Hi. My name is Eric. This is my journey after being paralyzed in an off-road motorcycle accident on January 22, 2011. I suffered a fractured T12 resulting in a ASIA A Complete spinal cord injury. I have no sensation or motor function from my waist down and am in a wheelchair. My wife, two young daughters, family and friends have been supporting me in this journey.


Tuesday, June 7, 2011

PT at Bio-Fit Center - June 7, 2011

Today was our first day at the Bio-Fit center.  We rolled into the lobby and met my trainer Alexis.  He will by my trainer for my entire stay.  He said every workout will focus on different parts of the body and they will vary day by day.  I started by getting out of my chair and onto the floor mat.  Alexis started by stretching my legs and working them through their range of motion.  We spent some time doing a few sets of sit-ups then followed up with a lot of core strength exercises.  While in a sitting position with my feet straight out, I had to lift a 2 pound medicine ball from side to side while maintaining my balance.  Then I had to put my arms straight out and lift them over my head one at a time.  While I did this, Alexis would push on various parts of my torso trying to knock me off balance.  I think I did pretty well, but he did cause me to lose my balance a few times.  Then he gave me a weighted bar and made me perform a paddling motion like I was in a kayak.  As I paddled, he began pushing and pulling on my torso trying to knock me off balance again.  One little lapse of concentration, and bam, down I went.  I'm OK.

After the hour was up, I had to get back into my chair from the floor.  This is not a very easy task without the use of your legs and it takes a lot of arm strength and technique.  I tried the way they wanted me to, but I could not do it.  Then I said I would do it like the way my PT (Karen) taught me to do during rehab at VMC.  This was the first time I have tried to get into my chair from the floor since leaving rehab.  I usually take my chair cushion off to make my transfer about 2" lower, but I figured what the heck, lets give it a try.  I just went for it and pulled it off like I had been doing this way for a long time.  It felt great.

Then it was back to the hotel for some rest.  Tomorrow morning I go back to Bio-Fit and in the late afternoon is my first stem cell injection.

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