Hip, Hip Hooray!!

OK.... it's a really naff title I know, but this week we had some good news with regards to Daniel's hips!

On Monday we had our appointment at the Joint Orthopaedic Clinic, basically a hospital appointment with the orthopaedic surgeon, paediatrician and a physiotherapist all at once. The main purpose was to review Daniel's latest hip x-ray. Daniel has had regular hip x-rays (every 6 - 12 months) since he was two years old, because children with CP are at high risk of dislocated hips. The reason for that is a combination of the spasticity (tightness) in their adductor (inner thigh) muscles, constantly pulling the head of the femur outwards, and the lack of normal weight-bearing, which means their hip sockets stay very shallow.  Once a hip reaches about 45% subluxed it is impossible to bring it back in without major hip surgery, where the pelvis is 'carved out' and the hip pinned in place, and that is of course something we very much would like to avoid!

Just so you can see what I am talking about, the image below shows an x-ray of an almost dislocated hip in a 5 year old child with cerebral palsy. NOTE - this is not Daniel's x-ray, just an example!

Daniel's last x-ray, done in May, showed that his left hip had reached 29% migrated, and we were concerned that although the SDR operation had removed the spasticity, and therefore stopped the pull from his adductors, it had also loosened all the muscles, including the ones holding the hip in place, thereby making the situation temporarily worse. Over the last six months we have worked hard at building strength in those muscles surrounding the hips, as well as monitoring Daniel's sitting and lying positions, to ensure the head of the femur is always encouraged inwards, and not out. Of course, since he is walking lots in his walker, he is also weight-bearing far more of the time than previously, which helps considerably. We were hoping to slow down or halt the migration before it went much further, but we were not sure how realistic a hope that was.

So... we had the next x-ray done in half term and had been anxiously waiting for this clinic to find out the results, which were better than we had even hoped for! Daniel's left hip has started to come back in again, and is now only 19% subluxed - a huge improvement! His right hip is also fine, at only 10% migrated! All in all, really brilliant news! In addition, since Daniel is weight-bearing so much more now, and building strength, the orthoapaedic surgeon predicted that Daniel's hips might now continue to behave themselves, and hopefully will not require intervention. That's an absolutely massive relief.

The team were also very happy with Daniel's progress since the op, and his weight gain (although since Rich and I still have to lift Daniel several times a day then we could have told them he was heavier!) All in all, it was an unusually enjoyable hospital appointment!

Of course, as soon as you stop worrying about one thing (for now at least), something else just moves to the top of your 'worry list'. Now we are worrying about the hyper-extension in Daniel's knees when he walks! But I will save that for a discussion another day....

In other news, last week we had a really productive joint visit of Daniel's private and NHS physios, Jenny and Janet. They were trying him with a therasuit, which is a suit (which Daniel would wear under his clothes) to give support and 'proprioceptive feedback', indicating where bits of his body should be in space. The idea would be to help him walk with his hips straighter, since he still tends to leave his right hip behind and rotate as he walks. The results were a bit inconclusive at this point, so they and we are still considering what is best to do, but it was so useful to have the two physios together and to discuss several other little things at the same time.

Here he is, trying on the therasuit (it's flesh-coloured, so you have to look carefully!)

And then (with his clothes over the suit) seeing how it affected his walking with his sticks....

And finally..... I thought you might like to see Daniel's new super-cool registration plate!  (Shipped over from the US, with thanks to Grandma, Grandpa, Chris and Diana!)

One year ago.......

This day, one year ago, we put Daniel into the hands of Dr Park. We hoped and prayed we were doing the right thing and it would give Daniel a brighter, more comfortable and more independent future. The few days that followed were traumatic for us all, and the twelve months that followed that could be aptly described by the words 'roller coaster'! It has been harder work than we ever imagined (and we knew it would be hard work!) However, there can be no doubt that Daniel has made huge progress and today is a good chance to look back and celebrate that, forgetting the things that worry us on a daily basis.

We are incredibly grateful for the huge number of people who have supported Daniel, and us as a family. From those (some of whom were strangers) who threw themselves into our fundraising, the fabulous team in St Louis, our physiotherapists here in Cheltenham (both private and NHS), Mike Poole and his team in Scotland, Daniel's wonderful teaching assistants who enable him to succeed every day at school, and finally our families and close friends (some of whom we met in St Louis) who have provided a wealth of practical and emotional support.

