I am now enjoying some fun therapy! I have had my first ski trip for the season, I love the challenge at it works my core muscles without feeling like rehab.

I was lucky to get a couple of lessons with Dom. He is excellent. http://www.activetherapy.eu We also enjoyed staying at one of Simply Morzine’s beautiful chalet’s. www.simply-morzine.co.uk We got home a day later than expected due to Geneva being closed but for once I enjoyed being injured as we had no waiting around and were given a 4 star hotel with meal vouchers, so can’t complain. I like easy jet.

I felt a lot stronger this time, so the work all summer has certainly improved my abilty to go from leaning forward to sitting up straight whilst skiing! 

I have been busy with continued treadmill work, going on it 4 or 5 times a week, plus the FES bike, physio etc etc, but have had to have a quiet week over Christmas because I have scraped the skin off my arse whilst transfering, so I can not have the harness on and I am trying not to do much sitting. I suppose my body needs a rest at some point , it can spend this time healing!

I am also working hard organising the fashion show. It is only 3weeks now. We have some great models taking part. There are more details on my website.

Hope you have had a good Christmas, and all the best for 2010.

Cx

Some things are difficult and I can not hold them for long, but once I could not do it at all! So with constant practice why can’t I turn one second into two seconds, then two seconds into four seconds and so on???

You know what?! I am going to do it… it will take time but I shall do it!  Other exercies that were once difficult are now easier, but Kate, my physio then makes it more difficult again (so it never really feels easy!)

Along with rehab and work my time is filled by planning this fashion show! Everyone is being really helpful and the preparation is going really well. So if you are thinking of coming more details are on my web page and get your table booked as tickets are now starting to go, and the best tables are given out to the ones who reserve their table early!

I have a busy week ahead, with a physio session in Nottingham tomorrow.

Once again thanks for your support.

Cx

It is soon time for the ski season again…I am so excited. It is the only thing I have found that gives me the similar adrenaline rush as eventing did.  Also it is very good for my balance and core strength, as I am a T4 injury my muscles are paralysed from my chest down…. or they were anyway (my abdominals and back muscles work and are getting stronger)

I am off to Chill factore for a ski lesson in the morning.  I love it! There are a few good things come from my accident, one being that I actually get time to do other things like skiing (all my money and time were spent doing the horses- which I do miss), I have found myself a gorgeous man to marry!  (May have still been struggling along in the last relationship) and I have some fantastic new friends!  So every cloud has a silver lining!!!

I am determined that by the end of the season I am a decent skier. It is seriously difficult…. but the challenge is part of the fun.

As said before I work PT for Simply Morzine and I am very excited about staying in their chalets… they look amazing! www.simply-morzine.co.uk

Bring on the skiing!!!

Cx

Sorry there has not been any updates recently, my blog wasn’t working But I am back now!

I have been incrediably busy, I now have a lifestyle more like my old one. It is not quite yet how I want it to be but it is getting closer!  I am busy working part time for Simply Morzine , rehabbing, teaching, planning our house, wedding , fashion show planning, and some socialising too!  Being this busy actually helps my rehab, I have to be more organised to fit it in but you know what they say…”if you want a job done ask a busy person!”  It is true, by having lots to do it makes you do more!

I have been working on my sitting and have managed 4 minutes sat up straight with no hands, I have been getting more sessions on the treadmill, and plan to increase this to 5 times a week, I am improving on the FES bike and I am so pleased I have that… thanks to all the fundraising.

My good friend ,Cat Kerruish and her family did a cracking job with the cocktail party/auction held at Henley on the 26th September.  It was a lovely evening and I am grateful to the Kerruish’s for doing this and everyone who helped in anyway plus all those who came to the party. THANK YOU ALL. (report to follow soon)

My friends and I are organising a riders fashion show (this will be on my website soon).  It is in aid of Spinal Research and my Walk Campaign. I am hoping to raise money to go towards a hydropool which is something I think my recovery could really benefit from. My physios both have experience in hydrotherapy and would help me with this.

Now my blog is working again I shall be back to regular updates!

Cx

I am really enjoying the teaching I have been doing. I have more training days coming up and I am happy to discuss any other training dates for different venues. Please email: clairelomas@hotmail.com

The next ones are;

23rd Aug at Aylesford xc

30th August xc and sj  field farm

31st August Aylesford xc

17th Sept Aylesford xc

20th Sept Milton Keynes xc and sj

I have been working a lot on my core muscles, spending many hours just trying to sit up. I am certainly getting better, although I wish it was quicker! This photo shows me practicing sitting up straight, riding will help this too. It is something that to most of you seems just a little thing but it is a huge goal to achieve. Once my abdominal and back muscles are really strong my walking with the frame will be easier, I tend to over arch my back because the lack of stability in my hips and weakness in my abs and back.

