Monday, October 11, 2010

You will never believe what Sydney did today! She walked 200 feet just holding Lance's hand! She looked like a beauty queen strolling across a stage! So composed! I caught her first walk of 100 feet on camera and will try to get it to Carin to post on the blog (maybe this weekend?)

To work up to this amazing feat, in the morning session Lance had her practice standing up and sitting down from her wheelchair without a walker in front of her for support. She did well with this; so next he had her stand and balance while he nudged her to see if she could regain her balance. She did well; so next he asked his assistant Brad to throw a big ball to her to catch. This forced her to maintain balance while reaching outside of her comfort zone to catch the ball. After these exercises, Lance gave her canes and she walked 350 feet! We were quite amazed by this! Little did we know that Lance was planning to have her walk without canes! In her second PT session, he and Brad walked on each side of her holding her hands and holding the safety belt around her waist. She was so excited to do this! After a little rest, she did the beauty queen walk – holding just one hand! Wow! And this was without a brace on her left leg! Unbelievable! This has been such a memorable day!

In OT, Sydney learned how to navigate around the hospital kitchen to prepare her spaghetti dinner. It takes so much planning to do this! Getting into the right position to open the refrigerator door, reaching to get the food out without losing balance, carrying food to the counter and setting it down without losing balance... She started chopping the vegetables standing up, but after awhile was pretty tired so she sat down in the wheelchair to finish. She didn't have a chance to actually cook the dinner, as another patient was using the kitchen in the afternoon. If you are hungry tomorrow – come to the hospital for lunch! She is going to prepare a great meal!

Since the kitchen was occupied, Ron put her to use wheeling up ramps and opening doors. It is SOO hard to open those big, heavy hospital doors from a wheelchair! You will have to try it sometime! I have a new appreciation for the buildings with a button you can push to open the door!

Today was another miraculous, stupendous day! Every day we think it can't get any more exciting, and then the next day we are surprised by something amazing! Thanks for your prayers and support! It is so fun to watch this miracle unfold!