One year of rehab training to rebuild my body after my spinal stroke in Sept 2015, hospital stay 12.

I regularly visited all my specialists and doctors to help support and direct me on the long recovery road ahead.

My Main List of Top Specialist in Australia:

•GP, Paul Raftos.                                          •Anaesthesia & Pain Medicine Specialist, Head Of Department at Prince of Wales Hosptital, Dr Khor.                                             •Neurosurgeon, Dr Richard Parkinson, at St. Vincent’s  Private Hospital.               •Neurologist, Dr Shaun Watson, at Prince of Wales Private.                                     •Chiropractor, Stephen Esposito.              •Exercise Physiologist, Robert Magro.       

My goal this last year was total commitment to my health. I needed to insure my body was going to be stronger than before, and I was forced to push the limit every day so I physically could manage to coexist. My daily chronic pain was at the highest it had ever been this last year than I had indured in the last 11years living with my active spinal AVM.

My body was broken and the only person that was going to fix it was going to be me!

I visit the Kingsford Chiropractic Clinic Centre For Rehabilitation where one of my most valued specialist all these years works. Chiropractor Stephen Esposito helps manage my pain by massaging and releasing the deadly pain in my head, neck, feet and legs. When I got out of hospital I needed some serious help and I wasn’t afraid to take it. I have the highest amount of trust for Stephen. I know I was safe and he would do his best to release the pressure from my embolising migraines and help increase oxygenated blood flowing through my AVM to help deal with the increased nerve damage and chronic pain in my body. All of my neuro symptoms have been seriously heightened due to my spinal stroke in sept 2015.

Most weeks I drag myself to my weekly appointments cause it feels as though I’m dying from the inside out..

The support from Stephen and his team gets me through the week. The catch up convos help drift my mind. I need to visit Stephen at the Kingsford Chiropractic Clinic Centre For Rehabilitation– once a week or every 2-3 weeks if I’m having a good month.

The massaging helps loosen my muscles and the pressure begins to release in my head and legs, supporting my body to heal. My daily headaches are more controlled and my body feels lighter. I am mentally and physically able to keep myself on track of my daily rehab training plan. Stephen also teaches me repeat exercises to practice daily to help train my feet and legs to do what they once did before.

From the first day I got out of hospital I started training in the heated pool at DRLC Aquatic Centre, for 2hrs each morning.

After the 7th day, at home I laid in bed and finally, really, most definitely, wiggled my toes, lifted my legs, and moved my feet upwards, downwards, side to side! It was painful and my legs and feet were shaking, but they did it! The message was getting through and there was movement again. After 4 weeks I smiled, and this time it was real.

It was my real life happy feet moment!

For 3 months I pushed my walker to help support me through the struggle of walking again. What was easier in the water was not so easy on the land.

I train 1.5-2hrs a day in a heated pool every morning at 6am for 6 months straight. My dad picked me up every morning at 5:45AM and I started doing my rehab exercises with him. We walked up and down the 25 metres, in the 1.2 metre deep pool, doing 10 laps/sets of different repeat leg excerises. Totally on average of 50-60 laps a session (4 laps totally 100m). At first I couldn’t kick my legs straight and I wasn’t even aware that one leg was going the wrong way. I practiced my kicking and my floating in the pool and in my first 3 months I started to swim freestyle again. After the first 3months of my training I slowly got better and I added weights and resistences to my ankles and hands to up the anti, to continue to strengthen and tone my legs, back, core and arms.

During my first three months training at the DRLC Aquatic Centre, I was in the pool and myself and my dad spoke to one of the life guards who is actually a trained Excerise Physiolgist. Rob specialises with patients that have MS and who have suffered from a stroke. He completely understood my neuro symptoms that I suffer with daily due to the AVM, spinal cord damage and my spinal stroke, and I trusted he could help. I then started weekly sessions with my Exercise Physiologist, Robert Magro who comes to my house for one hour training sessions.

After a stroke neuro pathways in your brain are damaged or destroyed preventing signals from the brain reaching other parts of your body. This means that you may have to relearn things which were just every day tasks prior to the stroke such as walking and writing. Neuroplasticity is the term used to describe the creation and modifications of pathways in the brain to allow these tasks to occur. The exercises I practice with Rob have been conducting aid the creation of these new pathways to allow the brain to resend these signals to the body. Rob re-taught me all of this, I re-learn’t my motor skills again and how to control my pain levels to physically push myself to be able to do and practice simply tasks we take for granted. Eg signing your name, writing your ABC’s, getting out of bed, standing up from sitting on a chair, walking straight, picking something off the floor just to name a few. These sessions are physically and mentally challenging, I had to teach my brain to do everything it could do before, I needed to get the messages across.

