Category Archives: WalkAide

Tears of Joy from the Alter-G

I got to walk SAFELY without a cane today for 10 minutes on the Alter-G treadmill made with space age technology from NASA.

I can’t remember the last time i walked 10 minutes straight without wobbling or falling.  Maybe 2010 shortly after my MS diagnosis in 2008?  MS makes exercise / elevating the heart rate a difficult task for many of the 2.5 million people fighting the chronic illness having symptoms that are as unique as a snowflake or fingerprint.

What is the Alter-G you say?  First a little history.

When Neil Armstrong landed on the moon in July of 1969 (my birthday and for whom I was given my middle name), he and Buzz Aldrin got to experience the Moon’s extremely low gravity of ~16% as compared to Earth.  The Alter-G treadmill allows the user to reduce gravity’s impact by selecting weight between 20% (only ~4% more than the Moon) and 100% of your body weight in 1% increments.  This is a true game changer for many people and reasons.  For those of us with MS it is very important to KEEP MOVING!

I urge you to investigate and try this amazing piece of equipment to:

  • Rehabilitate lower extremity injuries with less pain and less impact
  • Improve mobility, strength and safety for those with neurological conditions
  • Provide a safe way to lose weight and exercise more intensively while unweighted
  • Train without pain and reduce the stress to joints and muscles
  • Recover effectively and with less pain after training or competition

 

 

Gravity Sux and so does MS

I cant remember the last time I walked normally and without a cane. I don’t remember what it was like to workout for 45 minutes or break a good sweat.  It seems my mission in life is to keep on walking and moving as best i can without falling.
Falling and Gravity suck. I fell on Saturday (Tysabri infusion was 20hrs earlier) and it took about 30 minutes to finally get back on my feet.  Lucky it was in the bedroom on carpet and near a low bench.  I only hyper extended my pinky toe which has turned a pretty purple and hurts like a son of a bitch.   I “Googled” how to get up after falling and wanted to share this good video with you in case it could be helpful.  It has given me some good ideas that i have not tried before.  Maybe one day we will walk without falling and not need this video or a cane or a battery of medications.

Beware of Black Ice…AND Carry Your Cell Phone

I get so upset and frustrated many times not being able to do stuff I was able to.  On many occasion I forget I have MS or say fuck it I can do this, I need to feel worthy, useful, like I’m doing my share in the household.  Even if it’s the little shit.  Thinking…I’ll just take more time, focus, concentrate – it will be no problem.

WHAM!!  I fall on my ass and fail again.

I was settling in for the evening and just wrote out checks for some bills I could not pay on-line that needed to be mailed the next day.  My wife said she did not have time to stop earlier to get the mail.  I decided to venture out at 9:45pm and retrieve the mail and ready my money for the government to piss away in the next big scandal.  I grabbed my cane and went thru the garage which was not that cold and I would only be 2 minutes more out and back from the mailbox.  As soon as I left the garage, my 2nd hobble stride into the blacktop driveway I was “flat” on my hands and knees.  I smacked so hard I swear the neighbors heard it.  My entire body jolted from the impact except for the Innovative Neurotronics #WalkAide I landed on and cracked and damaged.  I’ll never understand why these new cuffs do not hold the device on the inside of the leg like my old one did.

It took me a minute or two to come to my senses.  Then the pain hit, then the disgust and depression of crushing my “can’t live without device” – The WalkAide.  I took it off my leg so I could start the long arduous process of maybe being able to get up from the slippery black ice.  Rolled on to 1 butt-cheek and realized I was stuck and had no grip at the same time.  Almost 25 minutes had passed by and I was getting colder and a frosty left cheek.  Desperately I scooched towards the tanbark and noticed the location of the other pieces I heard when I fell.   The battery and battery cover went flying but were still within arms reach.  I quickly used my 1 good hand to grab those and stuff them in my pocket.   There was a glimmer of hope as I felt my cell phone in there and was able to call my wife to bring a folding chair to help pull me up.

Just fucking pathetic is how I was feeling then and now, albeit Black Ice or was it MS? and my determination to keep going, not quitting, keep trying, keep moving, getting up again after another hard fought battle with gravity and this chronic illness.

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