As you already know in August of 2012 during brain surgery operation to repair a brain aneurysm I suffered a spinal cord stroke winch left me unable to ambulate. After three months in the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and an additional six months of out patient rehabilitation with RIC I was able to walk with a walker a very short distance.
After all this time RIC said there was nothing else they could do for me except to give me Botox treatments each 90 days to reduce the spasticy in my my legs. Spasticy is a tightness of the legs which prevents me from walking. I had been a member of NFC before this incident and enjoyed working out there with the complete array of exercise equipment to choose from.
At that time I decided to go back to NFC to take advantage of the exercise equipment available to work on strengthening my legs. In the past six years I have made substantial improvement in flexibility and being able to walk with a walker a complete lap on the running track, a distance of about 400 feet. I was walking two laps in each session five days a week. When I first started to walk the track my first lap required 35 minutes to complete. Over the years I was able to reduce the time down to between 3 to 3 1/2 minutes.
Along the way I had a few medical set backs but I am still able to walk, with a walker, much better than when I first started working out at NFC.
Before the current pandemic I was working out each day on the NuStep machine to strengthen my legs. Again, I was making more progress by increasing the resistance level of the NuStep.
Since the shutdown due to the virus I am afraid I have regressed in my flexibility and walking ability.
I am looking forward to getting back into the NFC and resuming my rehabilitation program with the goal of being able to walk, without a walker, once again.
Dick Forde