If every week held the emotional and physical extremes last week did, I’d be pretty fried. Fortunately, I had a largely restful week as I gave my attention to reading and walking. I went for a couple walks with Hunter starting at my house and heading south to see how far I could make it. For those familiar with Kandern, I made it from the feuerwehr to the bauhof down the street on Wednesday. For those unfamiliar with Kandern, that’s half a kilometer or about a third of a mile. I was elated with this distance, and made it nearly as far the next day – just past the recyclinghof. I worked my legs a little bit again with Anja on Friday and gave them a break most of today just stretching and relaxing the sore muscles.
I’ve gone this whole week without my braces, but realistically, I’m not done with them forever yet. I’ll strap them back on to go to church tomorrow, but I’m setting realistic goals for my progress this summer. I do want to spend more time without the braces and more time overall on my feet and walking. There’s a long road ahead of me, and I’m going to take each step cautiously and intentionally just like the walk I took with Hunter. I’ve got a couple more weeks with Hunter here helping me practice these new steps, but sadly he and Michele will be leaving in July to go back to America for a year of totalization. I am super fortunate still, though, because there are still two other people in the English speaking community here who have a background in physical therapy that have agreed to be my walking buddies while Hunter is gone.
It’s still early in my summer break, and I’m still full of hope for the progress I’ll make in the coming weeks. I’m also excited for what other books I might read this summer; I have to remember to have some balance. Speaking of balance, I’m still pretty wobbly on my feet, but I did want to share that during my standing and stretching time, I’ve found a decrease in the frequency of my frantic grasping for something solid with my arms as my core increased in its ability to hold me up. Remember, I have a long way to go, but I still remember the days in REHAB when I couldn’t stand up at all if I let go of what I was holding on to.
