Lets get physical!

Today I thought I would talk to you guys a bit more about my disability and about what I have to do to keep my strength  mobility up.  Now, of course everyone has to exercises to stay fit and healthy, but for me exercising is even more important.  Having Cerebral Palsy means that my muscle are tighter than normal.  How tight your muscles are determines how much mobility you have.  I have lots of mobility but my muscles are still tight, so i still have to keep exercising and stay strong.  People were worried when I got my wheelchair that I would stop walking, but it hasn't held me back.  I still love to walk.  Actually, my physio told me sometimes  I had the choice to exercise or walk, I should walk because it will improve my endurance while standing.  I was pretty happy about that!   Anyway, I have been going to weekly physio sessions ever since I was three years old.  It all started at the Children's Hospital.  We had to move to Calgary when I was little for a year and a half  so I could have surgery to lengthen the ligaments in my legs.  Luckily, my aunt and cousin lived in town, so we got to stay with them.  After I got out of surgery, I spent a lot of time exercising in the Children's Hospital with my physio therapist in the pool.  The heat in the pool really relaxes my muscles so its really great for doing stretcthes and stuff.  The Children's also set me up with wheelchairs and walkers and leg braces and these leg straps that wrap around my legs.  They kept my toes from pointing in all the time.  Oh man, they were a hassle! I quit wearing them.  Anyway, when we moved back home, a year late, we started physio sessions at the local hospital in Invermere.  Around that time i was really getting good at my walking.  I could take 100 steps by then.  That day was pretty exciting!!  I was learning how to move a manual wheelchair with two hands.  My left hand doesn't cooperate well.  I call it my boy hand because it doesn'tcooperate. Lefty.  Anyway, a few years later, we stopped going to the hospital and started going to the Invermere physio clinic.  I've worked with lots of great people there.  They make physio a very happy place to come to.   .  Going to this physio clinic doesn't feel like going to doctors office.   It's a welcoming experience that I always look forward to. . .  Even thought they twist me up like a pretzel and make sweat on a tiring Monday afternoon, we all know it's worth it...  it helps me every STEP of the way.