At the centre of all that is one special little boy, who is just bursting with enthusiasm for life. Happy first SDR anniversary to Daniel, and to his friends Brooke and Glen.

This link is to our new video, which celebrates the progress Daniel has made so far. (Press play then double click to make it full screen).  Enjoy!

Back to Perth......

Last week we made the long journey back up to Scotland, for another week of intensive strength training at MP Fitness, near Perth. Daniel was booked in for seven days on the trot of two hours a day in the gym. We were quite worried before we went as to how well Daniel would cope, considering he has struggled so much with illness this term, right up to the week before we set off. However our little champ showed he was up to the challenge once again, and worked really hard. (In fact the person that was ill all week turned out to be Rich, which is always depressing when you have taken holiday from work). We were encouraged that despite all the set backs in recent weeks, Mike could still see improvements in Daniel's strength since we were there in the summer, and Daniel then managed to build further on that during the week.

So...... LOTS of hard work in the gym took place.

As we found back in the summer, it was tough for him at times, and he was pushed to his limits, with tears on a few occasions (though always brief). Daniel tried his absolute best and the only low point was Thursday's session, when Daniel was on the early slot (7-9am). Since we were staying a twenty minute drive away from the gym, a very early start was required to get him up, dressed, breakfasted etc and drive to the gym by 7am.  Perhaps unsurprisingly he was not at his best that morning and Mike (unusually) took pity on him and gave him a gentler session. Here's Daniel arriving at the gym in the dark and the cold......

In terms of progress, as you might hope after spending 14 hours in the gym in one week, Daniel built a bit more strength. He also worked a lot on standing balancing, which he still finds extremely difficult with only his short splints for support. The reasons for that are probably a combination of weakness around his middle (which is of course stronger than it was, but still weak in the scheme of things), plus innate balance problems in his brain linked to his disability, plus possibly a vision issue relating to balance. We just have to practise, practise, practise. However, he can now manage a few seconds, like this......

And with that small amount of balance, Mike started teaching him to take independent steps. This is incredibly hard for Daniel, with what must feel like a million things to think about, and Mike made him repeat the exercise over fifty times, to try to "build the pathways in the brain"!

What was Lucy up to all this time? The answer is a mixture of time spent in the gym watching Daniel's sessions, schoolwork (since both children should have been at school last week), and trips to the playground.........

..... Not forgetting her absolute favourite activity of the week, which was feeding the goats on the site where we were staying. She would happily have fed them most of the food we had in the cupboard!

Daniel enjoyed the goats too, although he was a little less confident than Luce. Here he is conquering his fear, and rather pleased with himself.....

We managed a bit of quality time as a family too, and a couple of tourist activities (I must admit that it is a fortunate bonus that MP Fitness is situated in beautiful Perthshire, with plenty to do nearby). 

We did some castle visiting, and Daniel, whose current obsession is the Vikings, treated himself to a viking helmet, which he absolutely loves.

We also went to the Caithness Paperweight factory, watched some paperweights being made and did some glass painting.

.......and had the occasional pub lunch! For anyone going up to Mike Poole. we would definitely recommend The Wheel Inn, just down the road from MP Fitness. Delicious pub food and the children loved the booths with the tv screens.  We had Monsters Inc. showing while we ate - it ended up being a VERY long lunch!

On our last day, Daniel (and indeed all of us) had an extra treat. Daniel's 'SDR twin' Brooke, who you may remember had both her operations on the same day as Daniel, had just arrived in Scotland ready to start her intensive week of work with Mike the next day. Daniel was thrilled to see her, and Lucy slipped back into playing with Brooke's sisters Neve and Nadine as if they had never been apart! All in all it was a lovely relaxing afternoon, much enjoyed by all.

Yesterday we made the long drive home, and were relieved to find that the big storm had managed to miss Cheltenham. The week away was definitely worth the many hours in the car, and we again feel we have inched forward another little bit. This morning we started our new exercise programme from Mike, and Daniel started to catch up on his missed school work.  Business as usual!

