Finally my contraption is good to go! 😁👏

Today is the one year anniversary of my last cigarette. 👍🏼💪🏼

So I saw the Surgeon yesterday! He took new X-rays. The fractures in my clavicle are all healed up. You can see where they were, but all better; my humorous is healing but not quite there yet, which is to be expected because it is right at the socket. My rotator cuff being the more significant concern, he actually sat with me for 45 minutes discussing the pros and cons of surgery. He explained to most people in my situation he would recommend surgery because of the amount of use my shoulder gets. It is not going to recover easily. But because of the strain surgery would put on my day-to-day life, he wants us to exhaust therapy before we try surgery. He left the final decision to me but has made a compelling case for therapy. I explained my concerns about doubling my recovery time by not doing the surgery now and then having to do it anyway. He agreed that is a substantial risk but believes we owe it to my sanity to try to avoid it, but he doesn't make any guarantees. He was impressed with the amount of strength I have in the arm despite the tear. I explained this is me at like quarter power, but you know, stroked my ego nonetheless. My grip strength in my right hand is 55 pounds/25kg right now, while my left is 205 pounds/ 93kg. I don’t have a baseline, but I think my right should be at least 20 pounds/9kg stronger as my left. When I first started therapy in January, it was only at 25 pounds/ 11kg. So, I have improved my grip strength significantly, but my arm strength still needs much improvement. I weigh around 85kg/190 pounds, and I can not do long transfers right now because my arm gives out, so in order to have a bowel movement, my sister-in-law has to help me onto the toilet. I am very much ready to regain my independence.

After getting some incredible feedback from the 20 Warriors who have been through the challenge, I feel that it is ready to be launched! As of Monday, everyone will be granted access to the 5 & 30 Day Challenges. Are you up to the challenge? Comment and let me know if you'll be taking it on!

👋🏾 new to this community - been a wheelchair user for 39+ years, am a T3 paraplegia due to transverse myelitis, had a fantastic career as a Paralympian, that was over a decade ago - had health challenges then that forced retirement and been harder to be as active as I want to be, and all the other things I've tried just didn't have the right mix and understanding of living with paralysis and all the unique layers. Excited and motivated to be a part of the group!