It might not sound like much but Mike assures me that yesterday was a landmark day – he managed to bench-press a broom-stick. Whilst this may not sound very impressive, it actually is on a number of fronts ….. let’s not forget that the expectation even until quite recently was that Mike would never be able to have full reach in his arms on any plane of movement. Firstly, there was a point in time that his arms all by themselves were too heavy for him to lift, and a broomstick weighs in at a good 5lbs! Secondly, whilst he has been able to sort-of benchpress the impressive weight of a broomstick for some time, the last little bit which requires some tricep assistance has been basically impossible. Thirdly, this means he can co-ordinate both arms to kind of do the same thing at roughly the same time! Let’s face it – once you can benchpress a broomstick the sky is clearly the limit!

After a pretty depressing weekend (one year since the accident), it is good be doing stuff again and looking forwards to being more positive again. On a more serious note, Mike is loving being back in to a full “program” and seems to be thriving on being at the gym and doing ‘exercise’ again. For any of you who have seen him since we have returned, he is sitting up so much straighter and has a much better posture. He is loving his morning “stroll” as he insists on getting setup with his sticks each morning and walking from bed in to have breakfast. Unfortunately with how long his morning routine takes, he is often left having breakfast on his own as Ash is already off to kinder but some days we all sit at the table together which is awesome. It is incredible seeing how much his walking is improving just taking a few steps each day. Obviously it is still a long way off being useful to him but if nothing else, it has got to be better for you to get up and move about than just sit around all day!

I haven’t managed to make it in to a gym session yet but I am assured by both Mike and his carers that there is plenty of equipment he can use and he and Pat seemed to have sorted out a weekly schedule with a couple of days of strength work and a day of co-ordination work.

In other exciting news, the hand therapist is awesome!! He has made Mike a couple of “torture” splints – well, that is what they look like! He has also shown Mike some massage and stretches to do and the wonderful Harri is all over these in her sessions with Mike so hopefully this will stop the fingers from becoming claws (as they have been threatening to do for some time now!) without having to increase the drugs any more. There are definitely some messages getting from brain to some of his fingers but it is just a matter of waiting to see if they can become useful. Can’t allow myself to get frustrated that we managed to come across this guy because we happen to have a friend who knows a few physios who recommended a physio who happened to know of a guy who …… anyway, you get my drift – you shouldn’t have to a wait a year to see people like this and you shouldn’t have to be so lucky to find them but anyway, enough whinging – this is one of my pet projects that I will just keep plodding away at — anyone with good political contacts let me know!

Not a lot else to report from here ….. still waiting on house mod stuff to come thru so that we can sort out the house and have somewhere that Mike can get around a bit more comfortably (ie, that he can get into without getting drenched as he gets bogged going all the way around the side to come up the temporary ramp out the back! and one that he can get in to more than 3 rooms in the house without taking out chunks of door frame!). Also, looks like he might be doing some ‘reading’ slots at kinder as some of the kids seem to think that because he is a chair he might not be able to talk!! Anyway, hopefully he can blow that misconception away quite quickly and I think when we sort out a skateboard for the back of the electric chair and he takes in the power-assist wheels that the kids will end up thinking that the chairs are actually pretty cool anyway!

A few interesting things on the agenda for us both which hopefully we will be able to give you more info about in the next week or two – some fundraising, some just fun and some that will hopefully help a whole lot of people with SCI.

Also, Mike’s computer is now setup (I know, only a year since the accident and finally he has something he can use!) and I go back to work in a few weeks so hopefully you will get all your updates now from Mike. I suspect he will be including some gym footage so you can see him in action!

I think we feel like we are a bit back on track after a flat-out week.

The first couple of weeks after coming back were a bit of a downer for Mike with having nothing arranged by way of a program, people were busy and we were a bit distracted by the upcoming story. I am pleased to report that we seem to be back to the usual complete madness at the blue house with people dropping in all the time. I know how much it lifts Mike’s spirits so thankyou to everyone who has popped in to say hi in the last couple of weeks.

