Thursday, November 11, 2010

Hello, everyone! Here is the youtube link to the video Makenzie made about Sydney http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDaPjFeQADc. Makenzie is Syd's best friend, and she showed this video at the Glee Club concert. Thank you Kenzie - you are so talented!

As for an update on Sydney, Tuesday night she was able to wiggle the toes on her right foot up! Previously she could only move them down, and only if she was having a muscle spasm (she didn't have enough strength to move them on her own without the spasm). Tuesday she wiggled both up and down, and without a spasm! She will continue to work on this to strengthen it, and her next goal is to be able to move her foot at the ankle. She still wears an AFO brace on her lower right leg to keep her foot flexed so she can walk, but we know that with time she will get this functionality back! At therapy yesterday, Jason used "e-stim" (electronic stimulation) to flex her toes. We think this will help her build her muscle strength on her foot, so we are hoping to order an e-stim kit for home. Jason is also having a rep come to one of our therapy sessions to show us options for a better foot brace.

Sydney is doing great! She tries to do her exercise routine twice a day, and walk twice a day. It takes her about 1.5 hours to get through the exercise routine, and then we walk for about 30 minutes. Today she walked a mile in 26 minutes and 26 seconds! She was cruising!

Thank you for all your love, prayers and support!

Friday, November 5, 2010

Hello, everyone!

I need to tell you about our fun day on Thursday! We spent the morning at the gym checking out all the exercise equipment. We found quite a few things we could do there that would be helpful. I am thinking Sydney and I could both get buff!

When we got home, the Stake Young Women Presidency visited. It was so nice to visit with them and to hear their words of encouragement.

In the evening, we went to the Glee Club Extravaganza! Emma King, the president of the Glee Club, and Sydney's friend from Junior Miss, organized the concert and dedicated it to Sydney - which was so sweet! We were really amazed with all the talent at the concert. They sang, acted, danced (including some amazing break dancing!), a talented band played a U2 song, Devin sang an amazing song and played the guitar (Devin is a future famous person – he is making a CD), there was the most creative and fun fashion show, Nick from BYU came and sang, and Mr. Nelson (Colby's English teacher) was the most entertaining emcee! They also showed a touching video Makenzie made about Sydney (Makenzie is Syd's best friend – and so talented!) I will post the video after I get a copy from Makenzie. We had a great time! We were so impressed with everyone's kindness and thoughtfulness toward Sydney. I know how busy these kids are at school and with extracurricular activities, so I was so impressed they worked so hard to put together this amazing concert and make it such a special night. Sydney came away feeling very loved and supported. The downside to staying home with mom all day is I'm sure Sydney misses seeing all of her friends at school. It was so nice for her to see everyone and feel their love and support! The Glee Club donated all the proceeds of the concert towards Sydney's medical expenses – which is very generous! Thank you Glee Club, and to your parents as well!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Hello, everyone! Now that I have learned how to post pictures, I thought I would post these cute pictures of Sydney taken for her Drama class at school. (Scott Hancock, Daniel's Dad, took these pictures).

I would also like to update you on the last couple of days. We have been so happy to have Sydney at home! She has found that living at home is great therapy! She climbs stairs at least 3 times a day, goes through her exercise routine every morning and night; and yesterday for her walking practice we went shopping at WalMart and Kohlers! I'm sure everyone at the stores thought I was a pretty mean mom, as she had to open the doors, get the items off the shelf, etc. Tonight she raked leaves with the youth as part of a service project, which really worked her core muscles! All of these activities strengthen her balance, so the OT's encourage me to have her do as much as possible as it strengthens all of her muscle groups. This does wear her out, so we have to give her time to rest at home to recover. We are trying to establish a routine of getting her heavy workouts completed the first half of the day; taking time to rest, and then studying in the afternoon. We would like to get Sydney caught up on first term, and then second term, as she would like to attend 1-2 classes at some point.

Yesterday we had our follow-up visit with Dr. Maughan, who is the neurosurgeon who operated on Sydney after she was brought to the emergency room. We are so grateful that he sacrificed a night of sleep to come to the hospital and use his skills to repair her back! I will post the pictures of the x-rays after I can figure out how to read the format of the files. When he saw Sydney he said something like "It is so wonderful to see you walk into my office and not be in a wheelchair!" He is so happy she has had such an amazing recovery! We asked him when Sydney could stop wearing her TLSO brace (we call it the turtle brace). He said that at this point she could take it off now for periods of time, which is so wonderful as it will give Sydney a new level of independence! Before, Sydney could not get out of bed without me helping her get the brace on, as she could not be in an upright position without it. Dr. Maughan says she should still use it as needed for support (her back muscles will not be very strong yet), for protection (especially in public places where someone may bump her), and as a reminder to her body to not move in an inappropriate way. Today Sydney went without her brace for a good portion of the day and it felt so liberating! But at the same time she was quite sore by the evening so we put it back on.

Today we went to Cottonwood for her outpatient rehab eval. Jason will be Sydney's PT, and Nikki will be her OT. We will take Sydney to Salt Lake 2 times a week for rehab, and then work with her at home the other 4 days. This way we can get outpatient therapy through March. Today they did evals measuring Sydney's strength and endurance. Next week they will review our home therapy/workout routine and modify it as needed. After next week, Grandma Joyce will drive Sydney to rehab so I can start back to work part-time, working from home. This next couple of weeks we'll try to figure out a routine where I would be able to work while Sydney rests, studies or does the exercises she can do on her own. I'll build in a breakfast and lunch break so I can take her walking. (We are still figuring this out!) Meanwhile we are going to enjoy the next 2 weeks as it is really fun to go walking together, to workout, and otherwise talk about life in general and figure out how to be independent at home!

