Its been a month post liberation procedure and what a busy month it has been!! last thing I blogged about was going to the beach and not realizing until watching my videos how awesome I was actually doing. Well since then a friend has been in town and she ran me ragged as far as testing out my endurance levels. Glad to report that I passed with flying colors. During her visit we went to the beach three times each time having to walk almost a half a mile to get to the shore. One day we took a trip to the beach twice in the same day. We went shopping, out to dinner and out for a couple drinks ( I do want to stress that I was wearing wedges the whole entire time). Not once did I have to sit down and rest and this would of never been possible before the procedure even with all the drugs coursing through my system!!
Last weekend my husband went and did a 2 mile hike through corkscrew swamp sanctuary...before I wouldn't have lasted 1/2 a mile and I walked the whole 2 mile board walk. I had to sit and rest and you could tell I was getting tired by the end but the fact of the matter was that I made it through to the end without crying, without tripping over myself, and without needing to hold onto the railing and drag myself the rest of the mile. On the forth we went to Barefoot Beach and it was packed so we had to walk about 1/2 a mile in order to get a decent spot without someone on top of us. We stayed there for about an hour, laying out in the sun and went swimming. We walked back and there was a nature trail that we wanted to walk so after walking back and fourth to the car twice we started out on the nature trail. About a 1/4 of a mile into walking the trail I was done my foot drop was kicking in and my legs were just tired. However my thighs did not feel tight and I didn't have the 100 lbs lead feeling that I was experiencing before the surgery. So although I was having trouble, things could of been worse and I realize that...so needless to say I am thankful for that!!
I want to address the extreme that my legs were facing before the surgery. I dreaded going anywhere, I hated the beach, I hated the super market and I had to plan my day around my Ampyra effects. I still need the Ampyra and you can tell that once it kicks in I do have an increase in mobility. However now I can go to the store regardless of whether my pill is at its most effective state or not...I can walk and carry more then 2 lbs without my legs frankensteining. I do get tired and I still do have the foot drop but my energy level has improved so much and probably because I can do sooo much more then before. It has only been one month and I have not yet started an exercise regimen so maybe my legs need to build the appropriate muscles...maybe this is the most improvement I am going to see!!! Regardless of the case I am sooo extremely happy with what I have seen as far as improvement thus far!!! Well I have yet to do a video and will get that up as soon as I can but I wanted to keep everyone updated on how I am doing and will continue to do so. Thanks everyone for your thoughts and continued well wishes!!!