Despite still having a dreadful cough, Mike seems to be pretty much mended from whatever lurgy he had when we first returned and has set himself up a full program to keep himself and his carers busy! He has been checking out gym’s but managed to sort out a membership with MSAC during the week (they have been absolutely fantastic and are keen to support him which is great!). He has been for a session to check out the equipment and starts in earnest with the trainer next week. This is on top of the 4 physio/hydro sessions that he is entitled to and also the extra physio and feldenkrais that we have organised. He has also found a brilliant hand therapist so lets all think good thoughts for those useless hands! And, as always, the wonderul Harri is making time for a couple of massages a week – so he is busy, busy, busy! We are also trying to incorporate a bit of stick “walking” in to his daily routine to make sure he spends time upright and gets balance practice and a bit of strength in those skinny little legs.

It has been really good getting Mike back in to a good early wake-up routine as I think we just all function better that way. Also, last weekend he purchased himself a michellan man jacket which he is now officially in love with – he is now busily lining up footy games that he can keep himself warm at! He was up in time and dressed warmly enough to drop Ash at kinder early this week as a practice run for when i am back at work – the kinder was great, making sure that he could get in to the centre and to Ash’s room – although I am not entirely convinced that Ash will actually sign herself in!

It has also been a great week with lots of kids around – it was starting to feel a bit tragically quiet here so we are glad to have lots of kids dropping in again, although …. I am thinking it is a bit easier (and quieter) in summer when they can blow of steam on the tramp and play outside rather than getting every single toy off every shelf in the play room!!

A big thankyou to all the people who have been in touch since the Project Walk story aired last Sunday night. I will endeavour to reply to your e-mails over the next week. We were very worried about the story – not being huge fans of sensational tv and being very wary of journalists – but congratulations to Channel 7 – particularly Niki and Rhaini. Whilst, if we had a say, the story would have included a lot more footage of Mike using the equipment at Project Walk – we were really happy that it was a positive story about Project Walk and of trying to make the most of what you have. I guess we had also hoped that there would be more emphasis on the benefits of exercise in general, not such a focus on walking. Obviously being able to walk 20m with your hands strapped to sticks is not highly functional and doesn’t change all the other dreadful aspects of quadraplegia (or paraplegia) but being able to do some form of exercise (which was really out of the question for Mike with such limited use of his hands and arms) and strength training is as good for the mind as it is for the body.

Hopefully a couple of nice days this weekend so he can get some time on the bike as I believe he has grand plans of doing a team duathlon before the end of the season — boy I hope some arrangement can be made so he can do the ‘transition’ from his bike without the 20 mins it takes us to get him off and that Sammy is running fast so that they still make it in in the time limit!! And go the Wallabies – hopefully we can stay awake long enough tonight to watch the game (particularly as we don’t have Foxtel so will be at a friends place!).

Just  a very quick update for any people viewing the site for the first time.

For those of you who have not visited the site before – welcome and feel free to have a look around …. the posts track Mike’s progress from the time of accident last year thru to now. It gives details of his ups and downs thru the very bad times and then tracks his hard work to be where he is today. You will see from this view how long and hard the work has been and the huge support that Mike (and we) have had thru our journey. Have a look thru the photo’s – particularly the Rainbow Journey presentation which is a pictorial version of his journey to now.

The website was created by some of our wonderful friends and is used primarily as a communication tool to keep friends and family from far away up to date on what we are doing. The website has grown to incorporate some fundraising initiatives to help Mike be the best he can be.

The money raised to date has been used to assist with the trip to Project Walk, to purchase the FES bike and a recumbent bike which have helped Mike get where he is today. Now we are trying to raise funds to help build a house with space for Mike to move and exercise! He also wants some special equipment:

- total gym – to improve leg strength and arm strength and mobility;
- cable machine – to isolate particular leg movements to allow functioning of not working or incredibly weak muscles working;
- exercise bike – for cardio fitness;
- crawling machine – to retrain co-ordination to separate messages to arms and legs.

