#headbandsandhightops

day 73 : wheelchair day! finally! . i've been riding around in an almost 40 pound clunker for two months. complete with left castor wheel problems and a broken brake. and i've been daydreaming of this beauty the whole time! . we ordered this wheelchair about 5 weeks ago and it was custom made to my measurements. we also decided to class it up with some matte black and sapphire accents. . happy #wheelchairday to me! thanks @tilite.official !!! . . . #headbandsandhightops #spinalcordinjury #extrarepsfortrish #trishstrong #wheelchairlife (at Craig Hospital)

day 167 : i’d define this as “killing the hand control game” . #priuslife . i feel like a superhero most of the time because i’m driving with my hands and people can’t tell. don’t know why it makes me feel badass, but it does. . except when people cut me off or drive super dangerously. then i’m like, HELLO IM DRIVING WITH MY HANDS 🤬 . please drive carefully this holiday season and every time you get in a car. whatever it is, it’s not worth your or someone else’s life. . spinal cord injuries (and worse things) are real! . . . #itcanwait #spinalcordinjury #handcontrols #superherostatus #headbandsandhightops

day 144 : putting gas in the car for the first time! . somehow it’s been the little things i haven’t been able to do that have hit me the hardest. . if you haven’t been let in to the secret, gratitude is the secret of happiness. with that said, training your mind to be grateful for what you have is not a piece of cake. especially when you tend to gravitate towards realism and sometimes even pessimism (not proud of it, just being honest with myself). . for those in the US, gratitude is a big thing this week. can’t say this holiday is even remotely close to my favorite (celebrating stealing a country and mass genocide really isn’t my thing 🙃), but i will always appreciate the opportunity to be mindful and thoughtful of life. . i challenge you to be mindful and appreciative of all those mundane tasks in your day today! . . . #headbandsandhightops #spinalcordinjury #extrarepsfortrish #trishstrong #wheelchairlife #paralysisrecovery #lifeafterSCI

day 140 : today i got these two loves of my life back. . everyone meet lucy (left) and bubba (right), crews & i’s fur-babies. . crews got to see them briefly while getting our car from florida before hurricane irma, but otherwise we haven’t seen them for 4.5 months (shoutout to @tracyshandmadesoaps for putting up with these two derps, especially ms. pillow destroyer over here) . if you know these two, you know a good picture is damn hard to come by. i’m inept at taking selfies, lucy hates the camera more than i think anything else in life, and well, bubba’s just cute. this was the best one i could get and it’s still really blurry! you don’t even want to know how lucy & i selfies came out 🙄🐶#diva . . . #theadventuresofbubsandluce #pettherapyisthebesttherapy #headbandsandhightops #spinalcordinjury #extrarepsfortrish #trishstrong #wheelchairlife #paralysisrecovery #lifeafterSCI (at Tampa, Florida)

day 135 : reliving our road trip times by watching hgtv in a hotel room and seeing what new movement i have. . right leg slides up and down without a hitch! 😬 . . . #headbandsandhightops #spinalcordinjury #extrarepsfortrish #trishstrong #wheelchairlife #paralysisrecovery #lifeafterSCI

day 123 : TFW the first doc you go to in years (other than, ya know, the past 4 months) is blown away and perplexed by your progress. . we’ve learned over and over again that i am an anomaly with this injury, and i’m grateful for that every minute of every day. but when doc has to double check what year you were injured because this progress does not match her 25 years of experience, it really hits home how incredibly lucky i’ve been and continue to be. . feeling good that doctor is settled. now to get PT set up! #adulting . . . #headbandsandhightops #spinalcordinjury #extrarepsfortrish #trishstrong #wheelchairlife #paralysisrecovery #lifeafterSCI

day 122 : i am ridiculously proud of this crawl! . hadn’t done this in a while and i’m so surprised that it has changed so much. . baby steps....literally. . hope your halloween was great - i made crews get the rest of the trick-o-treaters once i transferred onto the floor to do exercises 😈 . . . #headbandsandhightops #spinalcordinjury #extrarepsfortrish #trishstrong #wheelchairlife #paralysisrecovery #lifeafterSCI

day 94 : officially done with rehab at @craighospital... . they said we could start talking about walking and getting fit for braces at my 6-month re-evaluation and i'm leaving the hospital standing, walking, and trying to beat my mortal enemy right now - gravity. . thank you @craighospital for sprinkling magic fairy dust on me (and also, you know, having world-class nurses, therapists, and doctors) and helping turn my broken man body to a fixed man. . don't know if "excited" is the term for how i feel right now. this hospital was a cushy bubble of accessibility, support, and peers. now i'm heading to the real world, leaving one of the most accesible cities in the country, and going to a place where i don't know a single person in a wheelchair, much less a spinal cord injury. . thank goodness i will be surrounded by the most loving group of co-workers and friends. i was officially discharged last thursday, but due to surprising @addyhaleyeah at her wedding this past weekend in south carolina (seriously, you thought i'd miss it?!) we had to keep it hush hush. . now that we're out (and back in the glorious state of colorado) we're hanging out for a day or two and then commencing our #rgcv - rehabilitation graduation celebration vacation. say that three times fast. how often do you get to do a cross-country road trip as an adult? we plan on taking full advantage and finding every oddity and hidden gem on the road back. . . . #headbandsandhightops #spinalcordinjury #extrarepsfortrish #trishstrong #wheelchairlife (at Denver, Colorado)