I had resigned myself to the fact that I would always have limited mobility and speech issues due to facial paralysis. My life was not ideal. I was making such slow, small progress that I had no reason to doubt the experts. I don't blame them for what they told me. They didn't want to give me hope for no reason. They were only telling me what they learned in medical school.
However, back in 2025 a private neurologist explained to me the concept of brain plasticity. The idea that you can rewire your brain and force it to relearn skills that you have lost, even years or decades later. My neurosurgeon agreed with him. The key thing to focus on is repetitively doing the thing you want to relearn day in and day out. You have to be relentless. I would be lying to you if I told you that it was easy.
Anyway, after this encounter in 2025 I had a faint glimmer of hope that maybe I was not going to be a prisoner of my health problems forever and I didn't have to be a useless burden on my family and friends.
However, at this point in time nothing really changed for me. I had more hope for my future but I wasn't doing anything different to make changes. That is until January 27th, 2026. Jenny, Myself and my parents decided to have me come back home to Texas until the end of August.
I decided to go all in on trying to get as close as possible to normal life again. I started working out with my dad six days a week, starting out for only 20 minutes daily (I am up to two hours daily now). Additionally, I am walking an hour a day, five days a week with my mom (using a combination of my walker with forearm support, a traditional walker and a low mobility bike called the Alinker).
I have also been doing daily brain training exercises via an app on my phone, to work on my short term memory issues. This is separate from the memory training that I do online, three times a week (provided by the Texas Workforce Commission).
Lastly, I am doing stationary lunges, bridges, sit to stand exercises and heel to toe exercises to work on my balance issues. I am also standing in place unsupported. I have started doing daily stretches to try and get rid of my rigidity. Additionally, I am sitting outside in the sun and fresh air for 20 minutes daily, doing exercises try to to heal my optical nerves. Last but not least I am doing red light therapy trying to get my vestibular system (the connection between your eyes, ears and brain to help you with balance) working correctly again.
In addition to all of my exercises, I was given a book by my uncle Richard (my mom's younger brother) entitled The Way the Brain Heals Itself by Dr. Norman Doidge. The book describes a lot of things that you can do to heal yourself after suffering from a tbi (traumatic brain injury). The book goes on to describe a mental visualization technique in which you visualize the outcome that you want to achieve. You don't just say "I want everything to work for me". You must command your body to cooperate with you. You have to focus on each individual part of your body and you can do a one - two counting system.
I dismissed all of this as hippie mumbo jumbo. However, I decided that I had nothing to lose by trying it. I can honestly say that I have been proven wrong. It really works! I am a believer now and no longer skeptical.
Now onto the whole reason why I wrote this blog post. When I first started out on the elliptical machine, I struggled mightily. My arms and legs would lock up constantly. I struggled to get through just a half of a mile (0.85 km) in 33 minutes (the time of one full exercise cycle on the elliptical machine). However, I slowly started to improve. I remember the first time I did a full lap in 2:25 I cried like a baby because for that brief amount of time, I was able to feel normal again for the first time in six years. I got faster and faster and I could go much longer in total distance. However, I made the mistake of equating my progress with my speed and total distance. However, I had a mental reset. I realized that I was going really fast and far but my form was terrible. My brain was not talking to my limbs.
So, I decided to slow down and stop obsessing over my speed and total distance. I focused on getting my brain to synchronize with my arms and legs. Well, slowly but surely I got more and more "good time". That is where my brain synchronized correctly with my limbs. At first, it would only happen for a minute or two and then my body would go back to not cooperating.
I started ordering my body to work for me. Not begging and pleading for it to work. I would order it and not give myself the option of failure. I eventually got up to 29 minutes of "good time" (out of 33 minutes). Well, today I got a full 33 minutes of "good time". When I first started this journey, thinking about ever getting a full 33 minutes of "good time" felt like looking up at the summit of Mt. Everest from the bottom. I want to remember this day forever.
I am so happy that my brain is active again. I will have to continue working hard, exercising six days a week for the rest of my natural life. It won't be easy. I don't enjoy it. However, it will keep me generally healthy and protect me against mental decline. I don't ever expect to get back to 100% normal but I owe to myself and everyone around me to keep trying. The effort will be worth the sacrifices.
Til next time, Tyler
No comments:
Post a Comment