Continued Post

After the first day of standing again, I stood 10 more times for 30 minutes each out of the next 11 days. Although, on the evening of the 11th day when I got back into bed, I noticed that my left knee started hurting again. Each day since then, the pain has been off and on. Because of it, I've had to hold off on standing again.

There have been many of those days that I haven’t been able to do range of motion again because of it. I think what happened is that I may have pushed myself a little too much. I guess I was so eager to stand again after not doing for so long. Also, it felt great while standing and helped aid in changing position during the day along with fluid retention.

I’m thinking that the cortisone shot in my knee did help this time, since I was able to stand so many times afterwards. One unfortunate thing about cortisone is that there is concern that repeated shots might damage the cartilage within a joint. Doctors usually limit the number of cortisone shots into the joint. It’s typically shown that you shouldn’t get them more often than every six weeks, but no more than 3 to 4 times a year.

Other than staying off my feet, I have also been staying indoors most of February. The weather has either been below 0°F or in the single digits for a few weeks now. It’s not ideal whether for me to be outside, as my tubes can freeze, and my body can’t regulate its temperature. Today was 25°F and I was able to take Brody for a quick 15 minute walk down a couple streets. He was so excited to go and then crashed on the couch when we got back home. I haven't seen him like this for a while; he must have really needed the exercise.

Over the past couple days I created another abstract painting. It looks pretty similar to a lot of my other ones, only with different colors. I've been doing more smaller pieces, as it takes me at least an hour to get one done and my neck gets sore when I work on it. I posted a picture below.

Jenni

Standing at 90° Again

Almost 3 weeks ago, I got a cortisone shot in my left knee to help with the pain after injuring it again. I had gotten one before when I first injured it 2 years ago, but it didn’t help. I thought I’d try it another time to see if it would work. My doctor told me it would take about 2 weeks were to take effect; but I felt relief after one week. Recently, the pain started coming back, but only when my leg gets twisted a certain way or if my knee is touched in a certain spot.

When I saw the orthopedic knee doctor to get the cortisone shot, I asked him about standing. It’s been over 2 ½ years since I’ve stood in my wheelchair, all because of my knees. He said he doesn’t see a reason why I shouldn’t be able to stand, unless I was in a lot of pain while standing. I was under the impression by the previous orthopedic doctor that I saw that I shouldn’t stand. To me, this was great news!

A few days ago, I tried standing. Within the first 2 minutes, I made it all the way up to 90° for 30 minutes. This is amazing news, considering I’ve been holding off on the off chance that something could happen to one of my knees while standing. Even better, I have been standing every day since for 30 minutes since. I check my blood pressure about every 5-10 minutes just to make sure it’s not dropping.

There are a lot of benefits to standing for someone with a spinal cord injury, especially in my situation with such a high-level injury. Standing is the ultimate pressure relief because it helps prevent pressure sores and promote skin growth. It also stretches hamstrings and other muscles which results in less muscle spasms. It helps with stabilizing blood pressure, reduces extra fluid in the body, bowel and bladder function, increases overall well-being and enhances quality of life.

Although it gives you more stamina and aids in better sleep, for me it’s like doing a full workout, so it wears me out and I can get really tired. I’m definitely going to continue trying to stand every day for at least 30 minutes. I’m glad that I decided to try it again!

Jenni