The Exercises
The Wii-Fit is a brilliant device, there are loads of games and exercises most of them way too hard for me, but a few I can do at the moment.
March 2012
The Penguin on Wii Fit is eating lots of fish (114!) and the Footballer has a headache from heading the ball (and shoes/pandas). The downhill skier is terrible - I am surprised he hasn't been substituted/replaced :-)
I have noticed that the Wii fit exercises I can do require basic left and right shifts of weight (as with the Penguin - 119 and the Footballer - 320), however the skier requires small adjustments, that I just can't make - so it is not his fault after all!
April 2012
Just as I seem to be progressing with the exercises/feeling and improving, my right knee (the dodgy one from the RTA) has cried enough and is now very painful and won't bend past about 45 degrees without complaining - have I done too much? All I know is that I am no longer exercising since Thursday and waiting to see the physio on Monday to get their prognosis. I am wondering why now and how comes I seem to take 2 steps forward and then one or three backwards every time?
The physio's say do as much as you can, but try and keep going, so I will try and get back to using the Wii-Fit. Please don't feel to sorry for the penguin or skier - as they have had plenty of time to recuperate.
July 2012
My physio's have just signed me off their list! Whether that means they have given up on me :-) or they can do no more..... Seriously I would like to thank them for their positive attitude/persistence and helpfulness over the past 10 months (Maria & Pam).
The tests they have on their sheet are now fairly easy for me, I can even stand on 1 leg for over 15 seconds (and have managed 30 seconds on both legs at home). The best one is trying to do heal to toe, walking backwards with your eyes closed. Apparently it removes a lot of the automatic responses from walking as you have never tried to do it before, so your brain/muscles have to work it out manually. All I know is that it is impossible! What makes me feel considerably better is having mentioned this to my colleagues at work none of them could do it either - though they were significantly better than me.
I have come on considerably over that period and can do so much more now. I even go around the house/work without a stick (and am fine on flat surfaces elsewhere). I went up to London for work with a colleague for the first time in well over a year, on the train. This was to see how I coped with the London underground, the answer was just! It was out of rush hour, so quiet and I found the escalators OK, but the stairs were really difficult. I was glad it was only 200 yards from the station to where we were going, that was me absolutely knackered. After the trip back home, I was totally exhausted, really pleased I had managed it but glad I had tried it with someone with me.
It seems I am confined to the Wii-Fit and the exercise bike (in my lounge) for a while longer, both have been invaluable and I would seriously recommend the Wii-Fit to all people trying to recover from GBS/CIDP as the are a great range of exercises at different levels that help with balance (being able to stand up is a pre-requisite)! My aim is to do the simple step exercise and get more than 300 points (currently got to 200 - whilst holding onto said exercise bike - I knew it came in useful for something) - not holding on and be able to get the skier down in 27 seconds as he at least finds/sees the gates now!
I can now survive for 8 minutes on the exercise bike (only on an easy setting though) - my aim is to get to 10 minutes by the end of the summer - and still get off under my own steam. The problem with the bike for me is the lack of scenery as I used to like being outdoors, so I have a bike in the garage that I wheeled out to see if I could get on it and field miserably :-( I can't balance. So maybe next year......
August/September/October 2012
I have just managed to walk half a mile (approx) with the aid of a stick in my local woods - I am treating my wife to a cruise for her 50th birthday mainly to see the Holy Land (Israel) and I am desperately trying to ensure we can get to the sites without me being too much of a burden. Really great to be out and manage it, but was absolutely shattered at the end and sweating like a pig! They say this is supposed to be good for you? I chose a path that was flat and fairly even, but I had problems picking my feet up properly, especially when I got tired. I also found out that I now do not walk as quietly as I used to, I saw a rabbit ahead and before I could get quite close without disturbing it, but this time as I saw him, he heard me and was off!
The big problem I have is that as I don't walk how I used to it is aggravating my right knee, so every step is uncomfortable, but as I can't walk properly yet there seems t be nothing I can do about it. At least I am walking, so a bit of pain is netter than not being able to walk at all.
My brother was running a half-marathon yesterday in Sweden (I hope he did OK), my half a mile felt like a half marathon to me. Still after sitting in the car for a while I was able to drive home.
One curious side issue with being disabled is that parking and access are treated differently throughout the country. In Cardiff around the University there are no disabled parking space, but parking is free (so you have to fight for a space and hope it is not too far away - we were lucky), yet just abut everywhere else there are marked spaces, close to the facilities. My local train station is brilliant as on one side you have to pay, but on the other you don't (because the disabled spaces are nowhere near the main parking area, so guess which side you park?)
BTW in a certain chain of Hotels, they no longer have disabled rooms, they are now "Universal Access" rooms! What a load of baloney! Apparently they have been changed so a not to offend? It was more offensive to me that they changed them, what a waste of time and money for the company, do I really care what I am labelled (maybe others do)?
