Fire Walking

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The nerves affected by Robb's spinal cord injury control both the movement and sensation in his feet. And what they tell his feet to do (or not) and feel (or not) can be pretty odd, indeed.

It has been very hot here, the last few days. We've all been looking for ways to keep cool. Robb slept -- for the first time since his accident -- without socks on. Typically, the sensation of the sheets sliding over his feet is just unbearable because of the jumbled up messages that his nerves are sending to his brain. But it was just too hot to cover his feet with socks.

And how did Robb's feet feel? Like they were on fire.

A few days back, he slipped on my flip-flops, which he had worn once or twice before. A said that he lasted all of ten seconds in them before his feet, legs and butt seized up into a mass of spasticity.

Apparently, the act of gripping onto the shoes with his toes, which most of us take for granted, was to "active" for Robb. These are the sorts of observations that leave us scratching our heads. The human body certainly is an odd and wonderful thing.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I LOVE LOVE LOVE that Robb's feet are "active". Even with the twitching it is far far improved over what you guys had to worry about (complete paralysis) from the very first week of his accident.

I know from your blogs that it is painful for Robb when this happens, but I think you should call it a "dance" the next time it happens. Work in some disco moves the next time it happens. When he does gain more control and the spasms are less painful, maybe you guys can videotape it and set it to music. The spasms are not as hideous as Elaine's dance moves from the Seinfeld TV show, are they?

I'm trying to approach this with a sense of humor, and am not making any comments out of cruelty. Every time Robb suffered from a bout of painful twitches, he afterwards recovered more healthy sensation in his body. So this is all a good thing.

Good luck to you- Annalisa
Karen Anne said…
I'm three years behind reading your blog, so this is probably an irrelevant comment by now, but would it work to not tuck the sheet into the bottom of the bed, so Robb could leave the sheet off his feet?

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