Autumn arrives again...... and nearly a year has gone by!

Daniel is quite fond of the phrase 'There's good news and there's bad news' and he always prefers to hear the bad news first, so I will adopt that model in this update.

The bad news is that Daniel has continued to be poorly, with one thing after another, for several weeks now. In fact, by my calculations, he has not yet managed a full week at school this term. This has been frustrating for everyone, with not only school time but also huge amounts of physio time missed. He has lost muscle tone and at times struggled even to sit up straight. Times like this remind us how hard Daniel has to work at all things physical, because as soon as he is unwell he just can't do it.

However, since I had a big moan in my last blog post, I shall avoid that here, and move straight on to the good news, or in other words, the high points of the last few weeks.

In mid-September, Sunday riding started again. Cotswold RDA is based at Cheltenham Racecourse, which is not only surrounded by lovely countryside, but also feels like a rather special place to ride......

Every Saturday morning, Rich and Daniel work through a long (often 2 hour) physio session together. Some of the recent sessions have been rather a write-off, due to Daniel being too tired, or too poorly. However, a couple of weeks ago, in a tremendous session, he showed us that he is still making progress, by achieving something he has been working towards for years (literally!) He climbed on to the physio bench independently! First he did it by his own method, and then astonished us by going on to do it the 'proper' way, going through a half high kneel position. If he can become confident at this it will allow him to climb up off the floor into a chair, or his wheelchair, so it is an immensely important functional skill. It's hard work, and since the next illness kicked in Daniel has only managed to reproduce it once or twice, but the fact that he has shown he can do it means that with practice he will eventually do it with confidence. Here's the video (with apologies for the self-indulgent Star Wars reference!)

So, we are now in mid-October, and Daniel is almost 11 months post op. Some of the families we met in St Louis are coming up to their 1 year post op point this week, and yesterday we met with Sophia and George to celebrate their first anniversary! It was lovely to catch up with the families, and let the children spend time together, as well as raising a toast to all they have achieved in the last year.

Daniel was on his feet for hours, and all the children had fun playing and dancing. In fact, between them they had some pretty groovy moves going....

It should never be underestimated how much of a boost Daniel receives to his self esteem from spending time with other children who have CP, have undergone SDR, and go through the same gruelling physio schedule as he does. Despite the fact that he has been ill all week, he was on great form and had a wonderful time.

From our perspective, seeing these three children dancing together, and remembering that a year ago none of them could walk, was a powerful reminder of just how far they have all come, and what special little people they are.

Back to School.......

Apologies for the long gap since the last update, which is a result of a very busy summer holiday, followed by a manic start to the autumn term. In fact, it would be fair to say that at the moment things are tough, and with no let-up in sight.

So, what's been going on since I last updated?

After returning from the intensive course in Scotland we had around a week and a half at home to get going on Daniel's new strengthening programme from Mike Poole. The exercises focus on his core one day, then legs the next, then back to core and so on. Any new set of exercises takes time to get used to, and these were no exception, but at least we got them up and running and were quite pleased with ourselves. We also did some 'ebaying' and bought a total gym (leg press machine), so now our living room really is half-lounge, half-gym - with a treadmill, total-gym, parallel bars, a physio roll and three exercise balls all not very successfully hidden behind the sofa!

In mid-August we returned to Brainwave, for Daniel's reassessment there. We continue to find these trips extremely valuable because Dawn, Daniel's physio there, only sees him every few months, so she is able to be very objective about progress, as well as any new issues. Our last visit there was actually in January, only a few weeks after our return from St Louis, so although Dawn had seen Daniel's 'post-SDR' legs, there was a considerable amount of progress to show her since then! We were also able to discuss our ongoing concerns about the migration of Daniel's left hip, and get some some ideas on more things we can attempt to prevent it continuing to move towards dislocation, including manipulating sitting positions, the way in which he lies in bed etc, to ensure that at every possible opportunity we are encouraging the head of the femur inwards, not out.

Daniel was able to show off his quad-stick walking, for which he received a certificate, and as always ended the day with a terrific session in the hydrotherapy pool, where he would happily dive for hoops on the bottom of the pool all day! (He needs someone to push him down, but can then more or less kick back up again himself).

