March 22

I dreamt I was outside the beach house Dusty's family rents out each year...I was in the road, next to the beach access with my dad. He tried to tell me how hard it was going to be to get onto the beach and closer to the water in my wheelchair because the sidewalk ended. I looked up at him and said "I've got this." I struggled and it was both difficult and unsteady, but I walked. When I told my mom about that dream, she said that maybe God gives us/me dreams like that as a way of telling me not to lose hope. If that's true, it came at the best time. 

I was riding in the car, on my way to Baltimore, for therapy this morning and was still thinking about that dream when Stephanie texted me. She said "I dreamt that you got up and started walking at church! Like I couldn't even keep up with you. It's coming, Kel! Literally in my dream I said why didn't you tell me you started taking steps and you said because I haven't!" Like with no warning, I just did it...

I believe God works through dreams...I don't know if I told this story yet, but my friend Molly and I had the same dream back when I was still at UVA (well... I actually thought it was real, not a dream since I was still kind of out of it). They made me get up in this chair for a few hours a day and I remember how much I hated it at first...it was really difficult for me to sit up. It made breathing all that much harder. One morning, Mom told me I had to get up and spend a few hours in that chair and I told her I didn't want to- I was exhausted. She was like "Kelly, you just got up. How can you be exhausted?" I told her I was up all night, walking around the nurses' station and down the halls of the ICU with Molly. Later that day, Molly told my mom that she had the most vivid dream.... Her and I were walking around the ICU all night, talking about how we wanted to quit optometry school and become a PT since the one I was seeing didn't have to work too hard (I only saw him for like an hour a couple times a week- if even). What's even crazier is that Molly's mom had the same dream three days earlier. I can't wait for the day I get to go back to UVA to visit and walk around that nurses station...

I started my long term therapy today. It'll be a couple days of PT a week and a couple Aqua therapy appointments. I'll spend time in the wellness center on the stim bike and doing other workouts on my own when I have time. This will be for about 10-12 weeks, but what's amazing is that my insurance has unlimited outpatient therapy sessions...I still can't believe it. We're trying to make some of those therapy sessions back to back so we can stay in Baltimore a few nights a week and not have to commute every time. 

I don't know what's better- commuting and paying for gas or staying in Baltimore and paying for housing...regardless, what amazing is that our church has reached out and the Care Team is taking care of us...they want to help with gas and some of the housing expenses. I'm constantly in awe of what good people we have in our lives and I look forward to the opportunity to give back and try to repay/help those that have done so much for me and my family. I think about all this tragedy occurring in the world and my heart breaks, but everyday I'm reminded that there are still good people in this world. There's hope. 

My first day of therapy with Dennis went so well. I got on a new treadmill/gait assistance device called the G-EO. Check it out: http://www.rehatechnology.com/g-eo-system.html

It was AWESOME. It's kind of like the lokomat that I'd done at Magee, but my legs are more free and able to help. And I actually was helping! Like it would recognize me trying to initiate a step and it would help me finish it. I did 30 minutes and over 1000 steps. And Dennis said we would get on the G-EO as much as possible and even try it with stim on to see if that helps even more. I want to do a little more research on it because he said he'd heard that Germany is using it on coma patients (what?!) 

We finished and did some walking while I was attached to the harness and overhead lift (one person at my hips and Dennis helping move my feet). They said that went really well too and could feel me trying with each step. Then, we finished with some standing at the parallel bars with stim on my abs and quads. I was so exhausted by the time Mom and I got into the car to head home! Dennis always asks if I need a break, then laughs at me because I always say no, but I actually took him up on that offer once towards the end of our session. I think that's a good goal, work so hard that I absolutely have to take a break. I'm excited to see how the aqua treadmill goes tomorrow after how well walking went today!