I just have to keep trying to sit up straight…again and again. REPETITION!

USE IT OR LOSE IT!!

My core muscles are having no choice but to work! They are just very weak but with constant nagging they will build up.

I am working hard on my FES bike and walking on the treadmill (locomotor training). I read this on the Christopher Reeves website the other day:

”Two promising therapies are now becoming available to a growing number of Americans living with paralysis: locomotor training and functional electrical stimulation (FES). These therapies, known as “activity-based rehabilitation,” are based on the theory that the brain and spinal cord have the capacity to “rewire” if stimulated appropriately. The two techniques work differently. During FES, electrodes attached to the paralyzed limb send little electrical shocks to the muscle. These shocks activate nerves and make the muscle move. Locomotor training–used mostly with individuals suffering from spinal-cord injury–is a souped-up treadmill. During training, the patient is suspended in a harness above a treadmill while physical therapists or computer signals move his or her legs to simulate walking. Both help the brain recapture and relearn movement .”

I am doing both of these (thanks to everyone who has supported me I have bought an FES bike and treadmill/harness) along with lots of other exercises to help my recovery. If there is anyone else that wants to rehab then please contact me as I am more than happy to share all this very expensive equipment!

Also I am very busy at the moment with other things, I am very much enjoying some xc and sj teaching (see blog entry below) and also have a part time job with Simply Morzine. (Luxury winter ski holidays and summer special interest & family activity holidays in Morzine, France’s premier alpine resort) http://www.simply-morzine.co.uk/

Their office is 10 mins away and it fits in really well with my riding and rehab, plus I can not wait to get over there again for a few days skiing! If you are wanting a great ski hols I suggest you look at their website.

X

Henry (my best man at wedding!) and I

The most difficult thing is staying positive and having the motivation to keep doing the rehab every day. The quote I have used above is one I really believe is true, I have to believe in myself in order to recover else I could not keep doing the daily exercises. It is hard at times, but with all the support I have and my strong desire to prove the medics wrong I seem to keep the motivation most of the time.

I am going to a physio in Nottingham as well as my regular physio, Kate and now have my friend, Lucy twice a week to help me on treadmill and floor exercises. I have lots of rehab equipment at home so I can vary what I do. It is due to eveyone’s support I am able to have all this, Thank you all.

 I can also trot a bit now on Spark, this wouldn’t have been possible until recently. Henry and I hacked out together on Sunday! He tried to make me trot round a corner… nearly sacked him from being best man at the wedding!! I have 2 best men/ bridesboys,  Henry and Shane. Keep having funny ideas what they should wear!!

Dan and I are getting married on 24th July next year at Oakham Castle. Then a good party after at Eye Kettleby Lakes!

I am so lucky to have met Dan (only cost £20 off the internet, best £20 I ever spent!!) I don’t know what I would do without him.

My fiance, Dan!

When I had my accident and things with Tim didn’t work out out, I thought I would struggle to meet anyone, but how wrong was I!!  I have met the most special person.

That is why it is important to keep fighting when bad things happen, because if I had hidden away feeling depressed I would never have met Dan.

I have been to ride Spark both days this weekend, at the moment I am restricted to go just when Dan is here as he helps me get on! The riding I have done recently has really improved me, and this weekend I have started trotting.

Sparkle trots on hack!

Spark is amazing. He is a really smart horse owned by a friend, Abi Vaughan, who competes in working hunter classes.  A horse like Sparkle is really hard to find because he has a lot of presence and forward going yet he is quiet enough for me to ride. He is a good jumper too, so hopefully one day I shall enjoy that!

I am willing to work really hard to keep improving , and hopefully go on to compete in the para dressage. The 2012 London Paralympics is a distant dream, along with my walking!  It is too easy to feel down as the accident has made several doors slam in my face, however many have opened.  I have to think of these when I have down days.

I didn’t think I would be hacking alone and trotting on yet, but thanks to everyone’s support and my physios I am getting stronger all the time. The riding really works my core muscles, and if I think back to when I rode straight after the accident I feel a billion times better. So imagine in another couple of years….maybe I’ll be out hunting again!

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore,
is not an act but a habit.
Aristotle