Hi,

Since I have been an independent walker since the age of 4, I will say this,
balancing yourself with CP is like walking on eggshells all the time. The
ground is flat, slightly uneven, and at any moment you can fall.

When I had my second surgery, unfortunately, no one realized that balancing
was a MAJOR issue for me. I was afraid to fall. I walked with very tiny steps
for about a year until I taught myself how to fall without hurting myself. I
do remember that after I had my heelcords lengthened, I fell backwards more
and that stopped after my second surgery.

After my 2 last surgeries as an adult, I made myself work on falling and
getting up and down until I knew I was safe again. I would be in front of
something safe like a bed or a couch where I could get support to get up and
always on carpet. Needless to say, the recovery time was a lot faster because
I was walking independently without a walker within days after cast removal
both times. The second one, I really overdid myself and paid the price for it
for a couple of months. Made me wonder how much faster and easier it would
have been to recover from my second surgery as a child if I would have had
aids like a walker. :-)

I understand from the NACD program that doing squats are a very important way
to build up the quads and to smoothen out a gait, along with correct
cross-pattern crawling. So with all of these things, you keep working on it
and hope that someday, it will all "click" and work.

I know that being looser from EEG biofeedback helped me to feel how muscles
do work individually and it was a neat experience. I am trying to figure out
what made it happen and make it happen more consistently. Normally, the
muscles in Spastic CP are all "bunched up and work as a "unit" rather than
individually.  Since those couple of times, I have been working on retraining
my gait. Doing Posting on a horse also helps the quads and other muscles both
at a stand still and walking. I am starting to notice how my front muscles
work with my backside muscles these days. :-) A major step forward.

Hope this helps,

Dina