Sunday, 21 June–Monday, 22 June.
The Sunday following training week was another travel day, from Oregon to California. I did not wear my ExoSyms in the car, for comfort and for the previous laborious/yucky experience of using a public restroom.
My husband and I were reunited, and he was taking me to the redwoods. We checked into our cabin and ate some dinner. Then it was finally time to show him my Exosyms. I had put them on that morning, about twelve hours earlier, for a few minutes of practice before the long car trip to meet up with my husband. I put on my brace sleeves. Then the right device, and–I couldn’t close the knee cuff! I really squeezed my calf, trying to close the top part of the brace. It simply would not close. Not just a little–there was quite a gap. My mind raced: Okay, I’ve been sitting in the car all day. Too much salt. Not enough water. Do calves really bloat/swell this much? My calves are supposed to shrink now, not get bigger!
The left side was a little better, but didn’t close all the way either. I was still able to Velcro the cuffs “closed” and attach the knee sections over them and practice walking for a few minutes. There are bound to be changes and surprises, but it was a little disconcerting for this to happen as soon as I left Hanger. I didn’t want to have to think about sending them back for adjustments already. I resolved not to panic and to just wait it out.
Monday morning we drove on an aptly named scenic parkway to Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park to try to find the accessible trails we’d read about. I did not even contemplate trying to wear my ExoSyms out in the wild, but this would be the first time I used my trekking poles to “trek.”
I tried to do my “squish” (engage my core), keep my poles close to my body, and keep my shoulders back and head up. Because I was holding my poles, I was not holding my husband’s hand as I would have been without them. And by “holding my husband’s hand,” I mean, gripping it, pulling it, nearly dislocating his shoulder. I even tried going up a step or two with just the poles before resorting to the (overgrown) handrail. We went over wooden bridges, and lots and lots of roots, and I did just fine. We saw snails and frogs. The air was cool. The trees were magnificent. And it was good.
After that, it was finally time to return to my life at home. With ExoSyms.
What Happened to Your Legs? 