Living on a Prayer of Impossibility

For many years, I uttered the phrase, “I live the impossible.” That was how I told most people about living with Cerebral Palsy, but without really telling them. It was my way of saying, "I'm not supposed to do this, but watch me do it.”

In my late teens, I traded in skis on the mountain for a pair of rock shoes. I wanted to know what it was like to literally climb a mountain since I'd been metaphorically climbing them since day one. With much effort, I was able to climb a 400-ft rock face. We're talking a real mountain climb, solid rock, and the great outdoors.

How it started – in earlier posts, I established that my balance and my vision aren't the best. From age 7 to 12, I went skiing every other weekend through the Children's Hospital. In my teens, I wanted to try different things. I don't remember exactly how old I was, but I tried snowboarding once because it had been too long since I'd been on a pair of skis. Long enough to feel like starting over. 

Where it went – I grew up near the mountains (or in them depending on who you ask). In the summers that I was 19 and 20, I decided to tackle the mountain in a different way. One summer afternoon, which turned out to be a rainy one, I climbed a 400-ft rock face to the summit. My climbing spot was already at an elevation of nearly 8,000 ft. A great beginner climb. Mind you, I'd never had any practice rock climbing, in any setting, and have never been a beacon of physical fitness. I'm grateful for the expert climber who was willing to give me a chance, as long as I was willing to try. I'm even more grateful that they walked me down the backside of the mountain, after reaching the summit, when it began to rain. Getting down the mountain was harder for me than climbing up the mountain. Around the same time, the same expert climber gave me the opportunity to go repelling. That'll be a story for another day. 

How it's going – shortly after I turned 20, I severely injured my right hand and had to actually back out of a climbing trip. I had to do 6 months of rehab just to use my hand again, but I never regained full sensation from the median nerve. That injury was surgery number eight for me. It took me a long time to learn how to use my hand again and to learn how to work around the nerve damage, so I eliminated activities like rock climbing, where I wouldn't be able to feel if I was hurting my hand on the rocks or the climbing ropes. But, I can still say I climbed a mountain.

In future posts, I'll tell the story of my repelling expedition that started out terribly wrong. I'll share about learning to ski with CP and ways I had to modify the sport. I'll share about other activities I've had to modify over the years and some that I just don't do because of my Cerebral Palsy. Stay tuned. 

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