Monday - post op day 11

Well, today has been a seriously exciting day! Not only because Uncle Chris arrived, and we haven't seen him since Easter, but also because Daniel has made a clear bit of progress.

We have now properly adjusted to St Louis time and that, combined with the rubbish sleeps we are having, means that we are all having trouble waking up in the morning! Therefore, we ended up having to get breakfast down our throats in about 5 minutes, and dashing straight out to the hospital for 9am therapy with Mad Mike. We had been reliably informed that Mike is rather partial to Cadbury's chocolate, and a lot of the UK children bring it over for him. We have brought over a bag of mini-bars, so Daniel can take Mike one each session, and it went down well! We then had a tremendous therapy session, during which Daniel achieved.......

Four point kneeling...

Some nice standing against the therapy table....

Sitting on a 'normal' chair......

.......and some really amazing stepping! As you will see, he was being supported under his bottom and with his hands held, because his legs are still like spaghetti, but his legs did not cross over AT ALL, and he did not stand on his own feet EVEN ONCE! This is the result of the tightness in his adductors being removed.

Towards the end, Mike also tried him on a wheely-stool, where Dan had to use his feet to push himself backwards, or pull himself forwards. He found this really tricky and was extremely tired after the session, so didn't manage much, but did do a tiny bit.

After physio, we went to the airport to collect Uncle Chris, who had just flown in from New Jersey. The children were so excited to see him, and keen to point out the sights of St Louis as we drove back to the hotel.

They also took full advantage of him as a new play  / reading partner over the course of the afternoon! (I also took advantage of this and went for a nap!)

Rich also did all Dan's home exercises again, and we were very excited to see that today Dan was able to attempt one of the exercises he couldn't do at all yesterday, one that involves kicking. Before the operation Daniel could only move his legs from the hip, he could not flex his feet at all, or wiggle his toes, or kick outwards from the knee. This is why it is so thrilling to see him start to do this! Have a look!

And, flushed with success, when talking to Chris, without thinking about it, he got onto his hands and knees and crawled a tiny distance (he could do this before the op, but this is the first time since).  Needless to say, I rushed for the camera!

So, some real progress.  I know there will be more 'lows' to come, plus we still have a second set of surgery to face next week (Rich and I are in denial about that at the moment), but we are certainly looking forward to seeing what tomorrow brings.......