Transverse Myelitis: On Exercise and Rest (2)

On April 15^th I wrote about Exercise and Rest, and what I had noted in a ‘big day out’. I almost wish I had not posted this, because my wife and family were very excited about my small discovery. On Wednesday 16^th I did only 784 steps during the whole day, taking a bit of a rest. But on Thursday, Janet challenged me to walk to the local shops (about 1.8Kms). She seemed to have every confidence that I could do this; I was not so sure...

Ah well, we did it slowly and steadily with her holding my arm, and also using the stick. I sat on a bench while the family went shopping, having a nice yarn with my brother in law – ie a rest. Then we set off home. My legs did feel tired. They were numb, and had a feeling rather like I was wearing thick socks. My feedback from stepping was not so good, but trusting my feet just to do what they do really well, we managed to get home – a little slow, but with no foot drop, trips or other accidents. We were triumphant. By the end of the day I had notched up 3986 steps for the day. Woo hoo...!! My iPhone app suggested I was no longer sedentary – for the first time!!

So, last night I slept well, getting up a couple of times to go to the bathroom – but without accident. Today was going to be a rest day, BUT....

I decided to wander off on my own, and walk to the end of the road and back to our house. Then we sat with family and had lunch for a couple of restful hours. They all went out shopping this afternoon, so I thought I might try my little ‘toddle’ again. All good!! My steps today are 1532 so far (1.1Km), well over the overall daily average for this little journey started back in January, even if not near the daily average for this extraordinary week (2047).

I am beginning to think I may be on to something. So I will go on testing myself out over the next few weeks. We may need to discuss all this with Physiotherapists or with Neurologists to see whether it makes sense. Certainly I don’t want anyone to push themselves beyond their own capacity, just because I am pushing myself. This is not a competition!!

I am me, and have always pushed myself. I ran a full Adelaide Marathon in 1987, having trained for about 3 years, building up slowly. It took me 5 hours and was painful enough to make me decide not to do it again. And I don’t have fantasies at my age of getting fit enough to do that ever again... But then, you never know... (Now Graham, don’t be stupid...).