The closest YMCA is over 30 miles away in the city. We had a family membership for a while but it was hard to find the time to go there and take care of our other responsibilities.
He was in physical therapy (the only PT place in our small town) for only a month and it was difficult to afford the co-pays. I don't know why they set him up for three times a week. It was in a big open room with the physical therapists working on more than one person and they would tell him what to do and walk off and leave him. I asked about exercises he could do at home and they told him to do stretching exercises. At home he used the weight machine and we set up a Nerf basketball goal in the house that he really enjoyed playing. He also spent time bouncing a ball against a door in the house and if he didn't catch it, the dog would get it and he got even more exercise chasing after the dog. He sometimes exercised with the Wii or with Dance
Dance Revolution. He took breaks throughout the day to exercise and was looking forward to taking some kind of martial arts class. His balance, his ability to catch balls, his attitude, everything improved to the point that we were getting ready to put him into a martial arts class and he was really looking forward to this but when he had to start wearing the brace all of that activity stopped. Now it is more painful to move and he can't bend in it. No more picking up balls off the floor or running after the dog. When he wears the brace he can't do half the things he did before. It also makes him feel very hot and it is harder to breathe because it has to be worn very tight to do its job. He can't take the brace off when he does any kind of weight bearing activity which is one of the reasons why we are looking at some kind of water therapy. He can take it off when he is in the water. The only place where he could get water therapy has a long waiting list and is 45 miles away.
We have an exercise ball, treadmill, weight machine all in different, cramped bedrooms without much room to exercise. I think we as a family will exercise more if we have the room do it together. We are going to do whatever we have to do to make health and exercise a priority in our family.