Dealing with daily chronic pain can make it feel impossible to seperate the pain from the action. When you want and need to take action you are struggling to just simply take charge when your body wants to scream and just be still.

It was time to be resilient!

I knew this was never going to be easy but quitting isn’t an option. When my head wasn’t in the game, Rob wouldn’t let me give me and always pushes and encourages me to complete the task. I learn regular excerises that I continue to practice daily in between our weekly sessions to keep progressing in my rehab training.

The key is to keep active!

As I started to stand taller I needed to leave my walker after 3months and trust that I could manage on my own.

My freedom was coming back. It was the time I realised,  I had to now be smart, take my time, plan my day ahead, trust and listen to my body and not to push myself too far. Where there was plenty of work there was a demand for much needed rest.

When I’m not training in the pool I spend time at the beach. The icy cold salt water would always release unwanted pressure and burning pain in my legs. I would practice walking up and down the beach, clearing my head from the thoughts of the pain and just simply enjoying the warmth of the sun on my skin while listening to the sounds of the waves and the water.

Taking yourself into Mother Nature whether you are grounding your feet in the grass or tickling your toes in the sand. It’s always been my rush of freedom..

“the earth has music for those who listen” – Shakespeare

I first tried to run one late afternoon on the sand as the sun was going down. It was funny it wasn’t really much of a run, more of a very slow motion jog. But within the first couple months into my rehab to make that happen it was a huge success! My closest girlfriend captured the moment and that day I knew I made her proud. She could see me push myself no matter the odds.

Into my first 3-6months of my rehab I started weekly Coogee Bay walks with my family and friends. It was amazing to see my closest loved ones take control in their own lives and begin to live a move active lifestyle as they showed their love, support and encouragement for me.

I physically needed to step it up. I had to challenge my body to walk up and down stairs, up steep hills and increase my endurance levels. I had to increase my fitness on the ground not just in the water and I needed to work on walking further distances. I also go for walk/jogs around my block especially on days that I can’t travel or drive if I’m not feeling the best so I’m still keeping active on my bad days as much as I can throughout the day.

I can only truly manage to be active 5hrs of each day without my body given up and in need of rest. I train daily to build myself up and gain energy to begin my day, so I start to gain more valuable hours of every given day I get.

Every morning I commit ! I get up and I work for what most people take for granted.

Monday- Friday I’m up at the pool at 6:30am, I am now physically fit with my muscles toned I complete 70laps with added resistance. I have my 1 hour training session with Rob every week and I am running the block as well being able to do squats, step up knees up, walking lunges and standing tall walking better than I ever have before. I’ve greatly improve my grip, my flexibility, my strength, my balance, my memory and my mindset has never been as powerful and determined.

All the early morning training sessions in the pool and the weekly Chiro sessions at the Rehabiliation Centre. Plus my weekly training session with my Exercise Physiologist had prepared me and gave me the strength to push through each day of this last year.

Into my 6 month of rehab training I even starting hot yoga at Modo Yoga Studio. Something I thought would be extremely difficult but I knew, I had to work on my balance, my breathing, stretching my muscles, and dealing with my daily chronic pain. The added controlled heat in the class made it easier for me to achieve the yoga positions. The heat reduced the pressure and heavy weight in my legs. I learn’t ‘Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured.’ I felt a sense of achievement after my commitment to my practice. I would walk out of class feeling as though my body was as light a feather, my legs began to float on a cloud. My sleep was improving and my mind was finding more purpose instead of the pain suffocating my existence.

I really started to focus my attention on my breathing and meditation as these would be important methods to master in case I was to have another attack or relaps during my recovery.

As my body was getting more balance and I slowly began to gain strength, I had to be smarter and realise you need to balance your life.

I understood I wasn’t where I was years ago but I had the mind set that all my set backs in the last year were building me up to a stronger warrior then ever before. After all these 12 hospital stays, this last one was ground shaking but it gave me the power to ask those scary questions and make my own decisions in regards to my health. It gave me no other choice than to completely focus my life on my recovery and my future life plan with everything and everyone I value. This time all the energy I have I am using it to strengthen my body, clear my head, prepare my mind and spirit for the next steps in this journey.

I have an incurable time bomb but like us all we are not promised a tomorrow. Make sure you make the complete most of your today. Fill your lives with positive vibes and only what truly makes you happy.

I am fighting to hold onto my today and I am fighting for a better chance at a promising future.

This was my time to do a do over in life, I pressed reset and I changed the game on my own terms.

I am creating an even better me!