legs as opposed to letting them sit in my pelvis area, but is there something else I can do?
Honestly, this is crazy!
Had a quick bite at Collectivo before we get on the road for our long drive, this was a fun one, driving down to Chicagoland to get my “pee sticks” because the Medical Supplier “couldn’t ship them out because Insurance wasn’t going to cover them until the 23rd….” This was just ridiculous.
It’s honestly a shame, that I have had to make so many phone calls (over 30 this week) and get such little help. Callie started calling the doctors and medical supplier too, because I was getting so increasingly frustrated, that the call would run short because I would end up saying, “do you want me to die? Because if I don’t get these shipped out, which I’m going to in one days time, then I’m not going to be able to pee, my bladder could backfill or break, and HUGE issues could happen!?” And they usually don’t have anything to say about that.
Our medical system here in the US is so odd, with the 4-way calls and talks with insurance – medical supplier – customer/patient – doctor. We even called the Rehab Hosptial I was at, they couldn’t help. Even the Doctors who wrote my prescription couldn’t help. It just sucks. I’m not happy about all this, so I guess I gotta go over 1-1/2hrs to go get some pee sticks. Oh Joy.
We end up being on the road for over 2-1/2hrs, this sucked! Super snowy, drive to some random medical store in Chicagoland. Nice.
Mark Drug was pleasant, at least! The gal helping us was honestly so pleasant, I’m glad I finally got helped by a real person today!
We make it back home! I try to get in the Exo, and something is gurgling inside me, I had to cut it short with only one down and back trip. Ugh…
This wasn’t good….. my GI tract exploded….. oh gosh I don’t feel well….
This is a rough way to end an already bad day…..
End of day. I’m completely worn out. It’s weird to feel the splatter, and everything that runs underneath. I don’t think this is good…
This was a heckuva day. Turns out, I was not expecting any of this to have happened when I woke up this morning. Driving to Chicago, my gut falling apart, not getting any sleep. You name it.
The Astronaut on Earth 
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