#bettereverday

[mrsmcintyrefitness]

Keep in mind there ARE things that CANNOT be taken away. 🥰🤗 Don’t forget those. ♥️ . #2021 #growthmindset #betterEverday #JanNEWary #healing #power #MyHusbandIsBrilliant #ImLearning #ImGrowing #GrowingIsHard #ICryLots . @shawnt.mcintyre 😘 https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ9pX3cjbR4/?igshid=ijdxm2wiaro8

[mrsmcintyrefitness]

Keep in mind there ARE things that CANNOT be taken away. 🥰🤗 Don’t forget to work on those. 🤗🥰 . #2021 #growthmindset #betterEverday #JanNEWary #healing (at Lockdown) https://www.instagram.com/p/CJwWkd9DUGf/?igshid=1e2sgxi265afl

[sirduarti-blog]

Never look back, never walk back, always follow your path, for the strong and true will accompany you, those who enter your path just in passing may no longer be by your side, but will always remember you. #stronger #forte #bettereverDay #today #terca #me #itsme (em São Paulo, Brazil)

[phalanxprotection]

Work......#allthestars #eplifestyle #bettereverday (at EoS Fitness - Tempe Gym)

[shbettereveryday]

Day 593 - 594

Back to work. Monday we remembered that there was a support group we had heard about online at Mercy rehab. It is a group that fits my time schedule better then the SSM Rehab Hospital where I went. There were 3 other people in it. The organizer is walking now but he has a cervical spinal cord injury and was able to get back to walking. His injury came from a horseback riding accident. He said he worries that people see him walking in and out and think it is easy. Another was injured in 2014 in a truck accident and as it happens is brother in law to a former coworker in Kansas City imagine that. The next was a young man who was injured after me in December 2016. He has been through stem cell. Which he said is 5000 dollars a round 3 rounds recommended. He has started to recover some feeling. I honestly don't know how people afford all that. He said he had gone back to work full time but decided that didn’t leave enough time for therapy and working out. He said from the beginning he was going to walk again and can get standing in a walker currently. He said with regards to work which he works 3 days a week. He needed the time to work on himself and pursue his goal. They all seemed to say that therapy and gaining independence is a full time job. I know I am an outlier in this world having a full time job but I don't have the energy the way they do. I still and striving for independence but I do worry that my working full time takes away from my ability to work at increasing independence and potentially create an opportunity to walk again. Another person I met at Paraquad said he spent a lot of money and many years "chasing the dream" and it didn't happen. While I think working at it is important I don't think that guarantees success but as the guy at the group said he knows if he doesn't work at it then it will never happen so he tries.

As if on cue I was so tired at work missed my nap but on top of that I had been dealing with insomnia since the surgery it is starting to clear but still so tired. I looked it up that insomnia after surgery isn't unusual and looking back I defintely dealt with it after all my other surgeries. Tomorrow is my post op appointment and I hope all is good.

Last there is a quote from a story that aired in our 6pm news at the station that I loved and will leave you with tonight. The story was about disabled scuba diving. The quote was "it seemed impossible until it wasn't. So many things in my process of getting bettereveryday has seemed impossible then it wasn't so it just stick me.

[shbettereveryday]

Day 586 - 592

Went to the trivia fundraiser and had a great time. The significant thing about that night was that I spent the night in my manual chair. It went well I was able to do the ramp at the entrance and was able to maneuver ok around the facility in the crowd. I did have marks on my legs where they hit the frame of the chair but it was fairly minor. Our team won which made it even more fun.

The week was a short one at work preparing for surgery. The surgery went well. It was difficult getting there at 6 am as they wanted. That meant we were up at 4am getting ready. We chatted with another fellow in a chair with CP who approached us because of our 180 medical bag. He had one too and we talked about their service and cath supplies. Anyway things went routine and spent most of the rest of the week resting. The incision is covered and there is bruising (normal) so my follow up is on Wednesday this week.

Finally on Tuesday I was able to get my chair back from repair. That was frustrating how long it took but glad to have it for the surgery and recovery.

Hopefully the surgery fixed the placement well enough and I can continue getting bettereveryday as we get to torwards spring.

