I hope I can do this as well as Kelly!

As Kelly has already warned you, I will be trying to write the blog posts for the next couple weeks.  We are back in Baltimore and Kelly will have 2 weeks of "boot camp" physical therapy at Kennedy Krieger.  We met her PT today, Erin and she is terrific.  We have enjoyed meeting and working with different people as they all have different expertise and we learn so much.  Kelly will be spending 3 hours a day with Erin (Liza on Tuesdays when Erin is off) and then an hour in the pool a few times a week.  In addition, she plans to spend a couple hours in the gym each day riding the STIM bike and using the stander.  She also hopes to do some weight training in her afternoon time if she isn't too tired.
Can I tell you how impressed I am with Kelly and the hard work she puts in every day?  I know that we are all impressed with her progress but I want you to understand the daily attitude.  When a therapist asks Kelly if she would like a break her answer is always "no, let's keep going".  When she is told that time is almost up and she can be done for the day she answers "no, let's do some more standing for the last 5 minutes."  Erin let Kelly in on a little secret, sometimes it's the PT that needs a break or to be done.  Ha Ha, they have their work cut out for them with her.
Today consisted of a thorough assessment that tells the therapist how strong she is and where she has muscle activation and movement.  Kel had a lot of spasticity today and this made the assessment a little challenging but Erin seemed very encouraged and surprised at how far she has come since her last assessment with Dennis in August.  During the proprioception part of the test (where they bend her big toe up and down and she has to tell which direction it is pointing without looking) I saw this smile come across Kelly's face.  She knew that she got them all correct before Erin even told her.  She knew because she truly felt it.  That look was priceless!
They spent some time talking and making goals for the next couple weeks.  Kelly would like to try crawling both in the water and on land.  They also talked about working on breaking down the chair and getting it into the car.  They plan to do this on a day that the temperatures are a little warmer than today's high of 17 degrees.  They also hope to get Kelly standing more independently.  These are all great steps towards independence and walking.
The rest of the session was spent standing with minimal assist using the parallel bars.  Kelly seemed to bounce right up and hold herself.  Erin commented that Kel was making it easy on her and she was barely working at all.  After a couple stands of 2-3 minutes each it was time to make things more difficult....Kelly was doing sets of squats.  I could see the determination and strength that it took to straighten back up after each squat but again, Kelly wouldn't quit.  She kept going until time ran out.
After a healthy lunch (we bring all our food from home so the dieting is easier) we went up to the wellness gym.  An hour of sweating it out on the STIM bike wasn't enough for her so she did some weight lifting too.  Erin walked by at one point and said "you guys are still here?  Maybe I need to work her a little harder the rest of this week."  Kelly likes them to feel challenged to wear her out in a day.  It hasn't happened yet.
We are staying at the Hackerman-Patz house again and it's nice to know that everything is accessible and we are able to bring our own food and hang out here.  Kelly has been struggling to get her schoolwork done.  Everything she does requires multiple emails, conversations and extra people being involved in order for her to stay caught up.  She has a few exams to take in the next week and she is studying lots and working hard on being prepared for the tests as soon as the professors make them available to her.  The online learning is all new to Salus and Kelly sometimes feels that she falls through the cracks.  She is so thankful for one professor that has kept up with her progress and tried to help her with anything that she needs.
As you can tell, we have a busy week ahead.  I am so thankful for decent weather (cold but decent).  We are happy that KKI seems to be serious about making the wheelchair better.  Erin seems like a great therapist and Kelly and her hit it off.
I will continue to keep you up to date with daily progress.  Please continue to pray for us as we go through this stressful and physically exhausting week.  We will be home for the weekend and return again next week for more!