neurorehabilitationFromTheTrenches

I'd like to thank Cathal for submitting the first, of many, I hope, guest articles by an Irish author. Guest Blogger: Cathal McCoy WeWell. How are yis? Ah, I’m not too bad. All’s quiet . Sure I’ll head on here, make a start on this blog. Declan introduced the idea of me doing one of these a right wee while back. I said ‘I would, aye’, and relegated it to the part of the memory where most people keep promises they’re fairly sure will never be called upon. For any readers outside of Dec’s family & friends – I hear this blog is fairly big in Asia – something very similar happened to me as happened to Declan. ‘Very similar’ could’ve even been in all caps there such was their similarity, but that would seem very shouty and common, unbecoming of such a respectable blog. I was hit by a car (‘hit and run’ driver) while on my hols nearly 7 years before Declan’s accident. #Dec[Car emoji][‘The Scream’ emoji]: 16th September 2017, #McCoy[Car Emoji][Face Palm Emoji]:16th Novemb

This summer is expected to match last summer, in terms of heat. This is sadly a reminder of the global warming that we are experiencing. This past week was pretty eventful. On Wednesday I received a visit from my father and brother, Jim & Jimmy. After they had arrived we went on a mission with a rental car. 3 months ago, I smashed my tv screen with a basketball during a balance exercise. It was still usable because the speakers still worked and I had learned how to navigate blindly to the Youtube app in order to get my music going to accompany me on the Gehbarren, and since Claire and I don't watch that much TV, it wasn't that urgent to replace. Since Jimmy and Da were going to be here with a rental car, why not use that opportunity? They would leave on the Friday so I figured why not utilise the car as much as possible? So then I thought, since the weather was reasonably nice, why not make our way to the Billtalstadion, which is the local football (soccer) pitch and runni

This past weekend, I smashed my mileage record on the trike, which now stands at 24K with only 3 breaks in total. It was glorious weather here on Sunday when we had planned our cycle. We planned to, so did, cycle along the Vierlanden-Bahn-Radweg . The Radweg (think greenway, in the Irish context) allowed us to travel, pretty much, undisturbed to our destination, 12K, during which we had one break at a park bench en route, which was located just before a much more suitable stopping place, which we would avail of on the way back. After an initial 2k of zig-zagging, attempting to get on the Radweg, we were on a very smooth, picturesque cycling route with ample tree cover from the sun. We met, and were overtaken by, a countable number of fellow cyclists, especially e-cyclists; they are the most annoying cyclists to be passed out by. OK, I might not be going very fast, but at least I'm trying. Good luck to them in all honesty. Technology has enabled them to push on toward the end,

I am very fortunate to have Annas Physio so near to my doorstep. We have incorporated tricyling into our 3 weekly sessions and it has been great so far. We haven't quite agreed on the ratio of walking:tricycling but so far we have had the weather for both and we've been attempting both, as follows: We went touring on the trike, she was on a bike, on one Friday evening when we had the weather for it. She cycled along, side by side, offering advice and training drills as well as assistance if and when I needed it. We currently have 3 sessions per week; Monday, Wednesday and Friday, when we, more often than not, get outside and walk a 400 meter cane walk, which often takes more than the allotted time. Sometimes that coincides with a Crossfit class that Claire takes in Athlevo , so Claire can and does offer encouragement as she runs past us. The exposure I get to outside cane walking has been very fruitful as I've recently made noticeable gains and, as  Dr Walther remarked

This past weekend was a bank holiday weekend, as it would be called in Ireland. Bank holidays work a little differently here. In Ireland, whichever day of the week the occasion that deserves a bank holiday falls on, the bank holiday will fall on the next Monday (with the exception of Good Friday), giving a long weekend to everyone. In Germany, it's the luck of the draw, with the exception of last weekend. Monday was Whit Monday. That coincided with a triathlon in Luebeck which Claire was taking part in. So, off we went on the train with the trike and Claire's racing bike. Luebeck was great for my training. As well as gaining more experience with trains, the great weather we got in Luebeck meant that I got to trike around. As well as improving on the previous weekend's mileage, I also got the opportunity to cane walk in, among other places, Hamburg Hauptbahnhof, which is the main railway station in Hamburg. Claire noted that I'm gaining in confidence; I felt it too. On

This weekend it arrived. Claire needed to pick it up at the Dreirad Zentrum but it was a nice day for it. My maiden voyage on my Dreirad was a mixed bag. I felt free and Independent, sure, but there were some technical difficulties. I had thought that it was sufficient to switch my left peddle for a more secure alternative. Alas, my right foot was struggling with its own peddle. We cut our planned cycle short, mainly because it had been ill-thought-through to wear my Vibram 5-fingers with my left peddle replacement; my toes had, unbeknownst to me, wormed their way out though the straps, in a truly uncomfortable way. Meanwhile, my exposed left, inside ankle was continually getting prodded by an irritating, superfluous part of the replacement peddle. We regrouped, It was giving a hotter day on Sunday anyway. Sunday didn't disappoint, with thirty degrees, as promised. So we planned to follow through with our planned cycle from the previous day. Claire took advantage of the Ve