January 10, 2017

As I write the date I am amazed at the time that has passed during this journey.  It seems like we have been at it forever and yet it seems like just yesterday that Kelly got sick.  Crazy!  Before I inform you of our interesting day I would like to tell you how overwhelmed I have been by so many things.  I am humbled at the overwhelming support of our community.  All of our communities!  There are people from so many different groups that we have been blessed to call our friends.  Thank you all so much for everything that you have done and continue to do for us.  I can't even begin to name the amazing things that people have done to support us on this journey.  Even if it is just smiling and encouraging us, we are so thankful!
I am daily reminded how blessed we are with the progress that Kelly has made and today was no exception.  That being said, let me back up and take you through the day in the order that it happened.  We started with a bang!  Kelly has a new Apple Watch that Dusty gave her for Christmas (what a help when it comes to counting calories burned and consumed.  Apple is the only app that counts "push strides" in a wheelchair and converts it to calories burned).  Unknown to us, the watch is set up with an emergency feature that dials 911 when a button is held.  While getting ready this morning we heard "911 what is your emergency?".  Crazy!  After getting off the phone (or watch in this case) we looked it up and this feature can even be programmed to notify your emergency contact list that you have dialed 911.  Thank God we figured out how to suspend this feature unless the action is confirmed by the wearer.  Can you imagine?
Kelly's therapist on Tuesday's is Liza and Kelly already had a great relationship with her prior to this visit.  (Liza's twin sister is Kelly's trainer Vicki that she has spoke of before).  Liza took the task of wearing Kelly out very serious (just like her sister).  She did some enhancement of isolated muscle groups using the Vectra (direct electrical stimulation of the spinal cord).  Kelly was able to see more pronounce movement than she saw yesterday in her assessment with Erin.  I missed this part of the therapy session because I drove back to the room to pick up loose pants that were needed for the rest of the session.  I was back on time to see her up on her hands and knees unassisted doing some cat/cows.  (arching and lowering her back while working her ab muscles)
The rest of the morning was spent on the RT600.  This machine is similar to the STIM bike that Kelly has at home but it suspends her in a harness and allows her to support a percentage of her own weight.  Today she supported 70% of her own weight.  That's way more than she was doing when she left KKI in August.  This machine is great and Kelly loves the work out it gives her but the only draw back is that it takes a lot of time to set up.  So many connections and adjustments!  I am becoming quite the PT assistant these days!  I know that sometimes the best way for me to assist is to get out of the way.  Today was one of those days.
After lunch she had a little time to study and then it was up to the pool.  We have a special relationship with the pool staff because there are only a few of them and they are there everyday.  Kelly got into the "big" pool (that's the one without the treadmill) to work on some tips of how we can walk in the pool at home.  Meredith started by telling Kelly that she had reviewed the notes from her assessment yesterday and felt that she could help her with some standing and walking tips.  When the floor went down and Kelly was in water about to her upper thighs Meredith asked her to try to stand up and so she could see where Kel's weakness were.  Kelly popped right up and holding onto to the bar kept herself upright with knees straight.  Everyone cheered while Meredith kept stating that she couldn't believe what she was seeing.  The pool techs even went and got the one tech that was in the office so she could see it.  Everyone kept talking about how much she had progressed since they saw her last.  She finished the hour with walking with the water walker ( a rectangle of funoodles that keeps her arms at the water level).  We were given a lot of tips that will help us with our home routine.  When Meredith got the walker adjusted just right Kelly was initiating and taking steps on her own.  She kept saying "that's all you!"  It was a great session and I look forward to getting in the water with them on Friday to practice  what I learned.
Kelly still struggles with getting the appropriate people to return her calls about school.  The frustration is compounded by people asking her all day how school is going.  She has called and emailed numerous times and can't seem to get answers.  I am thankful for her persistence.  She has scheduled one final for Saturday and hopes to finish up the other class in the next week too.  I know she's tired at the end of the day but she still pushes through and gets her work done.
Tomorrow we see Dr. Recio and we are anxious to hear what has planned for Kelly.  Even more excited to see what he thinks of her progress.
I will keep you all informed.  I will ask Kelly to help me attach some photos tomorrow so you can see what we are up to.