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Wednesday 13 June 2018

Using Tens machine

My (RIG) my feeding tube was installed 6 months ago now, things at the moment are going pretty well. Initially I was worried I would not get enough fluid but fortunately I get about 2 litres of water every day. I do miss eating certain foods like fish and chips, Chinese food, I use to enjoy Singapore fried rice and chicken in black bean sauce, it use to remind me of my holiday in Singapore.

 The bonus of being PEG fed is that I have not had any Chest infections in the last 6 months, I hope I have not tempted fate by saying that!

 The Chest infections have caused me to be immobile, I have little movement in my left arm but I have good movement with my head, that's all I can move. My MS Nurse did say my (MS) is pretty much stable, it does not feel stable as my mobility has got a lot worse since having the Chest Infections.

 The money I am saving by not having to eat I am investing into having Sports Therapy twice a week. The Sports Therapist friend of mine, Simon, is using the Tens machine to Stimulate the Tendon in the shoulder , which is important in Rotator Cuff. When the Tens machine is contracting, I move my arms outwards from my body. We use the Tens to Simulate the facial muscles to work the lip muscles to help with my speech. When the Tens is on the Facial muscles, I try to say the letters of the Alphabet, as clearly as possible. The letter X is difficult to say it sounds more like S. This has however improved with time, I am starting to say the letter X better now, my right arm is also getting stronger.

 I normally have a positive outlook on life, always smiling and laughing, it gets me in trouble sometimes, I tend to laugh at serious things as well!

 I Just spent a week at Revitalise in Southampton, we visited Monkey world, I feel at home there with my body hair except where I most need it on my head!

 We also went to Marwell zoo where my wheelchair battery gave up, I had to be pushed back to the minibus which I found funny...Not so funny for the person pushing my chair, I hope their back is ok!

 The same thing happened in August last year, where my battery gave up when crossing a road opposite London Zoo, gave people something to laugh about for the rest of the day!

 I got wheelchair services to replace the batteries, a valuable lesson I learnt there, I must get the chair fixed the first time it happens.

We had an Oscar night at Restbite, I won an Oscar for having the best smile.

 My Carer has been stretching my hamstrings and doing an exercise for my Hip flexors, the last few weeks, I have just started to see an improvement when using the Medimotion bikes (Power Assisted Bike) at the Gym I go to. For the past year or more I only had 1% activity by me but the last few week's I have managed to get 20% to 30% activity by me.

My Parents took me to Wingham Wildlife park near Canterbury as it was Bank holiday Monday, a very hot day, the hottest early bank holiday Monday on record. Where has Spring gone, our weather has gone straight to Summer from Winter...Spring has always been my favourite time of the year. I do enjoy myself at Wingham Wildlife park visiting the animals, I especially like seeing the artificial Dinosaurs and reading up on them.

The trouble is, I like sitting in the sun but unfortunately it seems to make me worse. I hope it has not affected me to badly and I am able to put some effort in to the bike tomorrow at the Gym.

1 comment:

  1. Great to read of your increased activity % Gary. Tough when you are stuck in a wheelchair, but increasing that % is great

    ReplyDelete

I had a great time at Revitalise Southampton

Nothing really changes for me if I can stay away from chest infections, I can stay pretty healthy. It was my first day back at the Gym...