It's been just over a month since I've mentioned Emily Smedley, the therapist who is helping me get back on my feet (literally) after my stroke.
As I've mentioned previously, I see her once a fortnight at her base in Derby and she pushes and pulls me in all directions, hoping to unknot and strengthen muscles and generally get me back to somewhere near what I was before December 16 2013.
It always hurts like hell, but yesterday's session was the worst yet. At times, it felt as if she was standing on my bladder ("I can't have been; your bladder's somewhere else in your body" she said) and she made me put my arms behind my head while she tackled the rest of me, something which my stroke-affected left arm was clearly reluctant to do.
It was a good job that the rest of Broomfield College was closed for Easter; anyone standing outside the door of the physiotherapy room may well have thought a murder was taking place, given all the howling and screaming that was going on. I've always enjoyed our sessions, however painful, but I couldn't wait for this to end.
By the time Emily told me to get off the couch, put on her most severe expression and asked me how I felt, I actually felt ready to die. But she flicked her head towards the door, directed me outside into the corridor and said "Now, run." And I did, doing several short 'sprints' up and down the hallway.
Feeling increasingly confident, I then said: "Actually, I feel as if I could do this outside." The spring sunshine may have helped my mood, but we went outside and I did indeed 'run' as you can see here:
http://twitter.com/Brea.../status/585521245715836928/video/1 It's a long way from this to my aim of a 5km charity run but when you consider that this is probably the first strenuous exercise I've had since December 2013, it's a start. And as plenty of people have told me: "No pain, no gain." And Warriors can cope with pain, can't they?
Well done mate
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