As well as helping as helping Mike, we have and are looking to do further work with wheelchair sports for kids and purchasing a recumbent bike for use at re-hab for other patients.

The current fundraising that we have going at the moment is the cycle kit and of course donations always help us keep Mike on a very busy schedule to regain as much function as possible - refer to the donations pages if you are interested in this (it is tax deductible, just follow the instructions on the page).

A big weekend in and around the Blue House ….. Lots of visitors which is great, some ‘proper’ food (ie, Melbourne brunch), and a spot of ten-pin bowling.

We think Ash is enjoying being home – she is certainly loving seeing all her friends again …. Saturday morning started with “mummy, what day is it? (Saturday) do I have kinder? (No, mummy and daddy are home with you all day) which of my friends is coming over today?”

With the cancellation of a few appointments last week it appears that Mike has (as usual) taken his recovery in to his own hands (actually, it was mostly feet). We went ten-pin bowling and it was great – Ash loved it (after she got over how noisy it was and the fact that it was scary for the pins to be knocked over and pushed down the back). I actually just think that she loved the shoes! Can you believe they make them that little! Anyway, we decided that if we all had to wear the shoes then so did Mike and we set up the bumper rails and got the ball ramp happening. Ash and Chloe loved helping Mike get the ball from the ball rack to the top of the ramp. Mike decided that as his fingers would not allow him to hold the ball at all he would push the ramp with his foot to dislodge the ball and send it down the aisle. First game he bowled nearly 100, and I think he can blame lots of bad shots on my not being able to line up the ramp very well! Having proven that his leg could push the ramp, and being up for another challenge, towards the end of the second game he decided to see how his reach and arm strength were going. He could actually reach the ball on top of the ramp (if he wheeled his chair up under it) and had enough strength to push it down the ramp – I think we were all really surprised. Not sure how much he really enjoyed it but was a great family outing and good ‘arm practice’.

Hopefully this week we can get going a bit more with some more structured exercise and get back in to something a bit  more like the Project Walk routine to have us all up and moving a bit earlier.

(no, we have not turned in to smurf’s)

After a longer than expected flight and a diversion thru Sydney we have made it safely home and back to the Blue House. It is very nice being home but we are all struggling a bit with jet-lag ….. Ash is the master of getting up at 2am and announcing that she is starving! Hoping that we can shake that fairly quickly.

Our last week at Disneyland was a really nice family break and I know Mike enjoyed going on a few rides. He is pretty stiff and sore after a week now of not exercising (Project Walk style) so we are hoping to get him back in to work early this week. He finds his back does not get nearly as sore and he is much more comfortable when he is moving about and using lots of muscles. It will be very interesting to see what his physio thinks of the improvements in just 7 weeks of intensive work.

We hope Pat is enjoying his time with the AIS tri team and can’t wait until he is back to pick up where Project Walk left off.

A huge thankyou to our wonderful friends who made sure there was fresh fruit and veg in the fridge, milk and bread and a meal! You are amazing. And to Jacquie who left the house so clean that we have decided that floors are dreadful and need to be re-polished! I have a bit of a lurgy (no, it is not swine flu, I have been checked!!) so not having to go straight out to the shops was awesome! Also, thanks to Sal who has stepped up to carer duty when none of the carers for the weekend or Monday showed up!! Oh, it is so good to be home!!!

Not much else to report at the moment as we try to settle back in to the blue house and set up a schedule for Mike to keep him moving and improving. Thankyou to everyone who helped us get over to Project Walk, it was an amazing experience and something that I hope someday will be available to all SCI patients here (who want it). We now have the foundation to keep working on small improvements to get Mike as good as he can be, and hopefully in the process drastically increase his quality of life.

Also, in other news while we were away the next lot of cycle kit arrived so if you are missing something from an order, let me know! We also have a few sets of arm-warmers (white with michaelforbes.org on the arm) and winter gloves (black with michaelforbes.org) on the front.

