#lifeaftersci

day 580 : i quit my job 1 month ago today. . this is currently what many of my days look like, and i'm not mad about it. . quitting my job was the scariest decision i think i've ever made, and i went back and forth agonizing for months on end. in reality, i needed the experience/to prove myself that i COULD go back to work, but the effect on my personal wellness and recovery was never positive from the start. . i am confident i've made the right decision, both for my soul and for continued focus and dedication to all of this return in function and feeling i'm feeling and continue to get back. i am amazed and eternally grateful. . i've gone back to driving #uber and #lyft, but to counteract all of that sitting (wellness, come on people) i've become a grocery shopper for #instacart and #shipt. turns out, it's kind of the perfect training tool i need right now?? . sometimes i end up at 6-8 stores a day. legs are definitely feeling it, but i'm refining my walk and getting some fast paces in! plus, carrying groceries is like, peak function training - am i right #fitfam . doc says i really don't need any more physical therapy, but i'm NOWHERE NEAR where i want to be! anyone have any ideas for something a step beyond personal training with a touch of neuro?? #help . that's enough of an update for now. just doing my best every day, which sometimes isn't that great, but hey - does it really even matter? 😬🙃 . cheers friends. keep on keepin on 🖤 . . . #spinalcordinjury #rebuild #scirecovery #notimeforparalysis #whatparalysis #notalldisabilitiesarevisible #paraplegiclife #incompleteparaplegic #bionicbadass #lifeaftersci #nothingisofflimits #moveyourbody #keeponkeepinon #neverstopplaying #justgottagetthroughit #healingisnotlinear #ambulatorywheelchairusersexist #dothehardstuff https://www.instagram.com/p/Bte0eOmhSvX/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=m0tmx3cvc70k

day 335 : [11 months] . approaching one year in one month is kicking up feely-emotions that haven’t been felt in a few months. . mental health is an on-going challenge. from accepting the way my body now looks, to constantly expecting to fall at any moment, to balancing pushing myself too hard with workouts v. taking the rest i need, to just figuring out how new me is going to choose to handle every-day life things. . to say it’s been a rollercoaster is an understatement. it’s been a tortuous, scarring, burning, bruising ride through various levels of hell, and every moment of it has ultimately been full of beauty. even the ugly ones. . thanks instagram for giving me a peek through the journeys of so many others, showing me i’m not alone, and appreciating the raw magic that comes from fighting a fight. thank you insta-fam for coming along with me in this ride. . today’s workout dedicated to the power of knowing who you are enough to be proud of the choices you make, and living what makes you feel wild. . #liveyourbestlife #spinalcordinjury #scirecovery #learningtowalkagain #notimeforparalysis #whatparalysis #notalldisabilitiesarevisible #paraplegiclife #incompleteparaplegic #thecomebackisstrongerthanthesetback #brokenbody #bionicbadass #lifeaftersci #nothingisofflimits #exerciseismedicine #moveyourbody #takecareofyourbodyandyourbodywilltakecareofyou

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 121 : finally got myself to do an adaptive yoga class online. . thank you to @nchpad for creating a yoga video for people with an SCI that felt real and had challenging pieces in it. a lot of what i’ve found and experienced has been “gentle yoga” or just some stretching and breathing. it was a tough class and i’m glad it got me out of my chair! . getting back into something that i loved and that defined me has been harder than i thought. more than once while doing face-down poses did i find myself sticking my face into tears that had fallen. but i did it. and i did way more than i thought i could do. . i WILL get back to taking a class in a real studio (although youtube is awesome). . . . #headbandsandhightops #spinalcordinjury #extrarepsfortrish #trishstrong #wheelchairlife #paralysisrecovery #lifeafterSCI #adaptiveyoga