Saturday, January 30, 2010

Getcho szhit togetha!

So I may have to switch gears with my therapist because apparently there's a specific section of Asphalt that is for PT. I hope I can continue to work with Leslie but if my insurance will not cover her, I cannot continue to pay out of pocket.

I submitted a proposal to the chapter to help fund a Vitaglide Pro for Beth Abraham. My biggest worry is the obduracy of Beth Abraham! They just suck so much! Even when a good thing comes their way! They'll pretty shit up and but never give real access to anything. They'll boast of themselves in the music program. What music program!?? They have all this equipment but don't know what to do with it! They have a great space for therapy but they don't utilize it! The Tilt table isn't used! The thing that bugs me most is that they have a pipeline from Mt. Sinai to bring all these young cats with SCI and yet they don't have the appropriate program to maintain SCI ADL levels, independence. 

At Mt. Sinai, I showered in a chair and mostly cleaned myself. Now, I resign to shower on the bed, because their chairs here suck and my feet drag. 2 people have to wash me because there always has to be 2 witnesses against me in this place.

There are paras in power chairs, who do not do their own bowel routines! There is no motivation or education here to get them to the appropriate level. This is the place Mt. Sinai--a model SCI System--has chosen! The bottom line: because it's the best of the shit pile. Well, I think there are good points in Beth Abe and as long as I'm here, I'll do whatever I can to improve it. These are the things I think about when I envision Wheels of Progress and how transitions should run. This can be somewhat of a drawing board.

I've been utterly enjoying Darcy James Argue's Secret Society and their new album Infernal Machines. itunes describes it as "steam punk jazz" and that about hits it right on the head. "Take the A train" meets...I dunno, my fist! But on a serious note, most times I find jazz too chaotic for me to enjoy unless it's fused with something else. This is much more musically grounded and still solidly jazz. Here's a couple songs from the album, if you want more, I have all the songs in rapidshare...enjoy!



3. Transit
4. Redeye

Thursday, January 21, 2010

The beat train

I'm back on the beat train of training again and it feels good. I met my new trainer, Leslie at Asphalt Green and we began with simple body mechanics, zeroing in what I can do, ways I can reach out my arms by counter balancing and right away I saw results. She made me aware of when my posture was off, when I used my head to compensate, so I could correct myself. It felt good. She is intense, energetic, knowledgeable, but also kind and down to earth. Afterwards, she gave me a couple of nutrigrain bars and made sure I made the accessaride ok.

I got prescriptions from my doctor for the training and FES at Mt. Sinai. I do have muscles firing in the abdomen that I want to stimulate, especially on the left side. I do not want this scoliosis to get worse and permanent. Right now, it's correctable with therapy.

I had an idea to propose to the chapter that beth abe should have quad friendly equipment where they can work out themselves without help setting up. The Vitaglide and the Uppertone provide that. I'm going to explore that a little more and see which one profits the most people. More quads here are motivated to go into manual chairs but they need to go to the next level when it comes to training: shoulders, back, triceps, trunk control. I've been looking at these pieces of equipment and they provide that. Best of all, they provide elements where quads can securely put their hands in. I'm so tired of going to the OT room and seeing paraplegics dominate the weights while quads sit and watch because they need to be strapped into the friggin pulleys and it's not even effective.

Anybody with me say "I'm on that beat train!"

Saturday, January 9, 2010

More crazy love

I'm finishing the book Crazy Love and in conjunction with our reading in Acts, I've felt a difference in my daily walk with the Lord. Crazy Love is Chan's personal realization of something--a big something--missing in the American Church and his spirit led response to it. He goes back to remind us of the primacy and magnitude of God using the imagery in Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4. That all of us, whether we believe or not, will come before the throne of God. We will stand naked before our Creator, the same who made the Earth and the Heavens, time, gravity, creativity. When I was 3, I remember going to the museum of Natural History. There's a huge life-size blue whale hanging from the ceiling. When I first saw it, I was terrified! My knees felt weak, heck I think I pissed myself! I still have the picture of my mother pointing up in awe, while I'm crying in sheer fright of the magnitude of that beast! I also get overwhelmed when I'm faced with the sea. I'm reminded of how vulnerable I am. We must be reminded of how powerful God is and that we are accountable to him.