Mike is hoping to do an update when I unpack the bags enough to clear space to setup the computer on his table and we have some more footage to put on.

Amazing – Mike completed the 25 hours at  Project Walk last week and he is still alive to tell the story. It was great for me to get to spend the week and see what he had been working on …. it was really very impressive and there was a lot more fine movement and “muscle turning on” (there will be some weird technical term for that) type work than I had thought there would be. Mike finished the week absolutely exhausted but with Pat and myself reasonably confident that we can keep this up at home. I think Mike is definitely looking forward to some rest time but it was sad leaving so many people who we had gotten to know quite well over the last 7 weeks. There was some more TV footage shot of Mike on Friday afternoon so he worked right up until the end ….. this was not good news for me as I didn’t get very long at the memorial day sales over here which seem fantastic!! Oh well, maybe another trip. Really it is truly unbelievable that he can do that much exercise in a 5 day block and still be able to do other stuff outside his time there. They do not go easy and the time is very much full-on.

As Mike had been finding that a couple of glasses of red were helping him sleep, we decided to try taking the boys to a brewery we had heard of … Stone Brothers. We had heard of them because they make a beer called the Arrogant Bastard and another called the Double Bastard. We had hoped to be able to get some Double Bastard gear for Mike’s primary trainer and get something put on it about the hack squat machine but alas there was none, we will have to think of something else! Anyway, the brewery was an amazing place and we had the most relaxing 2 hours of the trip there!

In our usual fashion we let Mike rest for a grand total of about 5 hours before we packed up the condo and headed to Anaheim for a few days in Disneyland. Thus far, it has not gone completely according to plan but we are having fun!! We couldn’t fit all our luggage and all the people in the car so I drove up and the others caught the train … a great idea in theory but it took them nearly 3 hours compared to my 50 min drive …. at least they got to use the train we had been listening to for 6 weeks!! A bit of a disaster but they got here eventually and we had an hour or so with Ash in the pool here …. she is a tenacious little thing – they told her she couldn’t go on the water slide unless she could swim across the pool by herself — needless to say about 20 mins later across the pool she went and the guards said she was good to go. She trotted off up the stairs with a whole pack of 6-10 year olds (looking even more tiny than usual!) only to be stopped at the top and told she couldn’t go on it. Eagle eye Mike spotted this and got the guard to yell up on the loud-hailer thingy that she was fine ….. by this time nearly the whole pool is watching as she launches herself down the slide …. too cute, she was so mini but she did it and loved it!

Cannot believe we have come to Disneyland on Memorial Day long weekend — I am an idiot! Was so crowded in there today it was completely maddening but was great with Pat and mum here as we had lots of help with Mike and mum could watch Ash. Mike decided it was time to “feel alive” which apparently requires you to go on lots and lots of rides which have big warning signs about neck and back conditions. i was horrified but he loved the Indiana Jones ride and Pirates of the Carribean boat trip and it appears that the titanium in his neck is holding together beautifully! Sadly, the line at Splash Mountain was too long so we didn’t make it in there — probably a good thing but maybe he will try it tomorrow! Anyway, saw a shirt that made me laugh out loud in the shop — it had a picture of Doc (ie, 7 Dwarfs) and it said “I’m with Dopey” … love it!

Click here to see some photos taken by Pat

And here’s the video version



Not a huge fan of Anaheim (kind of nothing to do except go to Disneyland or be very “in” to Disney characters) and Ash seems to be more interested in the pool at the hotel than Disneyland but hopefully will have another fun day tomorrow before the crowds disappear for our last couple of days. Not entirely sure how on earth we will drop off all the equipment and get ourselves home but it is bound to happen somehow!

Looking forward to seeing you all when we get back. Will be a very busy few days coming up as it is family holiday with no carers but i think worth it to have some time together. Have a safe few days and see you on the weekend!