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Subject:
From:
Kathy Pink <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
St. John's University Cerebral Palsy List
Date:
Thu, 29 Nov 2001 12:24:40 -0800
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (85 lines)
Hi,

Although , I'm not able to walk real good on my
own , (I can take a couple of steps alone) I
always feel like I'm drunk , whenever I'm
walking.  But , I like eggshells even better.





--- [log in to unmask] wrote:
> 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


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