Finally, after much anticipation Mike got thru his first session at Project Walk today…… more than what we had hoped for!

Since we arrived we have both been sick – poor little Ash has been playing doctors and nurses for real!! Finally got some sun happening yesterday which was very pleasant and I think I have finally shaken off jet-lag this morning, thank goodness! We are also finding our way around a bit better now and seem to have sorted out Mike’s chair disaster – as per the earlier post, the manual chair has been nicely bent out of shape and the electric chair that was delivered can probably best be described as a bucket of ….. We seem to have found a bit of a hybrid which we are hoping is more comfortable than either of them – our tiny little hotel room has been over-run with wheels. This should give us a chance to get out with Ash and see some of the sights in a chair Mike can stay in for more than 3 hours!

But enough of our “opportunities” – here is what you really want to hear about -
What an amazing place Project Walk is …… the attitude of the staff, the attitude of the other SCI patients – it is all about CAN and how to. I think Mike’s trainer looked at the Ironman cap Mike had on and thought to himself – we’ve got a ripper here.  Since the session Mike has alternated between extreme excitement and being really angry at the “waste of time the last 9 months have been”.  He wants to work out a way to pay for every physio at Royal Talbot (and most of the other staff too) to come across and see at least one session to see what people are capable of.

To give an idea of how much he gets thru in the 3 hour session here is a list of what he got thru today in the 2 hours after the 1 hour assessment — Rolling over front and back, assisted sit-ups, assisted bench press (of a broom stick!), standing, walking and leg weights – not bad for a lad laid pretty low with the flu. When I got back, Mike was sweating and breathing hard which was pretty cool to see after 9 months of being told to lie or sit still and take drugs! When he was absolutely stuffed, the trainer got him to do one more and made sure he did it properly – it was brilliant – Mike thinks he has never had a coach so tough.

It was brilliant – when I picked him up he wanted to go straight to dinner (at 5pm), drink 2 massive drinks and then home to bed! Apparently they had barely let him rest long enough between exercises to have a sip of  water.

In another exciting change from the work at home …. they started his session early and finished it 15 mins late – they seem guenuinely excited about working with him and where he can get to. Looking forward to tomorrow already — oh yeah, and they are taking sessions on Good Friday too b/c they ‘might as well work with their clients who are around’. I’m hoping that when Mike is well again, he will be OK to easily knock over the 3 hours and can look at picking up extra time with these experts.

So – a huge thankyou – to everyone who has helped us get here – honestly, if we get nothing more out of the trip – today was worth it!