Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Today is the one week anniversary of Sydney being in Rehab. What an exciting week! We feel so blessed with the progress she has made. We are grateful for the skill and dedication of the staff in Rehab, and we are grateful for the blessing of her recovery. Thank you for keeping her in your prayers – it has really made a difference. Sydney's Bishop visited and gave her a blessing which was needed and really appreciated, as Sydney still has some key areas in her body that need to heal and recover, so if you can focus your prayers on this, we would really appreciate it.

I forgot to update you on her hamstrings and muscle spasms (and many have asked). We put a heat pack on her through the night, which really helped; she is on a new and stronger muscle relaxer, is getting a massage every day targeting especially tight spots, and we are gently stretching her throughout the day. This is really helping. She still gets spasms and has muscle tightness and pain, but not as severe as Sunday.

Pretty soon it is going to be difficult for Sydney to keep topping her records, but she had a record breaking day again today! She is back in the “grandma tights” so her blood pressure was better today. She walked 85 feet in the walker without a rest! She was totally wiped out when she finished, but she wanted to do it again, so they put her in a harness and she walked 90 feet! Wow!

In OT, she beat yesterday's arm extension record of 50lbs. by pressing 80 lbs! She is getting closer to her body weight of 97 lbs (yes, she is a lightweight!) In the 2nd session they upgraded her wheelchair from the “sedan” to the “ferrari”, and they timed her racing around the entire 12th floor. In the upgraded wheelchair she beat her time by 15 seconds! For the 3rd session they took her in the kitchen and stood her up next to the counter. She had to hold herself up and balance while reaching up to lift down items from the shelves. This was hard work, but she did it!

Tonight her grandparents from Idaho visited, as well as the “Big Kahuna” from Fox news! Quite the surprise! (Sydney's uncle arranged this). Sydney enjoyed both visits but is totally tuckered out.

We are looking into arrangements for Sydney to finish her Senior year so she can graduate. We are thinking as she gets her strength up Saturday might be a good day to work on homework as it is a lighter therapy day. We are thinking it will be a good idea to restrict visits during the week and have Sunday be more open to visits from close family or friends (although brief visits are best – anything longer than 10-15 minutes really wears her out, and we would still like to restrict this to only close family and friends for a little while).

Thank you for all your love and concern! We feel your prayers! Sydney has great faith she will walk and remains optimistic and positive every day. Thank you for the many acts of service you provide for Sydney and our family!