8/16/26 – Back at the Gym
I had a feeling this morning. Just get up, and get moving! Like, I feel like I needed to get to the gym, and boy was I right! Holy smokes was my body really feeling how much stronger and stable I was with the cable machine! This was HUGE!
First time back at the gym to do some traditional strength training in what feels like forever! and I was really feeling so much renewed activation, and stabilization!
I’m feeling so much activation and almost jumpiness to my legs today and this afternoon. It’s been a lot. I need to get up in my braces more, on the bike more, in the Exo more. It’s making me sad to know I have all these tools but aren’t able to use them as much as I should be. It’s tough.
My body needs movement. It’s as simple as that. I don’t have a lot to say right now, I just better get some rest, hopefully I can get a better plan for this tomorrow.
8/17/26 – Where will you be in 500 years?
I think I need to start lifting weights on my own with the braces…… like, to use the cable machine, and work my posterior chain? I feel like when I worked out yesterday, everything in my body is firing up so well! Problem is, it’s firing up so well, I think my hamstrings are firing a lot to keep me seated, and they feel kinda tight this AM…. I wonder what I should do?! Maybe something to try with the PTs?!!
PT and OT went really well today. Worked on bench work, and being upright doing tasks!
From there I was working on sitting and getting up from various different positions and chairs with the stim on! Which also was quite the challenge! The stim helped “smooth” everything out down below! I was using monophonic vs biphasic waveforms, I need to look these up!
This kept popping up today, but where will you be in 5, 10, or for the countries sake, 500 years?
I guess, sometimes this question makes me simultaneously wonder and get scared, all at the same time. It’s weird.
8/18/26 – Independent Moves
These glutes and quads are really kicking in this morning!!! The spinal stim while workin on walking in the braces is honestly a great combo, it’s getting better every day! It’s incredible!! I wonder what spinal stim in the Exo would feel like??!?!
I need to start bringing them into work! Trying to get up at the workbench would be great! It’s a scary thought right now, but working on doing more things independently is really what I gotta do! Plus, like Danica said, if I don’t ever try, how will I ever progress??
It’s always a hard and fine line, in my head. The amount I should be able to do on my own. I guess, why does it need to be? Why limit yourself as to what you can do? Regardless of position? You can keep working on walking but solving problems while in the chair is only going to help you!
Handcycle before the storm! Got a ride in!
Standing frame before bed!
Stretching while in bed / before I get to sleep is interesting? I noticed something very peculiar? I actually was able to get either my left or right leg straight while in a deep figure four stretch? What was with this?!? This was so fascinating because I feel like my legs never get that straight, and also it was being done while I was stretching out my hip flexor on the opposite leg??? What is up with that?!? That was so wild!
I’m wondering what all I’m stretching and activating to get such a good stretch?! This was so cool! Hopefully too, these CBD gummies kick in to help simmer by body out as well!
I better get some rest, I am cooked. I can feel my left abdomen letting go, and I can feel my feet!! It’s end of day and I can feel my feet!!!??? It’s so amazing!!!
8/19/26 – Brewers Game with NRC Crew!!
Electrolytes before and with walking?! This was a GAME CHANGER!!!
Baseball game today!! Made it to the Brewers game with the NRC Crew!!! So many familiar and caring faces showed up today after PT! This was great to see everyone who showed up today!
Talked with Milwaukee Mark for a while! He honestly says some of the best things, and said something I’m never gonna forget. He told me when he is always thinking about what he’s gotta do, or next steps for trying to get through something difficult, he just tells himself, “Mama ain’t raised no bitch!” And keeps moving through it! Honestly, it’s so true and I can definitely say I gotta tell myself this more often!
We went on with the conversation and he goes, “You know, I gotta tell myself that, This isn’t how my story ends! Not like this.” And when you think about it, that’s true for all of us. If we give up, stop what we’re doing, or don’t continue with whatever it is that we are working on, the story ends. Right there. Just like that. But if you keep working, one day at a time, you never know what just might happen if we keep up the work and slowly chip away at what we’re doing?
