Two small victories today. First, this morning, I found my balance at the standing frame. I started with the belt supporting behind me and took my hands off. This felt great, so I dropped the belt. I was able to press my knees into the pad and balance. A big first. Before, when the hands came off, my right hip would rotate and I would twist out of upright. I think I’m finally getting the strength in my right glute and hamstring to balance out the left. I did some little weight shifts and wow, what a good workout for my brand new glutes. But still waiting on some real progress with locking my right knee…

Second, I finally went to the Stanford gym. A basement maze of free weights, rows of elliptical girls, and machine angles. I have been putting this off for months. Partially because the Stanford student show of youthful exuberance would probably make me sad. Partially because I was waiting on my right leg to learn how to track. I knew the gym had a NuStep, a recumbent step machine I used at Neuroworx. But no leg stabilizing attachments, which I needed in May. Today, I felt ready.  I made my way to the gym, found my adaptive exercise machine, and strapped in my feet. I selected the lowest setting. It felt so much easier than before! Both in output wattage and endurance, I had a big improvements. I “walked” 1.5 miles in 56 minutes. I watched people squat, balance on one leg, make faces. I’ll start coming at the same time a couple of days a week and carve out a space for myself. People will get used to me and stop staring.