Well, they didn't exactly steal my feet. And I don't know who I mean by "they". But the fact is that I can no longer trust my feet and legs to do what I expect them to do if I just put things on automatic. A good analogy might be that I'm a driver trained with an automatic transmission who now has to drive a stick shift - where the different gears change every time I start the car and sometimes while I'm driving peacefully down the road.
I spent an hour with my physical therapist this morning practicing "purposeful steps" and directed walking commands. Fortunately, there is still nerve and muscle programming at the lowest level so I don't have to think how to raise my toes or lower my heels or bend my knees. My brain or spinal cord can still handle simple commands like that. They just can't handle a command like "walk to the front door, retrieve newspaper, return to favorite chair".
When Janine suggested I think of a metronome when walking, I surprised her by pulling out my PDA and running the metronome program. Then I surprised myself by walking down 3 or 4 hallways in the PT department using the metronome as a "pacer". Maybe I should market a metronome/pacer to install on any sort of walker. If it were smart enough, it could give an introduction beat, a warning beat, and even a HALT beam when my situation is completely out of balance.
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