Sunday, September 19, 2010

(This post was written by Sydney's Mother):

Today is a wonderful day.  Hundreds of people are praying and fasting for Sydney today.  We feel the strength of the blessings.  As my uncle starts his family's fast, he opens the scriptures to Mosiah 27 and  his eyes immediately fall upon this verse about when Alma the younger fell to the ground after being rebuked by the angel (but we are substituting Sydney's name):  vs.22, “And he caused that the priests should assemble themselves together; and they began to fast and to pray to the Lord their God that he would open the mouth of [Sydney], that [she] might speak, and also that [her] limbs might receive their strength—that the eyes of the people might be opened to see and know of the goodness and glory of God.”  vs.23 “And it came to pass after they had fasted and prayed for the space of two days and two nights, the limbs of [Sydney] received their strength, and [she] stood up and began to speak unto them, bidding them to be of good comfort”  After reading this, he feels inspired that Sydney will recover.  He and his family have extended their fast to 2 days.  We strongly believe in the power of faith and miracles and have always felt that Sydney has a special spirit and gifts to share with the world.

Today was a big day.  They took Sydney off the oxygen, and removed her neck brace.  They fitted her with the turtle brace (looks like a Ninja turtle shell that secures her entire torso to keep her spine stabilized).  She was allowed to eat food, and ate some around dinner time.  The respiratory therapist worked with her to force oxygen into her lungs to expand them and clear out moisture (very painful, it puts a lot of pressure on her spine).  The occupational therapist worked with her to teach her practical life skills, such as being able to feed herself.  The physical therapist pulled her into a sitting position (ow!) and helped her sit for 10 minutes to build her torso strength and balance.  She then pulled her into a bear hug and pulled her up and held her in a standing position for 1 minute to accustom her body, nervous system and brain to feeling pressure on her legs.  These were really big accomplishments!  We were so impressed!  Sydney was also able to lightly push her foot against Karla's hand, and flex her knee on each leg (with help). 

When the neurologist came to visit Sydney tonight he was astounded at her progress.  He did not expect such miraculous activity from an injury that was so incredibly severe! Very unexpected.  Moving forward every day!  Sydney is exhausted after each session and immediately falls asleep, but is determined to work even harder tomorrow.  The therapists tell us Sydney is their favorite patient – so anxious to work hard, and so optimistic and pleasant to work with!

Thank you to all the family and friends that are helping us and offering to help us.  The prayers, fasting and support make all the difference.  There are too many of you for me to thank individually here, but you know who you are.