March 2012
The Penguin on Wii Fit is eating lots of fish (114!) and the Footballer has a headache from heading the ball (and shoes/pandas). The downhill skier is terrible - I am surprised he hasn't been substituted/replaced :-)
I have noticed that the Wii fit exercises I can do require basic left and right shifts of weight (as with the Penguin - 119 and the Footballer - 320), however the skier requires small adjustments, that I just can't make - so it is not his fault after all!
April 2012
Just as I seem to be progressing with the exercises/feeling and improving, my right knee (the dodgy one from the RTA) has cried enough and is now very painful and won't bend past about 45 degrees without complaining - have I done too much? All I know is that I am no longer exercising since Thursday and waiting to see the physio on Monday to get their prognosis. I am wondering why now and how comes I seem to take 2 steps forward and then one or three backwards every time?
The physio's say do as much as you can, but try and keep going, so I will try and get back to using the Wii-Fit. Please don't feel to sorry for the penguin or skier - as they have had plenty of time to recuperate.
July 2012
My physio's have just signed me off their list! Whether that means they have given up on me :-) or they can do no more..... Seriously I would like to thank them for their positive attitude/persistence and helpfulness over the past 10 months (Maria & Pam).
The tests they have on their sheet are now fairly easy for me, I can even stand on 1 leg for over 15 seconds (and have managed 30 seconds on both legs at home). The best one is trying to do heal to toe, walking backwards with your eyes closed. Apparently it removes a lot of the automatic responses from walking as you have never tried to do it before, so your brain/muscles have to work it out manually. All I know is that it is impossible! What makes me feel considerably better is having mentioned this to my colleagues at work none of them could do it either - though they were significantly better than me.
I have come on considerably over that period and can do so much more now. I even go around the house/work without a stick (and am fine on flat surfaces elsewhere). I went up to London for work with a colleague for the first time in well over a year, on the train. This was to see how I coped with the London underground, the answer was just! It was out of rush hour, so quiet and I found the escalators OK, but the stairs were really difficult. I was glad it was only 200 yards from the station to where we were going, that was me absolutely knackered. After the trip back home, I was totally exhausted, really pleased I had managed it but glad I had tried it with someone with me.
It seems I am confined to the Wii-Fit and the exercise bike (in my lounge) for a while longer, both have been invaluable and I would seriously recommend the Wii-Fit to all people trying to recover from GBS/CIDP as the are a great range of exercises at different levels that help with balance (being able to stand up is a pre-requisite)! My aim is to do the simple step exercise and get more than 300 points (currently got to 200 - whilst holding onto said exercise bike - I knew it came in useful for something) - not holding on and be able to get the skier down in 27 seconds as he at least finds/sees the gates now!
I can now survive for 8 minutes on the exercise bike (only on an easy setting though) - my aim is to get to 10 minutes by the end of the summer - and still get off under my own steam. The problem with the bike for me is the lack of scenery as I used to like being outdoors, so I have a bike in the garage that I wheeled out to see if I could get on it and field miserably :-( I can't balance. So maybe next year......
August/September/October 2012
I have just managed to walk half a mile (approx) with the aid of a stick in my local woods - I am treating my wife to a cruise for her 50th birthday mainly to see the Holy Land (Israel) and I am desperately trying to ensure we can get to the sites without me being too much of a burden. Really great to be out and manage it, but was absolutely shattered at the end and sweating like a pig! They say this is supposed to be good for you? I chose a path that was flat and fairly even, but I had problems picking my feet up properly, especially when I got tired. I also found out that I now do not walk as quietly as I used to, I saw a rabbit ahead and before I could get quite close without disturbing it, but this time as I saw him, he heard me and was off!
The big problem I have is that as I don't walk how I used to it is aggravating my right knee, so every step is uncomfortable, but as I can't walk properly yet there seems t be nothing I can do about it. At least I am walking, so a bit of pain is netter than not being able to walk at all.
My brother was running a half-marathon yesterday in Sweden (I hope he did OK), my half a mile felt like a half marathon to me. Still after sitting in the car for a while I was able to drive home.
One curious side issue with being disabled is that parking and access are treated differently throughout the country. In Cardiff around the University there are no disabled parking space, but parking is free (so you have to fight for a space and hope it is not too far away - we were lucky), yet just abut everywhere else there are marked spaces, close to the facilities. My local train station is brilliant as on one side you have to pay, but on the other you don't (because the disabled spaces are nowhere near the main parking area, so guess which side you park?)
BTW in a certain chain of Hotels, they no longer have disabled rooms, they are now "Universal Access" rooms! What a load of baloney! Apparently they have been changed so a not to offend? It was more offensive to me that they changed them, what a waste of time and money for the company, do I really care what I am labelled (maybe others do)?