May 14, 2010

Two very common questions I get a lot is what’s new and how are your folks? So let me put those to rest; not much and they’re doing well. Now let’s get on with the good stuff. It’s been a busy month got my official start date for Project Walk, college buddy from Boise came to visit, went to the Etna rodeo, watched the Kentucky Derby (on TV), and have been looking for a place to stay in San Diego. I’m still doing therapy and I’m getting stronger everyday. It’s been great seeing the sunshine again, but spring has been bittersweet not being in a kayak.

It was great to see my good friend from college, Matt Price. I hadn’t seen him in about 6 years so it was nice to catch up. We reminisced about the good ol’ college days. Remember when you smashed my sandwich between two books. Remember when we almost got arrested at that wedding reception. Remember when you threw my bills out the window on the freeway. Remember when…you get the idea. I showed him around the area and we could have seen a lot more, but I think Price was nervous driving the minivan. He drove slow enough for every Winnebago on the freeway pass us. Here’s what Price had to say about the weekend.

On May 1 a beautiful girl in a beautiful dress picked me up and we headed into Ashland to watch the Kentucky Derby at Tease. It was a fun day hanging out with all the pretty people drinking mint juleps and celebrating Gabe’s birthday. The next day I attended the Etna rodeo, which was a sharp contrast from the previous day. There’s nothing pretty about the Etna rodeo, but lots of fun for sure. I then went and had dinner at the ranch I used to work on. It was nice to visit with Jim and Katie and their family. I forget what a beautiful place Scott Valley is.

I’m getting excited to head down to Project Walk. I’m still looking for a place to stay down there so if you have connections down there…HELP. I’ve been in contact with a couple people that are going to be attending PW at the same time, which is cool know a couple people there. It’s hard not to be just a little nervous. It’s going to be a lot of hard work and the outcome is uncertain.

This week at physical therapy I was able to go for 30 minutes on the arm cycle without stopping and no assistance. When I first started physical therapy after getting out of the hospital I could only go for one minute without stopping and I needed assistance on each revolution. My physical therapist is pleased with my progress. She’s been kicking my butt lately. I think she wants to make sure I don’t embarrass her at Project Walk…ha ha.

Mornings remain the most challenging mentally especially now that its spring. I miss kayaking so much its painful. This is what I was doing last spring and oh how I want to do that again!!

I have to consciously decide to have a positive attitude each morning. Most of the time I’m successful, but not always. The biggest challenge is making the most of each day without losing the hope of a full recovery. There are a few things that have really helped me maintain a positive attitude and maintain hope. First is my faith in God and out of that the belief that ALL things happen for a reason even if I don’t know what that is. The next is the loving support of my friends and family…THANKS!!! The next thing is completely ignoring all the nay sayers and negative nancys out there.

Thanks again for the all the help and support. Project Walk is NOT cheap and without your help it wouldn’t even be an option. Therapy at PW and living expenses will add up to about $7000/month. So thanks for your continued support!!

Keeping the faith,

Matt

Project Walk in the news!

Project Walk on CNN! Less than a month to go before we start Project Walk. While we remain cautiously optimistic, we're definitely going to be building back some muscle mass on Matt over the 10 weeks of intense therapy. With nothing to lose and everything to gain we're heading there full of hope and determination. Matt never gives up!

In other news, Matt got his standing frame for an amazing deal thanks to another wonderful and kind friend. Along with the standing frame he got a manual wheelchair! Both these items are helpful in therapy, the standing frame is particularly important in preventing bone density loss which occurs over time when all you do is sit (a reminder to office workers, get up often and use those legs)!

Thanks for all your support over the past 10 months!