Be thankful for the small things

Today I was taking a shower and as I was putting shampoo in my hair, I started to think back to when I was using baby shampoo because the regular shampoo burned my eyes due to my eyes not closing correctly.

I also had to sleep with patches over my eyes for about two years.

I am so thankful that I can now use regular shampoo without it burning my eyes. I no longer have to wear eye patches to sleep. 

Having the ability to close your eyes properly is such a small thing but important. Like most of you, I took things like walking and talking normally for granted. Now I treat them like the miracle that they are.

Having these medical conditions has made me not take anything for granted. Progress is slow and small but it's progress nonetheless. I am in it for the long haul and I am extremely lucky to not have a degenerative condition that will get progressively worse. It will only get better with time and effort. 

Today, I was at neurobidea. That is my facility that I go to for physical therapy. I was talking to Lide my physical therapist, and I mentioned to her how I would love to walk again with a regular 4 wheeled walker and then progress to using a cane and then ideally nothing. 

I asked Lide how long she thought that it would be until I reached those goals. She told me that every person is different. She cannot give me a time line due to that fact. I could walk again normally or use a walker for the rest of my life. 

However, I can now walk for an hour with my walker and I can stand up unassisted for 4 minutes. Prior to a few months ago, I could only stand up unassisted for ten seconds.

Even if I can never walk again without a walker or a walking stick, I will still be grateful to be alive and able to enjoy my life even if things are harder than before. At least I am not paralyzed, bedridden or in a coma. 

Any progress is good progress. I will take what I can get. I only hope that I will be able to return to normal sooner or later. I am also very grateful for my super supportive family and friends. I couldn't do this without them. 

That's it for now, Tyler