So, after a successful day, and with another new exercise programme (which we need to somehow blend with our programmes from Mike Poole, as well as from our home physio), we set off for some quality time with Grandma M and then on to Devon for a holiday and Daniel's much anticipated 'physio break'.

We had made a deal with Daniel that he would have to do no physio at all while in Devon. That said, stretches are exempt from any such deal, because missing those will mean that Daniel's legs and arms stiffen very quickly. And of course we were not going to miss out on any opportunity to practise Daniel's walking, in both his walker and his sticks, especially when our holiday apartment had a wonderful long corridor that was absolutely perfect if you happened to be a seven year old boy learning to walk with sticks!

Here's Daniel on his way to the beach, looking cool! He would walk the length of the corridor with his sticks, and we would then pop him in the buggy to take him to the beach. He would immediately ask to have his splints and shoes removed because they 'ruined his look' apparently!

Once on the beach, Daniel spent a lot of time happily digging.....

 

Interestingly (and slightly depressingly) although Daniel's mobility has of course been transformed since the last time we went on holiday a year ago, that doesn't count for much on the beach. He needs to use the buggy to get on and off the beach, (and pushing it up off the beach is fairly muscle-building for whichever adult - usually Rich I must admit - gets that job!) Once there he is able to sit and dig, (but not move around) and fortunately he is very happy with that for now.

However, the one big new beach experience this year was both children doing some body-boarding. Lucy, who has never before had much water-confidence, just took off and was able to do it independently, choosing her wave, throwing herself on her board, and on her way.....

Daniel, of course, was not going to do that by himself, but he had one big advantage - he has no fear of the water whatsoever! It was another back-breaking mission for Rich, who had to stagger down to the sea carrying both Dan and the surfboard, but once in there, if Dan was laid on the board, once the wave came, he could be given a shove and off he went! An adult was required to retrieve him rather rapidly once he stopped, since once or twice he just rolled off under the water. It was another new experience for him though, and we were both thrilled that he had the confidence to try it, as well as the ability to hold on, which he probably would not have done in the past.

Daniel's ability to use sticks a little bit and to bear his weight better also opened up one other seaside opportunity - crazy golf! The crazy golf course was definitely not wheelchair accessible and would not have been walker-accessible either. However, with a combination of stick-walking, and one of us bearing his weight and helping him take a shot, we managed a round, and both children enjoyed it.

We also couldn't resist the occasional photo like the one below (although don't assume that Dan was taking a walk along the cliff - it was another job for the buggy, apart from photo opportunities like this one....)

So, it was a busy six weeks while the children were off school, but a relief for all of us to have a break from the physio while in Devon, plus a chance for Lucy to have a fair share of the attention for once.

We are now two weeks into the autumn term and things have got a lot more difficult since school was re-introduced back into the mix! Daniel has started Year 3, and Lucy Year 1. Both are delighted with their new classes and teachers, but we are once again facing the 'not enough hours in the day' problem, and it's getting us all down.

Certain new logistical difficulties have also arisen. For instance, the position of Daniel's new classroom means that most pupils enter by a set of steps. The wheelchair / walker entrance is by a different door, so new routines have had to be evolved for the start and finish of the day, as well as break times. The move to Key Stage 2, and the new subjects involved, have presented new problems for Daniel's TA's to overcome, in order to allow him to access the full curriculum.  However, Daniel himself continues to humble us with the enthusiasm he shows for all aspects of school life. To hear him coming home enthusing about learning netball, and the recorder, both of which present him with considerable physical challenges, is quite moving.

Daniel's week currently consists of:

- Full time mainstream school, like any other seven year old, but bear in mind every physical movement is much harder for him than another child. For instance 'walking to assembly' would be simply a way of transferring from one place to another for most children, for Daniel it is a physio activity. Writing is extremely difficult and tiring for him, so he manages what he can and then much of his work is scribed for him. Reading is also more tiring for him because his eyes get fatigued.

- Homework - this has ramped up a bit now he is in Year 3, not to an unreasonable degree, but enough to put pressure on a child who already has no free time.

- Private physio seeing him twice a week in school time. It is much better having it in school, but still takes him out of class, meaning he has to catch up when he gets back.

