Fiercely Independent Pam

Tag: Just wish I could stand without fear!

  • The Honest Truth of Where I am… the Good and the Bad!

    The Honest Truth of Where I am… the Good and the Bad!

    So, I’ve been pumping out blog posts and making sure they match the highest SEO, which means I have to write with a specific pattern. I feel like I’m not able to simply write anymore and I don’t like that. I want to connect with my audience and the truth.

    Here is the honest truth. I feel like a squirrel having to use the transfer board to go from chair to wheelchair to bed to wheelchair and all over again. It is less than fun. It’s a lot of work to line up the transfer and then make sure all is set to go. Luckily I’m getting good at it, but It truly is not fun.

    Second truth, I am unable to use the toilet. It is super low and I am not strong enough to lift myself off of the toilet. This is going to take the most time and I really miss using a toilet. The OT helped me order a 5 inch lift so when the time comes that will be helpful.

    I desperately want things to go back to normal, or even better than normal when I use my Zeen. It’s hard to fight the urge to create timelines in my head for when everything will happen. The more I do that, the harder it is to meet those goals.

    Until then, I will do everything I need to to get in exercise, rest my bottom, and dream of days of taking my service dog out for a walk with my Zeen- This is the image I need to focus on!

  • I Was Able to Stand Several Times and Even Take Some Steps! Progress feels great!

    Time for a new blog entry! Lots going on! I was able to stand several times yesterday with a little help from the PT, who is amazing. Then I took a few steps over to my scale to get a weight reading. All of it is an amazing accomplishment.

    I believe I’m not far away from standing on my own, which will open lots of doors to me. Once I am able to stand, I may even be able to get off the toilet on my own, which would be wonderful!

    I cannot say enough about how talented my caregivers and therapists are; they give me motivation when I am lacking and help me get to my goal to stand without support.

    Other than that, I was able to use a shower cap this morning which felt wonderful and while it won’t help me stand, it definitely makes me feel better.

  • Home, Missing A Lot of Items But SO Much More Room and a Calendar That Created Chaos!

    Well, I haven’t written blog post in a few days so I have some things to catch you up on. My sisters decided to make a visit and drove down to Myrtle Beach from New York. (Sisters are the best)They spent their vacation cleaning out my apartment and fixing the M&M Calendar that I bought and became a disaster. The calendar is super heavy and fell off the wall where my brothers placed it- causing what I called carnage(almost all the pieces had to be reglued and/or repaired.) My sister Lisa took on this challenge

    Eventually Lisa figured out that the calendar should be placed table top and not on the wall so it was placed there and set up on my small table.

    Besides rearranging what was on the table top and wall around the new calendar, everything looks amazing and I get to look at the awesome calendar from my arm chair.

    Other than cleaning and getting rid of TONS of belongings (that I truly do not need), They helped me organize my side table so I can reach everything. We returned a lot of things, as well as donated some things.

    Now the biggest thing is making sure I get the therapy I need (PT/OT to practice standing. Its still a scary thing, but I can’t do thing if I can’t stand on demand.