Road Trip to See Liz Ann

Denise Musynowski and I (Jenny McCune) drove down to Denver in Denise's little red Prius to visit LizAnn this past weekend.Much has changed since I last saw LizAnn when she was in the hospital in Billings. No more chest brace, leg brace is soon to follow suit, and so much more independent!We caught up with her on Friday morning at the start of her day. She'd already dressed herself -- quite a feat when you consider her lower body can't really pitch in and she has to wear this clunky knee brace -- and we dined on a mixture of Chez Craig vittles and her secret stash of yummy Kashi cereal and fresh press coffee.Then I got to see Craig Hospital's rehab from the eyes of a supporter rather than a patient. (For anyone who doesn't know me, I have my own spinal cord injury from a cycling accident on July 5, 2007 and spent three months at Craig myself from late July through November 1.)Both Denise and I were exhausted just watching LizAnn work out. In addition to the occupational therapy and physical therapy, she had awheelchair class where she excelled in a game called "go ball," where each team and its teammates have to wheel the ball across the "field" and then throw it into the goal. The catch is each team mate has to touch the ball before it can go into the goal. It's part soccer, basketball and hijinks played in the large gym on the first floor of Craig West. There was muchhooting and hollering and lots of wheeling back and forth. Able-bodied people were invited to join in and grab a spare wheelchair to join in on the fun. Denise and I both didn't think we could keep up -- there were a lot of fierce competitors on both teams -- so we just gamely cheered Liz Ann on.I really enjoyed getting to see Liz Ann's weight class. Back when I was at Craig, I was on the quad track and since I didn't have much in the way of upper body, there was no weight workout for me and certainly not in a fully equipped weight room.Liz Ann and her buddies worked the whole circuit in the weight room while the stereo was blaring disco tunes. I had not heard so much Donna Summers since the 1970s. Among her other feats, Liz Ann did 130 pounds on a latt pulldown bar. The idea is by the end of her stay shall be able to manipulate at least her own body weight. At this point, she could easily benchpress me!After her therapy was done for the day, we went to an Indian restaurant. Denise and Liz Ann have their own particular kind of adventure. I had already jay walked across the street -- the first time I had jay walked since my injury! -- when I saw they were fiddling with the wheels for the wheelchair. The wheels have to come off in order to get them in the car and I guess one of them was not on securely. Fortunately, a local detective -- identified by the polo shirt he was wearing as well has a gun holstered under the armpit -- came to the rescue with a wrench in hand and got everything secured so LizAnn could wheel herself across the street without losing one of her wheel chair wheels.Saturday, was an exciting day for both of us. One of the fantastic therapeutic recreational women -- Carol -- offered to open the pool to LizAnn and her guests. We got to go swimming. Well, in my case it was more of a case of learning how to dog paddle again, but it was huge for me to actually be able to do that. The last time I was at Craig, basically someone had to support my body and move me around in the pool.But LizAnn, wow LizAnn! She is definitely going to have to join the Bozeman Barracudas when she gets back. There she is doing laps in the pool. Name the stroke and she did it. With each lap, she improved. She did the backstroke, crawl, butterfly, breaststroke, you name it. And as Carol, the T. Rec Person, pointed out, she was doing this all wearing this really heavy leg brace. Imagine not having the use of your legs and having a lead weight strapped to one of them. I can definitely see a triathlon or some Paralympic races in the future for Liz Ann.After swimming, we headed over to a local used clothing store to go shopping for Liz Ann's Halloween costume. Halloween is a huge holiday at Craig with all the doctors, nurses, nurse techs and patients gettingdressed up. Shopping is actually pretty challenging. The place we went -- Savers -- is cavernous and huge. I think it's an old supermarket. I know that Denise and I were just overwhelmed by the whole size and decibel level of the place. Liz Ann, I think, was too busy shopping to notice.After we got that out of the way, we headed to Boulder for little more shopping therapy. We had fun going up and down the streets of Boulder and going shopping at the Title Nine store. LizAnn and I took over the two dressing rooms. This is a huge step for me because I haven't had the confidence to even try clothes on just because it takes me so long to get dressed and undressed. Being with LizAnn, buoyed my spirits, I figured what the hell. So we all had fun trying on clothes.After a stop at Whole Foods to pick up some staples for LizAnn as well as shop for dinner, we headed back to the Rehab Ranch otherwise known as Craig Hospital.While we were out and about, LizAnn easily did six transfers to and from the car. She's definitely getting stronger and more adept in terms of getting out and about and dealing with ADLs, otherwise known as then activities of daily living. I feel much stronger and happier just having had a chance to see her in action again. Yahoo!Many thanks to Denise, our able-bodied friend. She did all the driving from Bozeman Downs in Denver and back and cheerfully and graciously helped me and LizAnn whenever we needed a helping hand.
- By Jenny McCune 10/20/08