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Saturday, March 22, 2008

The Past Three Weeks in Horseheads

First off...it's March in upstate NY. This means the occasional beautiful warm spring day, followed by a week of cold, snow, sleet and/or freezing rain! I am certainly looking forward to the upcoming warming trend that should bring temperatures in the low 50's...consistently!

Outside of wishing for Atlanta's weather forecast, we have been busy getting adjusted to life back home. It's been great visiting with friends and family and getting caught up with the local happenings.

I have also been going to physical therapy three days a week just a few miles from home! I've been learning a few new techniques and continuing to see strength and mobility gains. Transfers (of all kinds) are becoming more fluid and efficient. In fact, I can get into a sedan independently (minus loading the chair). I am also able to blow up a balloon now; this means that my abdominal muscles are beginning to fire...awesome!

Three to four days a week, I have been getting regular "pushes" in at the Arnot Mall. I push around the entire inside parameter (which is around 1 1/4 miles) and go up a total of six inclined ramps for "hill" work. The track athlete in me has also been timing laps. My best effort is 15 minutes 9 seconds, down from 18 minutes even the first time 2 1/2 weeks ago!

Last weekend, we got out of town and visited family down in the Washington, D.C. metro area. We went down for a cousin's baby shower, but the guys got out of the house on Saturday afternoon to have lunch in downtown DC with some of my Bucknell teammates. We had a great lunch outside in the 65 degree weather just a stone's throw from DuPont Circle. A special thanks to Wally, Jessy, Wes and Dinty for meeting us out!

That is all for now. I will continue to post updates every two to three weeks to keep everyone updated with my continued progress and recovery.

Many thanks for everyone's continued love and support!

Best,
Dana