Post blogger Mitch Mulhall is no stranger to fly fishing. Don't believe us? Just ask him.
This is your chance to get to the Snowmass Cross-Country Center for an X-C ski or snowshoe by the light of a beautiful Colorado moon.
Post blogger Amanda Boxtel, co-founder of Challenge Aspen, returns to the valley after her second trip to Delhi, India, for experimental embryonic stem-cell therapy. "Human Embryonic Stem Cells are alive and growing in my body," she blogs from afar, "infusing me with life and awakening my legs. As I near the end of my second treatment at Nutech Mediworld, I continue to regain strength. I have three days before I board my flight bound for the US. This time around, I am discovering that my body is so much more sensitive to the treatment, and I am more in tune with my bodily sensations."
Posts filed under 'Aspen Life Post'
Shortly after 12 noon I am rolled on a gurney from my hospital room into the operating theater. The operating theater assistants line the trolley side-by-side to a narrow operating table and I roll over on to the skinny surface face down on my tummy. The table is tilted six inches or so with my head pointing downhill. I feel instant pressure in my sinus cavities and my head thumps with fresh blood. A finger pulse oximeter to monitor my blood saturation levels and my heart pulse rate is positioned on to the tip of my index finger. A steady bleep bleep bleep bleep beeps in the background while the Blue Angels (assistants festooned in blue scrubs) hold my body face-down in position.
Continue Reading May 8th, 2008
Human Embryonic Stem Cells are alive and growing in my body, infusing me with life and awakening my legs. As I near the end of my second treatment at Nutech Mediworld, I continue to regain strength. I have three days before I board my flight bound for the US. This time around, I am discovering that my body is so much more sensitive to the treatment, and I am more in tune with my bodily sensations.
Continue Reading February 19th, 2008
Mum, I will promise to stick to my chosen path and proceed with the strength you and the Universe have bequeathed upon me…I will aspire to walk for you and for me. That is my goal. That is my dream. I will keep the faith, meditate, pray, and fill my being with light and courage. I will chant “Nam Myo Ho Renge Kyo…Nam Myo Ho Renge Kyo…Nam Myo Ho Renge Kyo…Nam Myo Ho Renge Kyo” as you chant in unison from across the oceans. The Lion King of Sutras–The Lotus Sutra—will help us remain in the ever present now, satiating our souls with love, compassion, and good karma from our mystical univer se. Believe Mum, as I will hold the belief that anything is possible. I am healing. I am creating every moment right now. My future is now. I try to move forward without expectation. I am not attached to an outcome and I accept my body as it is—right now! While I have physical imperfections, I believe I am perfect as I am. This is my path. Perfection is ever expanding. I embody perfection. Perfection is growing every moment through me and is a dynamic state of being. It is not an end. I will tap into my higher potential—my God Self—knowing that I am capable of achieving more, and visualizing every pure embryonic cell gestating from a perfect state manifesting the Divine throughout my physical body. Mum, hold this belief as I do. I am changed. Through this journey I have matured. I am wiser. I am Amanda.
Continue Reading February 12th, 2008
As I prepare to leave for my second visit to India I rack my brain trying to think of essentials that I might need to make life as uncomplicated as possible. Delhi is challenging to say the least. Oddly, my first thought was: Indian panty liners don’t stick and inevitably end up in a wad in my undies. No.1. on my list: Panty Liners. No. 2. Charmin Ultra Soft & Most Absorbent toilet paper. No.3. Backpacker’s Pantry Outdoor Gourmet Food – just add hot water (10 packets). No. 4. Wild Caught Smoked Sockeye Salmon for a decadent moment. No. 5. Udi’s Natural Artisan Granola. No. 6. Peet’s French Roast Coffee. No. 7. French Press and mug. No. 8. Peeler (I remember the rule to fight the dreaded Delhi Belly: If I can’t peel it or boil it, don’t eat it!). No. 9. Small paring knife. No.10. Hand sanitizer. And the list goes on… In fact, it seems that I will have one suitcase reserved for food and products to make life less tricky.
Continue Reading January 7th, 2008
I continue to feel strong and the lower half of my body is firing up with life. Every exercise I execute with Chavi each morning feels stronger. I have more control with my leg movements and I am learning to isolate different muscles. I can raise my knees up in a bent position from lying straight on the bed and amazingly, my ability to crawl backwards is consistent and powered by new muscles that have been asleep for fifteen years. With the slight use of my hip flexors, since my injury I have always been able to balance on my hands and knees and crawl forwards, but never backwards. I am astounded by my strength and new abilities. Although I am not kic king yet in the literal sense, I get a kick out of examining my limbs as they reclaim life. My hamstring on the left leg works when I least expect it, and occasionally in front of an audience. Call it performance anxiety, but I figure that muscle has been hibernating for such a long time, it will take a little while…and some more ‘waiting’ to bring it back to life in the normal sense.
Continue Reading August 12th, 2007