{Karlton Bontrager}

Monday, 23rd of September – a sunny and warm day again! Karlton is working on balance. Without realizing what he is doing, Karlton lets his right side take over and do a lot of the work when he is trying to stand up, sit down, or walk. And it’s payback time … his right foot and ankle hurt, and so do his leg and hip. The physio has been trying to teach him to put more weight on his left leg when he is getting ready to stand up. It’s such an easy thing for us to get up on one leg but watching Karlton try and try to stand up on his left leg and then lose his balance, makes me appreciate everything I take for granted. I never realized what all goes into being coordinated and balanced.

During the session, Karlton had to place one foot in front of the other and walk on a straight line. It was almost like a sobriety test when he had had way too much to drink. Walking side ways like a crab – but making sure his toes stayed behind the line went much more smoothly. And he did very well walking backwards in a straight line.

At his acupuncture session, the acupuncturists said they had seen improvement in his walking. They want to start strengthening his spinal column next. Yesterday was the first time he did not fall asleep during the massage, cupping, and acupuncture session. I hope his strength is improving and his fatigue threshold is rising.

In the evening we were invited out for dinner at J & R’s house. They had also invited a young Japanese couple who are working in Dunedin. The husband works as a chef at Tokyo House – Karlton had waited tables at Tokyo Garden – both establishments run by the same owners, so they had things in common to talk about. We enjoyed the home cooked Asian food and stayed way past Karlton’s bed time. It was 10:30 by the time he got into bed! I guess this shows that he has come a L-O-N-G way. He would not have been able to stay awake that late just a while back. Great progress!