We can’t always choose what happens to us in life, but we can choose how react to situations. Working on what I got and where am is what I can control.
8/20/26 – Confidence
I had a good walk yesterday! Electrolytes are so important for my body! And also I really gotta work on my leg endurance! These legs are working, we just gottta keep up the good consistent work!
Quite the tired today after being at the Brewers game for so long yesterday! We didn’t make it the whole game, but shoot! That was a lot!!
Confidence, our bodies need it! And support from our close knit network of folks, also really important!
Go go go go go go go. That’s what my mind seems to always tell my body. Or, is that what my body tells my mind? Interesting, because it feels like a bit of both, right now. My body is really evening out. The tight left side I am feeling letting loose and opening back up. He’s evening out. I can feel my quads and glutes filling in each day as well, where the activation continues to just increase and increase!
Got out on the Handcycle today, and I’m always fascinated with my breath with each ride. Sometimes it’s easier, sometimes it’s harder to get a full, deep, and even breath. That left side — with its thin elastic sheet that’s more taut than a beefy resistance band type of tightness. Each inhale stretching the band out a little more than the last. If I’m not consciously breathing into this area, I can feel how to doesn’t want to move on its own? Which is so odd to me?
8/22/26 – Confidence
The feeling and urge to get up! Getting my legs straight. Let’s be consistent today. Any time up is fine spent working on my body. What distractions are you dealing with every day? Let’s try to keep track!
My knees are bulking up?! I can feel extra mass filling in around them??? This is very interesting!
Okay so today was cool at Wellness PT! I did something different, and noticed some pretty significant changes! I looked up, not just for one step, or one set, but kept my eyes up for a while! I distracted myself when I was walking for the first time! I had said to Katie, “see if you can see or read the sign, and tell me when you do.” And so I get up and start moving forward! I’m like, adjusting my eyes, focusing on the sign and trying to read the bottom words that made up a sentence, I couldn’t read it? At first, 7 words, 8? Next step, Then a few more letters? Next step, DO NOT, and then another step a few more! Eventually I read the sentence, In Case of Fire, DO NOT use Elevator, use stairs. And before I knew it, I walked myself halfway down the hallway without even realizing it??? This was amazing!! I shook my head in disbelief, my body was like, stable, and I didn’t need to stop to take a rest?? I was so confused!
I honestly was pretty surprised, as someone came around the corner to tell us that this professor had swung by to come for a chat! I was surprised, and thought this was prefect timing! Professor Dan was waiting for me in the hallway!
He had reintroduced himself, talked to me about what was currently happening with the research opportunity, and shot me the proposal for helping him with some of his PhD students work, as well as with helping me with a few other ideas I had! I was kinda shook! I, would like to investigate more of this type of research opportunities! I would seriously love to get involved with this type of work!
My legs, seriously, are responding like freaking crazy to all this input! They want to be active, moving, doing anything! It’s 8:15pm, and they feel just as active if not more than in the morning before I even get ready to do anything?!
8/23/26 – Observations
My legs this morning have been fired up and pushing like crazy!!!
I think I need to have RPD do some prints for me on the standing frame? My feet slipping out is a huge issue, and 2 months of not being able to get up straight in that has been exceedingly frustrating. Not cool.
If you can’t observe something (like a signal), and can only measure outputs, how can we really debug what the issue is? If we can stimulate muscles, thru skin conductivity to then reach the muscle body, why wouldn’t you be able to instrument the device to just record, sad signal?
Because tracking, quantifying, and measuring something is one of the first ways to better understand it. Once we are able to do understand, then we can more easily manipulate. We are really just pattern makers, and for my body and spinal cord, if we could measure and track progress, we could add more meaningful intervention.
Lots to work on, lots to do. Let’s try to wrangle this all together and get a plan, because there is too much going on! Let’s see how tomorrow goes!
The Astronaut on Earth 
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