Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Week 3 Beyond Therapy.....its coming guys!!

Well I have successfully finished my 3rd week of Beyond Therapy and I am now into my 4th week here and I am continually seeing improvements. I am sorry for the delay in getting this posted but I wanted to wait until I had a good video to post!

What an AMAZING week I had. On Tuesday, I did probably one of the hardest session I had ever had since coming to Beyond Therapy. I was doing the TRX therapy which consisted of me doing a variety of core and leg strengthening. (I will post a video of this in the coming weeks). I hit the proverbial wall and could NOT go any further. I was laying on my stomach exhausted, covered in sweat and completely worn out when I heard a voice say..."GOOD JOB, you are making great progress!" I looked up to see JAMES SHEPHERD cheering me on. James is the founder of the Shepherd Center. He was injured in the mid 1970's with a spinal cord injury. Being how there were NO rehab facility with specialized treatment in spinal cord injuries in the southeast his parents Alana and Harold founded the Shepherd Center. They built the center so that their son could get the treatment he needed. Today it has grown to be the biggest specialized rehabilitation center in the country. James is currently the chairman of the board of directors at the Center.

He and I talked for quit some time as I laid on the mat exhausted and out of breath.
I thanked him for a particular article he wrote in the Shepherd Center quarterly magazine they publish. The day before meeting James, I had picked up the magazine and read the forward he had written. The article was about having FAITH during one's rehab. James who is a great man of faith and a true man of God. Wrote how he has seen that a personal relationship with God and having a deep faith in him has significantly helped those who are recovering from such a traumatic injury. (I will have to do a special post with his exact words from his forward in the magazine)!

I thanked James for those inspiring words and told him how I TOO believe the same thing. I told him it is my FAITH that has carried me through this difficult time. He said, "Brent sometimes its hard for people to talk about their faith, but we need to do it...that's why I wrote that article." What an amazing start to a wonderful week!

Below I posted a video on one of my new favorite machines. THE WAVE!! This machine is amazing and it makes my legs feel so good. How it works is it sends very high frequency vibrations through your feet and into your muscles. As I am on the machine I feel like my teeth are constantly chattering as my entire body begins to vibrate. The machine sends very high intensity vibrations throughout the body which helps recruit the muscles to turn on. I have spent a couple of hours on this machine and only filmed 1 of probably 10 different exercises I did on this unit. Below we are working on my knee extension and straightening the knees out and locking them. It was a GREAT SESSION! I will post more videos in the weeks to come so everyone can see my progress!!....PLEASE PLEASE NEVER STOP PRAYING FOR ME! Pray for TOTAL and COMPLETE HEALING!
I LOVE YOU ALL,
SO MUCH IN HIM,
BRENT

5 comments:

Dave Reed said...

Brent, keep in mind the old proverb, "stone by stone, a palace." You are rebuilding a new pathway of nerves and muscles and it takes time. Your faith and desire to walk again will keep you moving forward, even when it gets tough. Look at it this way, when you started you had nothing from the waste down, but yet inch by inch the nerves have grown to give you more and more feeling and control of the muscles. The exercises you are now doing with the legs is getting you very close to the toes...the end of your journey before you walk again. Keep working hard, your prayer warriors are hanging are right there with you until you say somebody else needs those prayers besides you. I am very excited that you are making such great progress. If I do not see you before the wedding, then I will see you at the wedding. Gods Speed, Dave

Cristina said...

This makes me smile! :) LOVED the video! Huge Hugs!!!!

Unknown said...

I love the videos you post so that we can see some of what you are doing! What an amazing place to be. We are so thankful that God sent you there. Keep up the good work. We'll keep praying!

Love,
Robin and Kathy

Mary B said...

Brent, You're getting there!!!!!! It's so exciting to see the videos and follow your progress. You have taken great strides and all your faith and effort is paying off. We're with you all the way.

Unknown said...

you are an amazing young man.
we are praying for you and your complete healing.
you serve as such an inspiration.
love you!
david & sharon