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The following is a recap of Michael’s
trip to Project Walk, a spinal cord recovery center located in Carlsbad, California. This trip was only made possible
by the tiresome efforts of so many people during this past summer’s fundraiser events. Thanks again to everyone involved.
Project Walk – Week 1
We arrived in San
Diego on Saturday and headed up the coast to Oceanside, California,
approx. 35 miles from the airport. We were very fortunate to rent a condo in a gorgeous complex called North
Coast Village, approximately 15 minutes from Project
Walk. Our first 2 days consisted of settling in and getting familiar with the area. We also did some food shopping as we prepared
for the upcoming week of therapy for Michael.
Monday
We arrived at Project Walk and meet with
Chris, Michael’s trainer, and Ted, the owner of Project Walk. After a lengthy conversation with Ted, we realized that
his attitude certainly reflected how we felt about Michael’s road to recovery, which is, getting him the proper exercise
regiment to stimulate any nerves in his legs, in hopes of getting him out of the chair one day. Which of course is opposite
of the majority of Spinal Cord Rehab centers, whose main goal is to teach the patients how to live and function in the chair,
with little hope of ever regaining the ability to walk. Of course this mentality is driven by the insurance companies, who
really dictate what can and can’t be done in the rehab centers. But Ted was a firm believer in his approach to spinal
cord injury recovery, consisting of a strenuous exercise regiment aimed at the non-functioning part of your body, in Michael’s
case, his legs. So, day one was started by a serious of stretching and a basic evaluation of Michael’s current ability
and what his body was going to be able to handle in the next 2 weeks. Chris was fantastic in explaining to Michael, what was
being done and the reason for it. His approach was to concentrate on the part of the body that borders functioning from non-functioning,
in an attempt to re-teach the nerve endings to start working from that point downwards, basically stimulating the nervous
system. This will only be accomplished by thousands of repetitions, with different
exercises and stretching techniques. This is certainly not a quick fix, by no means, but will be the building block of Michael’s
long road to recovery.
Tuesday
Once we arrived at the center, Michael
was placed on a Power Plate machine, which is a vibrating, standing piece of equipment, normally used by athletes to promote
blood flow into the legs or through out the body, depending on how one stands on the machine, squatted vs. standing. Michael
placed his feet on the base of the machine and allowed the vibrating sensation to travel up his legs, in a somewhat of a warm
up exercise used to promote good circulation. From there, he started his series of resistant stretching, in which Chris had
Michael on his side and his leg was bent and he would ask Michael to move it back to the bent position. Time after time, Michael
would concentrate on moving his leg back, while Chris was holding his knee and calf and then would assist in the movement.
Again, repetition was the key, as Michael tried 20-30 times, and then it happened. While Chris instructed Michael to again
push hard and move his leg, Michael face was filled with concentration and Chris was giving no assistance, Michael’s
leg was driven backwards by his own power. After nine months of immobility, he finally was able to move his leg ever so slightly.
Of course, it wasn’t the motion of a field goal kicker kicking a winning field goal, but you certainly couldn’t
tell the difference, as Kim’s eyes filled with tears as she witnessed Michael’s first leg movement in nine months.
It was a very emotional moment and a moment that gave Michael something he’s been searching for, for the last several
months, and that is hope. At that point, he realized that this was going to be a long road ahead, but he was able to do something
he hasn’t done since his accident, and this will certainly be the motivation that he will need to keep him going. Michael
was learning to move those muscles that border functioning and non-functioning. This will be the concentration, as the goal
is to slowly work those nerve endings from the point of injury downwards, regaining movement in the process.
Wednesday
Michael’s 2 hour sessions start at
8:30am, and for those of you that know Michael, he is certainly not a morning person.
But Chris was able to shrug off Michael’s yawns and continue with his daily workout. Today, Michael was placed in front
of a standing bar, in which he held on to the bar and stood up, unassisted. Again, something he has not done in 9 months,
without the aid of a brace or someone holding him. Chris positioned his hands on Michaels’ knees as to prevent them
from bending forward, but after a few moments, Michael was able to balance and concentrate on locking his legs to prevent
that from happening. As this exercise certainly demonstrates, balance is a key ingredient in many of the exercises Michael
is working on. The balance, is an indication of Michael’s core strength, and will be a key to helping him master many
of the exercises he will be required to do. From the standing bar, Michael was placed on a super-sized Total Gym, in which
he was attempting to squat a portion of his weight while lying inclined on the bench.
Chris was spotting and assisting in the many repetitions required in this exercise and Michael was exerting as much
mental force as physical, as he was concentrating extremely hard in getting his legs to straighten out. At the end of the
workout, Michael was exhausted and drenched in sweat. He certainly was looking forward to getting into the hot tub at the
condo, to ease his aching muscles.
Thursday & Friday
The last two days of week one were consistent
with the beginning of the week, hard work and concentration. Michael continued his exercise regiment with Chris, but at the
same time, was introduced to new exercises each day. The one thing that does stand out with this program, is the fact that
most of the exercises are performed with simple equipment, such as a floor mat, cushions, weighted balls, exercise bands,
etc. This is obviously a plus when we return home and continue Michael’s exercise program. Part of next weeks activity
will be to video tape all of Michael’s exercises, so that we may duplicate them at home.
Week 2
Week two was filled with hard work and
sweat, as Michael continue his determination in each of his exercises, under Chris’s attentive eye. As we started this
week, Chris began taping each exercise and offered commentary explaining the technique and the proper body alignment and positioning
required to insure Michael’s safety. At this time, it was agreed upon between Michael and Chris, that Kim will be doing
the home program with Michael, so as you can imagine, the comedy routine began. Michael wasted no time in breaking in his
new “trainer” with reminders of any inconsistency in her spotting performance. Of course Kim made it a point to
purchase a “Project Walk” T-Shirt, solidifying her new role has “trainer in training”.
As Michael finished out his second week of training, we were treated to a very special event that was being held on
our last day. It was Project Walk’s annual fundraiser called “2006 Steps to Recovery”, which highlighted all the past and current clients of Project Walk, and how they have come so far on their
road to recovery. It was a very emotional and inspiring moment, when Michael, Kim and I witnessed several of Michael’s
fellow “athletes” walk across the room. The determination and strength demonstrated by these individuals is something
I have never experienced before, but a moment I will always remember. These are the same people who were told on day one of
their injury, that they would never walk again. It was truly an inspiring display of courage and strength, and a moment that
we hope to relive again, that of course being when Michael also takes his first steps.
Our first two weeks at Project Walk was extremely satisfying and rewarding, as we meet so many great people and had
such a great time during our stay in Oceanside, California.
Of course, none of this would have been possible, if it wasn’t for the generous donations by so many people during Michael’s
fundraisers. We hope everyone can take comfort in knowing that they were part of a special moment in Michael’s life
and we will always be grateful.
With much love,
Kim & Mike
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