[shbettereveryday]

Day 581 - 585

This week started with some promise all though I knew it was going to be long due to some late nights scheduled at work. It took a long strange journey to get to the end. I was told last week that they would pick up my chair for repair. It isn’t a critical repair. The chair worked but the I Level ( allows me to raise up 10 inches) was intermittent. Well Monday came and went and nobody called. Leaving work Monday we had another thing that happened to us and I will get to the later. Tuesday they called and wanted to pick up the chair. They did close to when I had to go to work. I was in bed Michele waited for them. They set up the cushion on the loaner chair saying they had the part and it would be done on Wednesday. I told them I needed it by 1pm because I had a Doctor appointment at 2 on Wednesday. On Wednesday they called and said it wasn’t working with the new part and the rep for the wheel chair company was coming to take a look. That was when I asked to get it so when they got another part to fix it I could bring it back since they told me it could be next week before they got the part. I agreed to wait for the rep. They called later and said they couldn’t get it working but if I could wait until tomorrow the other place they were ordering from would have the part there tomorrow and they would call when it was done. All day and they call when I was in the news and left a message. Thursday was a very busy crazy day at work. They said the part was in but they couldn’t get to it but they would do it tomorrow (friday). Well Friday I called and complained the lady said the techs were going to call me when they got out. Of course they didn’t and when I called she answered they didn’t call you? Your part hadn’t arrived but if I wanted to pick up my chair then bring it back on Monday to fix it if I wanted it was too late for that. So despite me trying to not end up in the loaner chair which doesn’t fit very well and is uncomfortable for a week. I did just that for what would be a repair that wasn’t critical but important to get done.

It has been completely frustrating to not only be in a chair that isn’t right but on some of my longest days at work. It is a testament to how having the chair that is setup for you and how important chairs are for us. They are a part of our bodies and critical for us the be at our best.

Back to the story on Monday when we were driving home a high speed chase flew by us and crashed up the road a bit. I had dashcam video which I shared to work and the story associated with the chase lead the morning news the next day. The station has a competition daily in honor of the Olympics airing on KSDK. Giving employee awards and on Tuesday I got the silver and a 20 dollar amazon card. So that was sort of exciting.

In conversation with my spinal doctor we talked about many things. It came to a point where they don’t do studies for people with SCI since there are so few of us relatively speaking. That is true in other areas there are only a couple wheelchair vendors to work with and once you have a chair with them it hard to just take it somewhere else since they don’t get alot for warranty repairs. There is limited access and space for us. Parking, seats at events are limited. It is difficult enough but having congress looking for ways to make that access even more difficult to get better by looking to weaken the ADA is an attack on the civil rights of disabled people. That has been the single best thing for integrating the disabled community as a whole in this country. This is something that I will have to deal with and hopefully be able to continue improving access so I can be a part of society without being impeded.

The week as you may have experienced seemed like it rained everyday and was partially miserable weather wise ended with the first spring training game on TV. A sign of hope that things will clear up and time keeps on moving. Baseball probably had a metaphor for everything. In this case it brings hope that the next week will be even better and start another interesting journey. For me I fell asleep watching. I am not in mid season form yet.

[shbettereveryday]

Day 571 - 580

Lives well lived

Not a lot to update from last week.  Tired because of working later due to the olympics.  The extra half hour - hour makes a big difference in our tight pattern.  Paraquad on Thursday was interesting because they had large groups of 1st year OT students from Wash U doing mobility meaning they were practicing in a wheel chair.  It is interesting to talk to the students that work at Parauad to hear about what they hope to do.

I put that up against attending my Step-Fathers and I say that only in a technical sense birthday gathering.  He has been every bit of a father to me since before I could remeber anything.  It was a gathering honoring his 80th birthday and it included Me and Michele, my sister Stephanie and brother in-law Doug, and a group they called their breakfast club.  Part of the dinner was thier friends telling about who they were and what they did.  It was fascinating listening to 80 something people talk about their lives and accomplisments.  Among them was a pilot who flew Hugh Heffner around and an engineer who didn’t like engineering and became an orhthoedic surgeon , a teacher, a financial person who was in charge of the sale of the Chrysler plant property and of course the pride in their children.  I left the gathering thinking how there are lots of stories of lives well lived and wondering where my story will end up with the latter part having an SCI.  It does focus my interst in helping in anyway possible with peer mentoring, activism for disabiiities or something else.  I hope to be sitting around at 80 and being proud of my life and having people who’s lives I have touched.  My father has certainly affected my life and been everything I could have hoped for out of a dad.  Happy Birthday and congrats on having a life that has been well lived dad.