Guest Post: To Stand, to Pivot, No More!

Grant here, once again. I have one more thing to add about my last visit.

On Monday (the 30th), AJ was preparing to transfer from his chair to the table mat during PT. He did most of the preparatory things himself, like locking his wheel locks (well, the left one is still a bit of a reach), taking off his seat belt, and scooting forward to put his butt closer to the edge of the chair. As he was sitting there, his chair right up against the mat and the mat positioned a few inches below the plane of his chair, I said to the PT that it really looked as if AJ could just hop on over to the mat. She agreed.

Well, it was not easy, and it certainly wasn't a hop, but AJ made it onto the mat without having to do a stand and pivot with someone! He required minimal assistance with some of his scoots. It was slow going and even a bit agonizing. He wasn't even happy, because pain built up in his left knee through all the effort. But damn if he didn't make it from sitting in his chair over to sitting on the mat under his own power. I couldn't believe it. It was transformative.

I have to stress that it took time. AJ had to lean out really far with his right arm onto the mat and push up with his legs, moving himself from chair to mat three to six inches at a time (and a little farther on the one or two scoots where he had help). Each time in between scoots, he wanted to reposition his feet or point his feet in a more appropriate direction. Then he'd scoot again. Imagine getting out your bed in the morning (a comparable task), only you do it in several stages over the period of three to five minutes, having to think about every major movement you're making, and finding a few stable midpoints where you can rest before moving on to the next stage. It's a chore.

AJ did it. And the next day he did it again, but he needed more assistance and was fighting greater fatigue. The encore wasn't as pretty, maybe even a step back. The take-away, however, is that once it's proven possible, it's no longer impossible. That Monday saw the forward scout of an invading army of independent transfers. Now we're in the lull between the scout and the main forces. It might be a slow invasion, but it will be transformative.



By the way, the title to this post is a reference to Billy Madison's rendition of Hamlet's most famous soliloquy, though Billy is holding a skull, which is from the less famous "Alas, poor Yorick" speech two acts later.