On Thursday I got straight up into a wheelchair and felt pretty good. It usually takes awhile to adjust as your blood pressure drops which makes you feel light-headed and dizzy. However, once I was allowed out of bed I wasn’t going back quickly and managed an hour and a half my first go and got to look around the hospital grounds and visit my family at their unit for a little while.

Since then it has been onwards and upwards. I started hand therapy class last week and felt flickers in all of the fingers of my left hand. This week I started physiotherapy in the gym and it was confirmed my triceps are showing signs of life which is another big step as they make mobility at this stage much easier. I got a power wheelchair yesterday afternoon so I can get myself around as much as I like … freedom, what an amazing feeling! I am hoping to graduate to a push chair in the next day or so.

Since I have slight movement in every major muscle group, I am no longer measuring my progress by what I can move. More so I am measuring by the activities I can do. For example, I can hold and drink from a normal cup, I can eat a sandwich by myself, I can clean my own teeth and I can take my kids for fun “rides” on my wheelchair.

Starting the rehabilitation phase has been great but exhausting … I have lost close to 40lbs (17kg) of body weight. Just sitting up wears you out and I have had a few episodes of serious head-spins which aren’t fun. Physiotherapy takes a huge toll on my energy levels and even the simplest movements seem impossible at first and require a total re-learning process. Frustration sets in fairly quickly when I am unable to perform basic tasks and it is hard to clear my head of the constant doubt of whether these tasks will ever get any easier.

However, based on my progress, the doctors recent positivity and more optimistic remarks I can almost see a dim light at the end of a very long tunnel.

Some people have in-laws they can’t stand, some have in-laws they can tolerate … others are very lucky and have in-laws like mine. Pat Harpell, Karyn’s Mom, flew down and has been here in New Zealand since day 3 helping look after our boys and Karyn’s father, Tom, wasn’t far behind to lend a hand and offer support. They had to return home to Canada this past Monday and we are definitely going to miss their help and we can’t thank them enough for everything they have done. They are already talking about returning later this year and I am hoping next time they actually get to look around New Zealand and see more than just the hospital grounds!

It has been almost 7 weeks since I was injured but progress still continues which is all I can really ask for at this point.

Kyle Eade

AKA “the mobile kiwi”