Chan smacks his readers with the reality of who God is but also reminds us of God's love for us and because He loves us so much that He gave His son, Jesus to become mortal to die, take our sins that we can have favor in God's sight is something we should always praise Him for. Our lives should be dedicated to Him! For a closer look at what crazy love is about, check out www.juststopandthink.com and www.crazylovebook.com

What about all these Natural disasters?

Since the earthquake in Haiti, especially, people will question the love or even the existence of God. Do not let the enemy deceive you! The presence of natural disasters is not 'God's punishment.' We have been suffering sickness and death ever since we disobeyed God in the Garden and the Earth has also been experiencing degradation, leading to more sickness and death. The increased number of disasters are fulfilled prophecy to the end times to Christ's coming as spoken of in the scriptures:

Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. Matthew 24:6

What freaks me out is the increased number of movies spouting deceit like 2012 and Legion, things that have nothing to do with the Word of God. The Bible is not an archaic book that has no relevancy to us today. In fact, it was written specifically for us in these times! I'm exhorting all who read this and do not know Christ to honestly pray and seek God. I'd rather see more people into eternity than just ho hum and keep this to myself for PC-sake. The Bible is the truth spoken from God. How do you know men didn't just write it? If God is powerful enough to create the universe, He can preserve His word. Moreover, the Bible is historically reliable, consistent, and Jesus has fulfilled hundreds of prophesies. For more detailed proof, go to alwaysbeready.com These are the technical evidences for unbelivers that make Jesus as Messiah beyond a shadow of a doubt: prophecy, miracles, biblical consistency, archeological discoveries. Spiritually, God reveals himself through his holy spirit and that is unexplainable. Or at least hard to explain for me. I think Solomon shared a great testimony in my interview with him and I give God all the glory to whoever it can reach and save:




I'm just really irate at all the apostasy going on, people not teaching sound doctrine, but most importantly, not serving and loving each other the way Jesus commanded us. It is hard and it requires his supernatural power that we can call on the Holy spirit for! More and more, the world is getting worse and even some Christians are being deceived (i.e. Pat Robertson!!) But God has already warned us of this in the Bible which makes His truth just that much more uncanny, it's slapping us in the face:

"And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many." Matthew 24:11
"And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." Matthew 24:12

I already started Chan's other book, Forgotten God centering on our neglect of the HolySpirit. I hope to get more feedback from believers here and have an honest dialogue on the subject.

In other news, training is going great and I hope to get more quads moving here soon too!
Music Review Coming up!
-NOA

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

I'm sitting, letting a WEFUNK set seep in. Still haven't downloaded any funk, jazz, break or the like and WEFUNK is the cure. If you dig old skool hip hop skillfully mixed with soul, funk, latin, afro-beat, breaks, electro and the like, look no furdah.

So Mount Sinai cancelled my appt. to find a more appropriate therapist for my injury level but this stalling is getting me vexed. The longer I'm out of a regular training program I feel myself getting depressed, weak. My trunk, especially, is weak. The fact that I still can't transfer myself is very frustrating! I'm so close! I'm so tired of depending on these people! The institution as a whole keeps cutting down on staff so you have to wait longer, the CNA's are more frustrated, over worked and less willing to do what they have to. But the rates have gone up and the beds are not full. What's going on? Each resident pays about $15,000/month. That's straight robbery if you ask me.

I want the new year to start off right, with activity and motivation. Right now I feel a bit stagnant and I don't like that. However, I have been focused on prayer and that takes much diligence! It's hard to find quiet anywhere anymore. We have been talking about that at church, reading through the book of Acts. Even Jesus led a life of full of prayer himself, and he is the son of God! But he was setting an example and lately, I have been going back to his example prayer in Luke 11:2 and letting it flow from there, putting more detail to each section. Thanking The Lord for saving me from the roof, for being faithful throughout, for putting my life back together. My neck is broken but I have gained eternity. I'm not lonely anymore. I have family nearby. Life on Earth is not perfect, but I feel whole with Jesus and I just want more and more of him.