Energy!

By Jay

I can finally sit here and type this by myself again. My back doesn't allow me to sit in one position for very long amounts of time yet, but things have changed. After the MOST painful back adjustment I've ever had, it started getting better. I can feel the slipped disc in my back, and it doesn't feel great. There is nothing that can be done, except for surgery, and I am still trying to avoid that. But just the adjustment of the vertebra made a world of a difference. It has been getting better each day, I am not taking pain killers anymore, and I can move a lot better. I'm really giving God all the credit for this, because this could have ended really badly. I know I will eventually need that surgery, but not now. Now I need to take care of my son (even if I'm still not allowed to lift, and probably will always need a lot of help.) Now I'm doing physical therapy twice a week. Miraculously, something opened for this week, and I will have my first appointment this Thursday. From now on, every Tuesday and Thursday, when Austin is doing PT, I will be doing PT as well. The only difference is that my PT will be at a different place. I found a place right here in town that I will be able to go to. I think God really had his hands in this… I will have to take care of myself and do WHAT OLD LADIES DO…. Right, Lee? I might be in back pain, but I can still read… ;-)

Just the fact that I'm not in as much pain anymore gives me so much more energy and motivation again. You don't appreciate your body and what it feels like NOT to be in pain until you go through a time with severe pain. When then finally stops, (or gets better), you learn not to take your health for granted at all. It makes me really happy to be able to move and not feel like I'm going to die. Ironically, I think Austin is going through the same phenomenon. He has been THE most active. I don't even know where all his energy comes from, but yesterday at PT, he started scooting around on the mat there. Noone asked him to do that. He turned himself around from his back to his front, pushed himself up onto his elbows, and he started scooting forward. He didn't make it too far before he was out of breath and had to stop, but he tried it again today. He made it even further. When we asked him what that was about, he said "I wanna move!" and today he said "I wanna go!" Most apparently he's got the urge to move around. Alrighty then!

Amazingly, his heart is keeping up with it quite well. With as much effort as he put into the scooting, I was a tad bit concerned. Today he pushed it hard enough to where he gave himself a bit of tachycardia (really fast heart beat). I didn't see this ending well. He stopped, took a break, and then picked it up again. And his heart sustained him! I just don't know where all this energy comes from suddenly! But I'm definitely not complaining. This is about the best thing that can happen to him right now. The exercise is excellent for his heart. Even if he were to have a little "fallout" while he's doing it (his heart is definitely not used to it, so it would not be surprising if he had the occasional issue), it will still benefit him. The crazy thing is that by scooting like that, he is skipping about 50 steps. He is not even strong enough to completely sit up for more than about 5 minutes, but yet he is pushing himself to crawl like that. This is hard work! He's working like a dog too, and after PT, he fell asleep and was so drowsy for the rest of the day that he could barely do any other therapy, just out of sheer exhaustion. He has had several long naps today, and I really hope that he will be able to sleep tonight, because he is awake now (at 9.30, whereas he often falls asleep around 8) and playing with his IPad ;-) However, this is awesome. PT right now is about THE most important thing for him. And if he's got the urge to move, we will do nothing but support him! I still wonder where this is coming from suddenly… but I am very happy with it. If he keeps up this rate of energy, he will get A LOT better in practically no time! (I'm not trying to set my heart on it, but I'm trying to be hopeful at the same time.)

His vitals have been looking really good over the last couple of days. That might be the reason right there why he is so motivated and energetic. That also affects his breathing and everything else in a positive way. He's been less congested, and therefore his O2 sats have been looking much friendlier too. The exercise will help him increase that even more. This is a positive cycle for once! It sort of started last weekend. Although I was not feeling well and he was overly concerned about it, he had a great time with Camy on Sunday. They took him out to the park and said he really tried to get involved and played with Cameron a bunch. She has always been a motivator for him, and maybe that day was a deciding factor in this. According to his circumstance, he is really doing well. Maybe he has understood that the more physically fit he gets, the better it will be for his heart. Who knows, but I love watching him go! I really pray it will stay this way!

I THANK GOD for giving us some better days. We all needed them badly!