The Power of Knowing

Finishing the marathon in 1983

What attributes lie within you? Have you ever thought about that? In 1983, a few days before my fortieth birthday, I ran a marathon. For those of you who may not know, that is a race of 26.2 miles. I decided to do this because I wanted to show my 13 year old son you can do anything you set your mind to do. It just about did me in; I could not talk when I finished, but I did it. However, I never ran another marathon.

A few years after my injury, I started talking in local schools about inner strength, commitment and positive attitude.  After one assembly a young student named Tyler Kellogg came up to me and said I had inspired him, so he had decided he was going to run an Ironman Race. A traditional Ironman race consists of a 2.4 mile swim, followed by a 112 mile bike ride, and then a 26.2 mile run.  It was a major undertaking for a 17 year old kid. I thought to myself “Good Luck.”  We kept in touch while he and his Dad, who had decided to do the Ironman too, were training. Neither one of them had done anything like this before. Not only did they do it, but Tyler was the youngest finisher out of the 2208 who finished the race.  Roles had now been switched and Tyler had become my inspiration. Now when I struggle to do something, I try to remind myself of what Tyler did just because he had the desire.

I have thought a lot about these two events for a long time. I have come to the conclusion that the benefit of accomplishing feats like these lies not in the accomplishment itself but rather in the knowledge that you can, when you want or need to, marshal all the physical and mental strength that lies within you in an effort to attain a goal.

We have all run our own “Ironman Race.”  The demands placed on us by our disabilities are far more difficult than the stresses and strains experienced during the most punishing athletic event. Even the most grueling challenge is limited in time (Tyler finished in 14 hours, 36 minutes, 25 seconds) and there is always the option of dropping out if need be. You cannot say that about a disability. So understand what you have already done and are doing everyday. Know the strengths that lie within you. And if you remember this you can draw upon those strengths when needed. That is the power of knowing.

Tyler helping me start kayaking again

Tyler & me at his high school graduation party

Raised Garden Boxes

Plans For A Raised Garden Box

Would you like to raise some flowers and/or grow some vegetables for your own consumption? Raised bed garden boxes will let you do that and it is great exercise. Each spring the soil must be worked up and planted. During the growing season the vegetables must be weeded and

thinned. If the weather is not cooperating the plants must be watered. The wilted flower heads must be picked off the plants (called deadheading) which is great exercise for fingers. A box does not take up much room if space is an issue. Prior to placing a box, the area under it must be prepared. This is not necessary if it will be placed on cement or any other solid surface. If placed on the ground you must assure good drainage.

The height of the box opening should be a few inches taller than the armrests of the wheelchair. The width of the growing area should be several inches less than twice the gardener’s arm length which will allow the covering of the entire planting area. Built from pressure treated lumber, the box is open on two sides so one can drive a wheelchair underneath it and work straight on. 

The first year my boxes presented some unique problems because of the construction.  The 2” by 8” which made up the planting area did not allow for the soil to be deep enough for vegetables so most of the vegetables planted did not grow very well.  The following year, as you can see from the picture, we added about 3 inches to the height of the planting area.  This allowed adding another 250 pounds of soil to the bed.  Also, in an effort to cut down on moisture evaporation we added Hydro-Sorb to the soil. Hydro-Sorb retains water and releases it a little at a time.  These two changes made the boxes much more successful. We did not find it necessary to increase the depth of the flower boxes.               

I have 6 boxes, four I plant with vegetables and the other two with annual flowers. I enjoy working these boxes very much. I use adaptive garden tools which can be purchased online. The vegetable boxes can grow salt potatoes, broccoli, onions, baby carrots, beets and garlic. Gardening is good for many different reasons. Check out the video   Raised Bed Gardening

Raised Fower Box In Bloom

Working A Raised Garden Box

Button Board

Surf The Web Using Your Mouse

This morning when I open my e-mail I found the most interesting letter.  Dominic Valentino  wrote me about a website he constructed called Button Board buttonboard.com , which allows an individual to surf the web using just the mouse. He built the website for his own personal use but was wondering if it would be helpful to other people who have limited range of motion or other problems. I tried the website and it works great. It amazes me the technological skills that some people have.

There are two other commercially available products which may make your computer more user friendly. The first is the UBS Haspel 4 Port Web Hub which connects to a UBS port in the back of your computer. A 3 foot long cord on a reel allows you to place the plug in device anywhere you want it. There are four UBS ports located around a  4” circular hub. If your dexterity is limited when you go to connect something like a scan disk at least one port is usually facing the right way. The cost at Radio Shack is less than $10. The second, also available at Radio Shack, is a Logitech Trackman Marble (Computer Mouse) The mouse ball is on the top as opposed to the bottom. The entire device stays in one place and you just manipulate the ball. It can be setup for right or left-handed people. You can choose what function you want the easily accessible button to perform. Also it enables you to control the speed of the cursor. I encourage you to try the Button Board website and forward it on to anybody you believe would find it useful. Please if you have created something like Dominic which would be useful to others contact us.

Two User Friendly Products

                                              

Quad Mitts

  I read Kelly Rouba latest blog with great interest. I have been trying to encourage people to think outside the box and telling them that there is more than one way to solve a problem. After looking at the “gloves” Kelly’s friend made for her it just demonstrates what I have been encourage others to do. She found an inexpensive way to solve the challenge confronting her. I was faced with a similar situation and came up with a slightly different solution. My problem was trying to keep my hands warm when I was outside.  My fingers are always clenched in a loose fist position.  It was very difficult for my wife or nurse to put regular gloves on my hands.  It quickly became evident that mittens would work best.  Unfortunately, mittens created problems of their own.  It was impossible to keep my thumb in the thumb of the mitten.  The major problem with mittens however, was that once I took them off I was unable to get them back on by myself.  So I designed what I like to call Quad Mitts. They have an opening at each end with the front one tighter. I was able to get my wife’s friend to knit a trial pair and they worked extremely well.  The picture below shows the pattern that we used.  Note that the cuff is extra long and can be folded over what I am wearing so I don’t have to worry about them coming off. When I need to use my bare hand I just push it though the hole in the front end and then pull the end back over my hand when I am finished. I am a big man so you may need to adjust the measurements according to your own size. If you know someone who will knit for you maybe you want to think about a pair of sleeves (my arms are always cold) and/or leg warmers. Often in the morning I will have my nurse put my sleeves on with a tee-shirt and then I will take them off when the day warms up.