Two Month Update

It's been almost exactly two months since I left New Delhi and the changes I have seen since then are incredible. My mom touched on them a little in her previous post. The changes I have seen are: WALKING, sweat, cognitive improvements, and sleeping. I CAN WALK. If you met me today you would never know that I was in a wheelchair for eight months and am still learning how to walk. My legs can't yet support me for long periods of time. I'm okay for about an hour, but then I have to rest or I know my legs will start to get weak. I am doing physical therapy three times a week and doing home exercises seven days a week. Through that I can tell I am getting a little stronger and my walk is getting smoother and less noticeably awkward. My friends all said when I got home I walked like Frankenstein, totally straight legged. When I first got home I used my calipers, walker, and cane but I told myself I didn't want to rely on using these things so I slowly eliminated each one. I walked really slowly making sure I was doing everything correctly, but I've gotten to where I am today by doing so. I still have to concentrate really hard whenever I take a step, but hey it's a step!

I am still sweating, gross! Even though the weather here is nothing like it was in India I can still find I am sweating when I work out or when I am wearing to many layers. I hate sweat, but it is such a miracle that I am sweating. I am so thankful to actually have a reason to wear deodorant now! :)

My brain isn't functioning at it's full potential yet, but I know it will get there sometime. I haven't noticed big changes yet, but I think there are very very subtle differences. I have been working on a project for the past couple weeks and I think my brain has been able to keep track of it a little bit better than it would have four months ago. Hopefully I will keep seeing these changes and at some point in time return to school full time.

My sleeping patterns haven't changed much since we left, but getting that extra hour or so every night has been a really good thing. It always feels better to tell someone yeah I'm getting five hours now instead of four. I haven't been able to tell a physical or mental difference, other than losing an hour out of my day. My stem cells need the extra hour and hopefully I will start seeing the benefits from it soon.

I don't know how many of you check my blog anymore, but for those of you who do, Thank you and I wanted to give you all an update on how I am doing. We are planning to return to India for our second trip end of March or beginning of April.