Another six weeks gone by

It doesn't seem like it's been six weeks since I was last tested for walking speed, leg strength and overall balance but indeed it has. And what a difference time and an orthesis made.

My walking speed has more than tripled to 212 meters in 6 minutes (or 6 laps vs. 2 laps around the gym floor). My scores for balance have almost all reached maximum. And the strength in both my knee and hip joints have increased, as well.

What kept me from reaching top score on everything comes directly from lack of strength in my hip joint. I have had a lot of pain in my hip since starting rehab so it should have come as no surprise. Therefore, concentrated exercises that strengthen the hip will begin, I hope, immediately. It will not only help build strength but also increase coordination which could dramatically affect whether I can bike normally, walk consistently well and take stairs with ease.

Now counting the days
My official last day is December 23 but my last day of living in this therapeutic wonderland will be December 19. Which means I will have two full weeks without formal therapy. I'm not necessarily joyful about it as I've come to look forward to the daily physical challenges. And I worry that such a break will set me behind.

However, after taking the test the past two days, I see I am in greater shape than I expected to be and I am really starting to feel like a guest here versus the patient I'm supposed to be.

Beside, the break will give me and Nico a lot of time to make progress on my apartment and maybe put me into the house by January 4.

No couch yet
Well, we visited Ikea on Monday to ponder couches and, instead of cementing my love for the Kromfors, it only made me doubtful. I still love the design but, in the bright store lighting, the swatch of yellow fabric they had available looked closer to canary than the mustard I saw online.

So, now I have to decide whether I go for the turquiose or another couch altogether. No matter, I have to get a new couch as the big, blue beast is gone for good.

Joy! Rapture! My very own wheelchair
Besides having to live with a cane and rollator on a daily basis, I will also have in my occasional transport pool a scoot mobile and wheel chair. I think this weekend we will head to ThuisZorg to pick out the chair and cane. Then walk over to the WellZorg to get a scoot mobile ordered before I get home on the 19th.

Cycling... not just yet
While considering how to build my transportation arsenal, I didn't forget about basic cycling. It's just that I'm not yet ready to invest in an alternative cycle (i.e. bicycle) until I know I can't ride a normal one. Besides, I have yet to ride a cycle - normal or alternative, stationary or mobile - without having my hamstrings and/or leg coordination go all wacko on me. One six-week step at a time, right?

Sports I can do after Blixembosch
Monday, Nico and I met with a sports coach at my apartment to discuss various options for sporting in my free time. If you've known me well at all since attending college, you know that I stopped all the sporting I used to do. Before my stroke, I was doing as little as cycling to work and daily walking my dog with an occasional hike in the hills of Belgium or the dunes outside Eindhoven.

So, what's possibly on the list for me in the future? Nordic walking, Tai chi, Yoga, Pilates, rowing, and archery. Of course, yoga and tai chi are nothing new to me but I may need alternative poses now. There are fitness clubs which I plan to investigate very soon also.

As I told my parents recently, the lifestyle I lived before is not an option if I still want to be walking when I'm 60. I have to get active and stay active, learn how to build this discipline into my life and learn to like it.

I also have to build in painting and music. It all comes with this renewed gift of life I've been given - love it or leave it.

And where does work come in, you may ask? I ask myself the same thing, actually. I have no earthly idea. I'll think about that next year.

What I'm reading
I have finally gotten around to the book I received from Skiela, Walking in Circles Before Lying Down by Merrill Markoe. So far, so good. The book I just finished, also with dog at center, was great (and inspired my interest in archery you may have read above. We'll see if that goes anywhere.).

Thanks for the comments
To those of you who leave messages for me in response to something that speaks to you, it's great to know you're still listening.