Kelly is exhausted and fighting a bad cold so I said I would fill in again. I'm going to try to write about her exciting day and I hope I can do it justice.
We are back in Baltimore two days a week for "long term" therapy. That means pool on Tuesday morning followed by 2 hours of PT in the afternoon and then Wednesday morning PT for 2 hours followed by pool in the afternoon. It's great that we only have to stay for one night a week but it's a lot of moving in and out of our place.
In order to get Kelly into a long term slot she has to be assigned to two therapists. This is a bonus as far as we are concerned. Everyone at KKI is so great at different therapies that we love having new ideas and treatments to try.
Today started in the pool with Rachel. She couldn't believe how well Kelly was crawling and walking on her knees. They also worked on moving side to side. Kelly moved so well. Rachel also had her walk with the walker in pool on the treadmill and it went much better than last week. She did use a little more hip support but I'm not surprised after how wiped out Kel has felt from this terrible cold.
The afternoon was spent with Dennis! He was her therapist for months and we didn't realize how much we missed him. He started by putting her on the Therastride. He had her walking at a very quick pace and everyone was working so hard to make her legs move correctly on the treadmill. In between her walks he would have her stand for a few minutes. During that time she was supporting more than 70% of her own weight and Dennis wasn't even supporting her right knee at all.
Research has shown that walking with the harness goes much better after some rapid walking the Therastride. Dennis was very uncomfortable taking the upper part (the core support) part of the harness off to walk with the walker. He told Kelly that he was afraid she would fall. She showed him how well she has been doing. He actually was so excited about her progress that he was almost choked up. He told her that he may cry. So sweet! She showed him by walking 4 lengths of the gym. Dee (the PT aid) hasn't worked with Kelly since August and she kept telling me "I'm not doing anything to help her with hip support. This is incredible". I am so thankful for such caring people that rejoice in my daughter's victories.
The day ended with some work on her knees. Again, she showed off how much stronger she is becoming.
Dennis always makes us feel comfortable asking questions and he always has great feedback for us. I asked him about a few different therapies and treatments that we have seen at KKI and he was quick to tell us that most of what I was asking about is reserved for those that have hit a plateau or are no longer experiencing nerve regeneration. He said that Kelly doesn't qualify for them because she is showing too much progress. WONDERFUL!
Dennis also told us a sweet story about himself. He said he has only dreamt about two of his patients walking. He said he has dreamt about Kelly walking three times now. Always the same dream of her walking into a BBQ with crutches and saying hello to him. Great to know that even more people are dreaming about her being on her feet.
We ended a great day with wonderful friends. Having dinner with the McAllisters is always so good for us. We love spending time with a family that is going through similar struggles. We always learn so much from hanging out with other SCI (spinal cord injury) families. The emotional support is priceless and we have friends for life. It's great to reconnect with our friends that we haven't seen since August. Especially great to see all the progress that they are making.
Tomorrow morning therapy starts at 8 am with Quyen. Looking forward to impressing someone else!
No comments:
Post a Comment