For the past 8 weeks, I have been going to rehab 2 days a week to have focused days where I exercise in areas that my body needs. I was recommended by my nurse who meets me regularly for my baclofen pump adjustments to go to a rehabilitation center to keep my spasticity under control. This is something you can get prescribed by your doctor once a year and is a great way to reduce the everyday spasticity that you feel. And in the beginning, they said that you do this once a year and then not again until the next year. This is apparently the best way to keep your spasticity under control, but after these weeks, I feel that I need to continue, and the personnel there agree.
The experience
I went to Aleris Rehab Station in Stockholm, which is a place for both daily rehab and more long-term rehab for people with spinal cord injuries. The first week, I did do some tests and met my own team that I was going to work with. I was assigned a physical therapist and an occupational therapist, and they figured out what I needed to work on based on my goals, which were mainly endurance and coordination. I mean, strength is nice, but when I do not have good coordination, I cannot really gain much from getting stronger. Based on that, I was assigned both individual and group sessions, and both were nice.
One of the best sessions I had was when I did some exercise in the Lokomat. The Lokomat is an exo-skeleton-like machine that makes you walk in the right way. It is a passive training machine that does the movement for you. It might seem to be a relaxing experience, but it does require energy from you. You can also move by yourself too, but it can be a negative if you do not do the right movements, which is rough with spasticity. It was definitely one of the better sessions I had if we disregard that the security measures did cause some pain, but it was part of the exercise and could not be avoided.
Exercising in the Lokomat
The gym
I have previously gone to a regular gym, but it was not very well optimized for me. I could use like 5 machines and that was it. And I could not reach some of the machines. At the rehab center, their gym was big and spacious. Maybe it was fewer machines overall, but I could use everything. They even had an arm-bicycle, which is my new favorite. I used it every day I had rehab because I had an endurance group and that was a great way to end the day. I kind of want one at home now. Too bad they are quite expensive, as accessibility items always are. Praise the disability tax!
My plan going forward
Despite my rehab sessions being over, I will continue to visit the rehab center. They have a gym card that gives you access to the gym during lunchtime. Despite the time limitation and the commute time, I find it definitely worth it to get their gym card and go there twice a week. It is fun and I haven't felt this good in a while, both physically and mentally. I am happy that I had these 8 weeks and I am ready to continue maintaining my body as I do with my programming projects.