30 December 2005

First diary entery since we've been in Canberra. We're in Canberra for Christmas and new year and also another couple of weeks in January while Tim runs his workshop.

I think my body really misses going to the gym. The last time I went to the gym was before it closed for Christmas on 22 December so I haven't been for 8 days now. I am getting a bit worried that my physical condition will deteriorate by the time I go back to Melbourne. The Melbourne Uni gym is not open till 3rd January anyway so even if I was in Melbourne, I wouldn't be able to go anyway. Tim has hired a stepper for me and also bought a few simple exercise equipment for me to use while I can't go to a gym. The living room at Helen and Mal's place is like a mini gym now with stepper, dumb bells and a sit up bench lying around.

I guess I have achieved another landmark on the day after the Boxing Day. I went bushwalking! It's the first time I went bushwalking since my operation. Jamie, Tim's brother, Christella and their 4 kids, Eleni, Nicholas, Yani and Olivia invited us to joing them for their annual Christmas bushwalk. They were very thoughtful in picking a walking trail that's not too impossible for me. They picked Yankee Hat Walking Trail in the Namadgi National Park. It is rated as 6.5 km return. I think going as a group has definitely helped. Tim was surprised that I didn't whinge at all. Christella was well organised and had prepared all the lunch for us so we had a bit of break before continuing on the second part of the journey. Where we stopped for lunch was probably the only part of this trail that had some trees for shelter because most of the trail is just grassland. After lunch, Jamie said I could stay there if I didn't feel like walking to the cave where the Aboriginal rock art is and Christella would stay back with me. He said there is not much shelter after this point so if I decide that I can't continue on later, I'd have to come back here for shelter. I thought about it and decided that I'd push on since I was already 1/3 of the way there.

The rest of the walk was not exactly easy - I had to hold on to Tim or Christella for balance a lot of the time. I don't think it took us that long to get to the Aboriginal Rock Art. At least I didn't think I was over tired. We rested at the spot for some refreshment Christella had prepared for us and then headed back. Walking back was a little more challenging because there was more downhill walking and also my legs were getting tired. It was Lillian's first experienceof bushwalking as well although she stayed in the backpack that Tim was carrying most of the time. She was quite happy to stay in the backpack on Tim's back. There were many kangaroos along the way and when she saw them, she said "zhege klo klo". She can't really say kangaroo yet so she called them klo klo. "Zhege" means this one in Mandarin. She often mixes up between Mandarin and English and would put a mixture of the two languages in a sentence.

I was very glad when we got back to the carpark. I felt a great sense of achievement. Last Christmas I was still walking with a stick and this year I went bushwalking!

22 December 2005

First diary entry for almost one month. I have been very busy lately. Have returned to work on 28 November 2005. I’m currently on this graduated return to work program and is expected to work 4 hours a day, one day per week. The plan is to increase to two days a week from week three. However, I managed to get my doctor to tell the OT that two days a week is a bit much for me. Ruth, my physio at Epworth while Gavin is on leave, also told the OT that I’m currently doing some intensive gym work three times a week and working two days would make me too tired at this stage.

A few updates. Someone from the Stroke Foundation came to visit me about sensory retraining. They are currently doing a research on sensory retraining and I put my name done a while ago. Sandy, the OT, who is working on the research, contacted me and told me that they only want volunteers who had stroke at this stage. She came out to see me anyway just to tell me how the new technique they’re using works. Normally, the participant would have 8 weeks of training using this new method. When she tested me, she said my sensory deficit is too mild anyway and even if I had a stroke, they wouldn’t include me in the study. Sandy said a big part of the study is on proprioception (knowing where your limbs are in space) and I don’t seem to have any impairment in that area. One interesting I found is that the new method emphasise on ‘comparison’. I told her Rosemary used to take a box of goodies and got me to guess what they were. This was suggested by the OT at MECRS. Sandy said it’s actually better if I prepare the items in the box myself so I know what to expect. More importantly, she said the to start with, I should try to feel the difference – such as different textures of fabrics, different sizes of coins, different surfaces.

Another news is that I had my last personal training session with Mary yesterday. She has decided to leave personal training for a while and is finishing up tomorrow. In a way, I was happy that she is leaving because I only have one session left (after yesterday) and it makes it easier for me not to continue. I think she knows that I will not continue – when you go to the gym every day, you really don’t need a personal trainer. I think it was a good way to start anyway. I don’t think six months ago I would go to the gym on my own because of fear and intimidation. I don’t feel so intimidated now except when the gym staff stands there and stare at me or come up to me and ask if I need any help. I had this gym staff come up to me when I was doing the lats pull down. She asked me if I noticed that my right side (back muscle) was so much bulkier than the left side and seemed to be doing a lot more work. I told her I had left side hemiplegia and is still undergoing rehab. She didn’t know what hemiplegia was so I had to explain to her. I think the gym staff there are generally nice and some are probably curious what happened to me since I’m there all the time and I’m always limping.