TARA’S UPDATE: UP ON 2 LEGS!

Therapy
Okay, so today was a really busy day. I went to therapy, I was on the phone all day calling insurance people, I finally got a chance to call Jeep and say thanks, oh and one more thing....I FREAKIN' WALKED TODAY!!!!!!!! How bout' them apples! I couldn't believe it! I mean I could, but I couldn't ya know. Okay, I guess I should have prefaced the whole walking thing with I didn't just get up out of my chair and I walked across the room like some kind of miracle, BUT my therapist did put braces on both my legs and got me up between these sort of parallel bars and I walked all the way to the end three times! I had no idea that was what she had planned for the day so when I showed up I was so excited. When I was walking and moving my legs using mostly my hips I was sort of crying and laughing all at the same time. I didn't know what to do! I don't think Kathy my therapist had any idea how emotional that was for me.
Oh and before I forget my mom took a video of me walking and it's on her digital cam so hopefully I'll get it downloaded by tomorrow and can put it up on my MySpace.
So I guess you could say that I started out on the right foot. Okay, that sounded dumb I know. So besides all that walking business I spoke with Jeep today and had a great conversation with my contact over there about the new vehicle they are giving me. Jeep has been amazing through this whole thing as has everyone at Eclipse and I can't thank them enough. So when I get my new Jeep I'll have to post some pic's. They said that they would make any changes needed so we talked about putting some different handles inside of it so that it's even easier for me to transfer into it. It seems a lot easier for me if there are handles on the top of the doorway and also in that part frame of the car between the front windshield and the door. I hope that made sense to you because it did in my head.
I have been pretty much floored today and I just got home and am pretty tired. Tomorrow is another day of doctor’s visits, phone calls, and emails. For all of you that have either sent in donations for t-shirts or asked a question about the t-shirts I promise I am getting to them as fast as I can. At this point it's just my mom and I filling the orders until the weekends when I can recruit some friends. :)
Okay, I'm off to bed but I'll definitely try to get that video up in the next couple of days.
Never Give Up!
T
Editor’s Note: Tara Llanes is recording her progress in rehab as she continues to recover from the spinal cord injuries she suffered in a mountain bike race in Colorado on September 1. This is the latest update posted to her MySpace page. Tara has been blogging about her recovery since mid-September. All of her blogs, photos of her recovery and many, many good wishes can be found at:

http://www.myspace.com/mtbtara

Her family, friends, and supporters are urging those folks who want to help contribute to a special fund set up for Tara’s recovery to visit:

http://www.tarallanesroadtorecovery.com