Relevé!

Robb in Kauai, Nov. 2005

It has been eleven months since I last went up on my toes... until last night that is. Granted, I was in four-and-a-half feet of water at the time but it sure felt good. Lisa and I had a great time swimming yesterday evening at the Berkeley High Warm Pool.

I'm always on the lookout for some clear mark of improvement in my condition. The process of recovery has been so slow that I sometimes get discouraged thinking more about what I can't do than what I can do now but couldn't before.

Last night, though, gave me the chance to note some real improvement. The last time we went swimming, back in November, I couldn't do very much. It was a good re-introduction to the water but my efforts were fatigued, tentative and weak. I thought I was in for more of the same last night. I got into the pool and immediately the water pressure set off a bout with spasticity. It felt like my legs were a big, wet towel being wrung out. I was able to release some of this tension, though, and did some walking in the shallow end. Then I realized that with the buoyancy of standing in chest high water I might be light enough to get up on my toes. It worked. Judging by a recent measure of the strength in my feet, I'd say I weigh about 50 lbs when standing in water that deep.

I had all but forgotten about the ability to rise up on my toes. (The other night I had to ask Lisa if it was possible to do this on one foot-- I honestly couldn't remember) Anyway, I was so excited by this discovery, I repeated it over and over again until I overworked my calf muscles and couldn't go on.

So... now I've got a new goal. I just need to slim down until I weigh about 45 or 50 lbs. and all my problems will be solved. Anybody have any good diet tips?