After I had the Stem cells and gone back to work (In a phased return to work) ) I decided it was time to go back to the Gym, Nuffield Gym.  Before I had a Stroke I had a PT (Eliza) for a little while and then I just went to classes, Yoga, Boxercise and Body Balance.  Again in my head, I decided I was going to be fit in 2016 (and lose a lot of weight !)

At first my friend Julia picked me up, every time for a while. The first time was kind of a bit weird, it was going to take a lot of nerves to get me through the door and back to what I was used too.  At first I went up in the lift.  But after a few weeks, I went up by the stairs.  In fact it was was a bit weird because everywhere there was lots of people and I felt very conscious of people looking at me (even though they probably wasn’t).

Even now I walk through the gym apprehensively sometimes and I don’t think I this will change  until I get back to normal.

Hannah was training as a PT so she set out to train me. Everything looked exactly how it used to.  There was a few problems, like at first I couldn’t do the rowing or cross trainer, I could do the Treadmill but someone had to assist me to get up (even though it was just stepping up !)  I could do the exercise bike, but someone would have to lift my right side over.  She also got me using the Hand Bike, which I would start with on my own but sometimes it didn’t work as my hand was tense.

Also at first, I couldn’t lay down, infact it was all a bit too much, me with a walking stick and  walking slowly though the gym lol. But apart from that,  I had to go back to basics.

It was like my left hand side new exactly what it was doing.  But my right hand side only knew what it had been shown after the stroke, and that was it !

Also I went swimming at Nuffield.

They had a hoist that I used to get in and out of the swimming pool.  I sat in it then one of the guys would take of my shoes and splint off and lower me down to the pool and then I would get out. luckily the water when i was lowered came just underneath my chin, so although at first I used a float eventually I didn’t have anything.  Ok, at first, it made it quite difficult, I kept going right with my hand and leaning towards the side of the pool, however, in time I compensated and it was fine.

Then I sat in again and one of the guys would hoist me up and then, bless them, they dried my legs and put my splint on and my shoes

My friends took me after work and dropped me of and then I got a taxi back home and then I felt so proud when I got a car last year and now I could go anywhere with the gym being now easily accessable.

 

 

Eliza really helped me with pulling down weights, dumbells and  the TRX.

She also taught me to walk in a straight line with some resistance bands and it’s getting better all the time. We did some sitting down weights to pull my arms up.  Also we did bicep curl.  Basically Eliza used to do anything that would help me get back to where I used to be but in a controlled way.  She always made me feel that I was putting myself in her hands and whilst sometime’s it was scary, I could always feel that I could trust her.

Then Mitch took over.  I had just got the Crosstrainer upto 3 mins. Mitch decided it should be 5mins and upwards !!! But although at first I was tired but I really welcomed it. Also the Rowing, again,  Mitch tried a resistance band around my legs and then i was off !! Another good thing was the Leg Extensions.  There were certain things that I could do on my own, but having a PT one day a week made me better and stronger at everything i did.

There were certain things that really annoyed me so Mitch took a picture of me at the Treadmill so we could see how each week it would get stronger and improving and also the Exercise Bike.

 

Like I say, the gym is teaching me to start again.  All the time I think of the classes and when I can do them again.

The PT’s  have made getting better, fun and pushed me and motivated me to do things that I didn’t think I could do again.