One STEP at a time...

Anyone get the hint in the title as to what today's post is about?! So yesterday I was able to go down for Jamie's afternoon PT appointment.  I walked into the PT room and Jamie was in her chair at the end of the parallel walking bars, like these:

Needless to say, I was intrigued, as I hadn't seen this happen in therapy yet.  Her PTs wheeled her back to the start of the bars, and asked me if I could move the chair as Jamie walked through the bars.  That's right. You heard me. They worked on walking yesterday and Monday! During PT on Monday, Jamie was able to stand with the help of her PTs for about 20 seconds; she kind of hugs the PT standing in front of her, who helps support her.  After the standing and hugging, Jamie got to walk (same position as the hugging), and her other PT walked beside her, prompting her which leg to use.  Obviously, she is not walking by herself, and she can't use the bars to hold herself up, but she is using a lot of her own strength to move one foot in front of the other and hold some of her own weight.  I was so thrilled to see this, I almost started crying.  Jamie was able to make four passes at the length of the bars, but by the fifth time, she was pooped.  Her PT would get her into a standing position, and then Jamie would just reach for her chair and bend her knees to sit down.  Who can blame her? :)  I know that this is just the beginning, and I know we need to keep an even keel about how excited we get, but I continue to be amazed at how much faith her therapists have in her, that they get her to do tough stuff like this. 

Jamie is also getting really good at sitting up with the guidance of her therapists/nurses, as well as swinging her feet over the side of her bed.  (I'm only slightly nervous that she might make a break for it soon!)  She has also pretty much mastered the stand-up-and-swivel movement that she has to do to get into her wheelchair.  She can't support her body weight on her own, so she still needs a good deal of help, but she really gets what movements she is supposed to be doing.  As we've said before, Jamie also works on "walking" her wheelchair by moving her feet as we wheel her.  She is doing better at this every time she is in the chair, even on that left side.  I am hoping that she will do the same with real walking - just get better at it every time.  Go Jamie!!

Speech therapy yesterday was good as well.  Jamers ate a whole container of applesauce, as well as a quarter of a graham cracker!  These are good steps, because it means she is that much closer to getting off the GT tube and eating real food.  Yay!

I also noticed yesterday that she is doing better at resting and having periods of quiet time in between her "talking".  It is my understanding that this is a good thing; most of the "talking" seems to be somewhat involuntary, so if she is quiet for longer periods, then hopefully the speech she does get out is more and more purposeful. 

Fun story for the day.  Jamie's cousin Sara came for a visit yesterday evening, and we were having a great time chatting and singing with her.  Sara teaches at a Jewish school, and told Jamie that she could teach her some Shabat songs. (spelling? no idea.) Jamie laughed a little, and I asked Jamie: "Jamie, are you Jewish?" J's response? "I'm not Jewish!" CLEAR AS DAY! We were rolling, even the nurse was laughing.  I then asked Jamie if she was a Christian.  She replied "Yep, I'm a Christian, but..." and then mumbled some kind of explanation.  I am guessing that she was just explaining that she is a Christian, but loves all her Jewish friends, too. (You know who you are.) It was a very fun little exchange. 

I always feel compelled to put a disclaimer at the end of posts where Jamie has made good improvements - we still don't know how much function she will recover, but we know that God is control, and we see consistent improvements.  Her responses still aren't consistent, but I do believe she is working on it.  Please continue to pray for Jamie's recovery and the steps that she makes.  We feel like she is being able to focus and attend better to what is being asked and required of her.  Please pray that she keeps doing this.  No word yet on when she gets her cast off, so please be praying for that as well. 

Hope you all have a great Wednesday!