I got out of my car by myself when I got to Barwis. The door was open and I could hear Phil barking out commands to the high school group. It was cold so I had my head down as I pushed myself up the ramp. The ramp proved to be a little bit too steep for me to get through the door by myself. I gave it the college try but to no avail. I hear Phil’s voice coming closer so I look up as he grabs the front sides of my wheelchair to pull me through the door. I look at him and smile. WE WERE MATCHERS!!! I happily exclaimed this fact to Phil to which he told me that he was going to take his sweatshirt off. We were both wearing a royal blue sweatshirt with black sweatpants. This fact makes us matchers!!!
Phil called me over to the plyo boxes when it was my time. I was feeling better and hoped that it would be more than just a stretching day. But then Phil grabbed my left ankle. My leg felt A LOT tighter than I thought it was. I was disappointed. I have wanted to do so much more than just being stretched (not to say that being stretched eventually will feel GREAT but it kind of hurts during the initial stretch) for so long. I had just recently talked with my cousin Kimmy about persevering even when nothing seemingly is coming of it. We also talked about the nonlinear nature of my journey. Both having MS, we know what it’s like to have setbacks, “off” days, and frustration with not being able to control your body. Looks like I’m just going to get stretched. So be it.
My legs started to loosen up and it seemed promising. After a little more stretching, Phil told me to head over to the stander. YES! Phil strapped me in and I was SUPER excited! My feet were completely flat and I thought that that would translate to good things as the stander was cranked up. I was correct! My feet were flat with weight fully on them and it felt REALLY good! I stood 2 times for a total of 15 minutes.
TOTAL TIME IN STANDER = 111 MINUTES
So, I spent the ENTIRE time at Barwis convincing Phil how cool it was that we were MATCHERS. I told him that we should take a picture but he wasn’t having it. Every time he put his hood on, I put my hood on too and laughed
I threw all my big time weapons at him like “I can’t even walk! A picture would make me happy! You will deny me that happiness?!” and “It has been SO LONG since our last selfie!” and “I’m getting a milestone today, 100+ minutes in the stander!” He remained silent this whole time. Then he pulled his phone out and took this:
#DaisyandPhil #3
Phil pushed me out to my car. I tried, but he had to help me get in. I didn’t LOVE his “bends” this time but he took the picture and sent it to me so…
I’ve tweeted this pic like 20 times so far.