We are so grateful for your love, support and prayers! (For now you can focus your prayers on Sydney's overall recovery and especially her right foot :) It really does make a difference when you know everyone is praying for you and supporting you! Sydney is so grateful to everyone! She is especially grateful to the Lord for his mercy in healing her.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Sydney came home today after 44 days in the hospital! She will really miss the nurses, therapists and patients at the hospital. They all treated her like family and provided so much service to her while she was recovering. She feels fortunate to have them in her life.

She received such a warm welcome home from the ward! Please see the picture! Each of the ward members brought Sydney a bouquet of balloons, forked them into our lawn and attached notes in ziploc bags! It is the cutest thing I have ever seen! I made an early trip home from the hospital to bring Sydney's things, and while I was home I kept seeing neighbors drive up to the house to bring bouquets of balloons. What a touching act of service! Sydney felt a lot of love when she pulled up to the house and saw all the beautiful balloons, notes, signs and yellow ribbons on all of our trees! Thank you everyone! We are spoiled to have the best ward, neighbors, friends and family in the world! Jill and Ruth also brought us a delicious dinner – thanks!!

After a rest, it was time for Night Terrors! Sydney invited a few close friends, her brothers and her new friend Lance to go through with her. We all got scared :) (Cole screamed like a girl the whole time! ha ha!) I was so glad Lance was there, as he kept Sydney safe while she walked up hills, over some pretty rough terrain, and through a weird psychedelic surprise at the end! When Lance left Sydney cried. She said “Mom, he is one of my best friends.” We are grateful to Lance for always believing in Sydney, for supporting her, and teaching her to walk! He has a big heart and really cares about his patients. Sydney plans to visit Lance at the hospital from time to time as she continues to make progress in outpatient rehab.

Speaking of outpatient rehab, Lance tells us that Jason, our new outpatient PT, just received the Physical Therapist of the year award at the conference Lance was attending. We look forward to working with him!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Zombie day! We have found that rehab is such a fun place to be! Since they are having an inspection on Friday, and most of the regular staff does not work on Saturday, the hospital staff made Thursday their official Halloween party day – with a theme of Zombies. It was so fun to see everyone dressed up! Of course Sydney did not want to miss out on the fun! She slept in curlers, and then got up early and fixed her own hair and make-up to become the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland! She did a great job – and won 1st place in the costume contest! I will post a picture of her and the staff.

The staff brought a delicious potluck lunch, and during lunch Sydney and Josh did the Thriller dance routine for them. Josh is so much fun!

Wednesday October 27, 2010

Today was a travel day (ha ha!)

While Sydney was practicing rolling a suitcase down the hall, we heard an announcement over the loudspeaker something like this: “Hello. This is your pilot. Thank you for flying with us on flight 1222. You may safely stow your luggage in the overhead compartment. Please take your seat and prepare for departure. We will be traveling at 500 mph. The weather will be sunny and 68 degrees. etc....” It was so funny!!!

Sydney had a great day in Therapy today! Lance and Ron and Josh are making sure she is ready to go home with the skills she will need. Today she learned some techniques for carrying her school books.

Backpack:
Advantage: she can take it up and down stairs or through tight spots or crowded halls, and it frees up her hands.
Disadvantage: it is heavy and could strain her back.

Rolling Laptop Suitcase:
Advantage: takes the weight off her back, and is not too difficult to roll down the hall.
Disadvantage: it is much heavier than a backpack, which is important if she needed to lift it up stairs or through tight spots. Also, she can only use 1 cane; and actually preferred using no canes and pushing the suitcase in front of her.

The Young Men and Young Women from Uncle John's ward came up to visit Sydney in the evening and entertained her with skits. That was a lot of fun!

Last night a surprise visitor dropped off some flowers and a very nice note telling Sydney she had been selected for the Woman of the Week, aka WOW award! What an encouraging gesture!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Hi everyone! I think I will start posting updates about once a week now that Sydney is doing so well. I'll let you know how she does once she gets home, and will also update you when she starts outpatient rehab. We are looking forward to many milestones in the future – so I will be sure to keep you updated!

The therapists are starting to prepare Sydney for her transition to home. Lance is working on a sheet of exercises she will need to do daily at home. We are anticipating about 4 hours a day of exercises, walking, and stretches to continue her progression. She can do some of these on her own, but currently will need someone assisting for most of this time. Sydney has not had her outpatient rehab eval yet, but we are anticipating that we will take her to Salt Lake twice a week for guided therapy, and then the other 4 days we will do the therapy ourselves at home.

We also need to build in time for her school work, as she will need to make-up her school work for Term 1, and then catch up on Term 2. And of course we need to give her time to rest, as the therapy really wipes her out! She will be plenty busy at home!

Today in PT, Lance showed her how to use the stationary bike to strengthen her quads, and had her practice walking down the hall sideways while bouncing a ball back and forth with the PT Aid, Dave. He also took her for a long walk outside, up and down stairs, and bought her an ice cream cone to eat while walking (that part was fun!)

In OT, Ron had Sydney play wii boxing with another patient to work on balance. I'm sure Sydney's brothers will volunteer to help her with this part of her therapy at home! :) He also had her vacuum the staff break room, where she got a few offers for housecleaning employment!

This evening Sydney worked on her Chemistry homework (I'm sure Ms. Wenz appreciates this!) Overall, she has had a very happy and productive day! She has built a lot of friendships with the staff and patients in rehab. She will really miss them when she goes home.