Day 43: Lila amazes me!
Lila continues to have a great time, while I continue to be amazed and so proud of her. Her days now consist of an hour and a half of core and leg strengthening exercises, a 15 min. break, an hour and a half of the spider with trampoline and treadmill, a 15 min. break, an hour and a half of leg massage and more leg strengthening exercises. The first session is while wearing the "therasuit". The "therasuit" is basically designed to strengthen and re-train muscles to their proper function.
Because Lila whines and asks for help every time we are in the room, we must limit our time in her therapy sessions. Today was the first time I have just "sat back" and observed her for a good length of time. Usually I will let her know I am there and encourage her along the way, but mostly be out of their range. Today I was stealth, I was a ninja. I hid behind walls and stuffed animals. While I was being super covert, Lila cranked out her exercises while smiling/laughing and doing her leg raises and push ups. The first session was almost to an end and her therapists decided to see how well Lila walks with her "sticks" (crutches).
I remained stealth to see how Lila would handle her situation. While hiding behind a wall I watched Bartek and Arthur ask Lila if she wanted to use her sticks. At first she was apprehensive, then took the challenge (They are great at motivating her). They set a goal for her to walk across the entire room, which is about 40 feet. This task took her about 5 minutes with minimal assistance and maximum encouragement. In those 5 minutes, I realized just how hard this little 5 year old works to do such a rudimentary task. A task most of us take for granted. That walk took me 6 seconds to do. It took Lila 5 minutes, two coaches giving verbal cues and encouragement and some serious perseverance. When she made it to the other side of that room, she was so proud of herself. She had been given a goal, she met that goal, she "high fived" and most importantly, she learned that she CAN do that all by herself! I am so proud of her!
After the celebration and while Bartek and Arthur were removing the therasuit, I asked Ralph (One of Polfits senior therapists) if he thought it was a reasonable goal to have her walk independently with crutches. He said "Most definitely! And then with one crutch and then by herself." He said that they all see such potential and strength in her that with hard work "she will do just fine."
Have a great day....enjoy your walk! : )
That's an amazingly wonderful post, Babes. Thanks!
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