- Daniel's teaching assistants also try to fit in a 15 min burst of physio whenever possible, working on exercises set by the private physio.

- Hydrotherapy - provided by the NHS after school one day a week.

- A long (often two hours) session of physio on a Saturday morning, with either Rich or myself.

- Stretches - done every day.

- Standing frame time - we aim for 30 mins a day. To put weight through his hip and try to minimise the displacement out of the hip socket.

- Swimming - this is fun but also physio.

- Horseriding - also fun but exhausting because it works his weak core so hard.

- Practising stick walking whenever possible at home (this makes even going to the toilet or to the table for tea a major activity).

- knee immobiliser worn overnight to hold his leg straight. He puts up with this discomfort with no fuss at all.

-Constant nagging monitoring of his sitting position to avoid the left hip sticking out and the postural curvature of his spine.

- Inserting practice of any relevant skills as often as possible, eg. making Daniel try to stand and balance for a couple of seconds every time he gets off the toilet, making him climb on to the bench (with assistance) when he wants to sit and watch tv etc.....

- French Club, which is the only extra-curricular activity in his week that he himself chooses and is not physio-related.

We would be just about coping with all of the above (plus Lucy's activities of course) until we try to factor in the daily dose of the strengthening exercises, from Mike Poole. We were initially trying to do these before school in the mornings, which meant Daniel's morning went like this.....

6.45am - Awoken by us (and not happy about it in general).

7 am - Mike Poole exercise programme (in his pyjamas)....

7.30am - brief rest and getting dressed.

7.45 am - breakfast

8.15 am -leave for school, in order to arrive 15 mins early so he can practise walking with his sticks down the corridor. At the moment the sticks are not yet risk-assessed and cleared for use in school unless I am supervising and taking responsibility for him, so we have to squeeze in that walk first thing in the morning, and he then uses his walker for the rest of the school day.

However, the major obstacle to that plan is that Daniel is exhausted, and although he goes to bed earlier than most of his classmates, he is still struggling to wake up in the mornings. Added to that he has now come down with a very heavy cold. Therefore, we have not had enough time to do the before-school dose of physio at all this week. This leaves us with the constant feeling that we are failing, because we know how important the strengthening exercises are. We also have a set of exercises from the Occupational Therapist (to help Daniel's fine motor skills etc) which are not even getting a look in at the moment. And the Brainwave exercises. Oh yes, and the feeling that we should be working on Daniel learning to dress himself / toilet himself / use a knife and fork together / a long list of skills that we all take for granted but he will need to master one by one if he is going to live an independent life in the long term.

And, of course, none of that takes into account that we have two children. Lucy has her own needs, her own talents, and her own set of activities, almost of which have to be crammed into the weekend (because anything she does after school on weekdays involves me having to lift Daniel in and out of the car twice to drop her off, then again in and out of the car another two times to pick her up, which is exhausting for both him and me).

I decided to indulge myself in that little rant because the temptation is only to post the 'highs' - when Daniel does something new, or we have tackled a new activity. However, if this blog is to be a true reflection of our journey, then it needs to reflect the 'lows' too, and perhaps more importantly, the fact that most of the time it is just hard slog, for Daniel himself, for us, and for Lucy, who so often just has to 'fit in'. There is no doubt that Daniel is doing brilliantly, and we are keeping our 'eyes on the prize', ie the promise of much improved comfort, mobility and independence for Daniel as he grows, but right now it is hard, hard, hard.

MP Fitness week 2 - Daniel takes the next step!

We have come to the end of our two weeks in Perth, and tomorrow we start the long drive south!

It has been extremely tough, physically and emotionally, but part of the amazing touch that Mike Poole has is that his fairly brutal treatment seems to build the confidence in the children, not destroy it. Daniel has been hugely proud of his achievements and consistently positive about going every day, even when he has been reduced to tears during the session. He is visibly stronger and has made some dramatic progress.

Here are some clips and photos of this week's hard work.....

 

Tuesday's session was particularly special because Daniel was reunited with his friend Brooke! If you followed Daniel's progress while we were in St Louis you might remember that Daniel and Brooke had their SDR (and later their orthopaedic surgeries) on the same day. They went through so much together and they (and both families) share a very special bond. Daniel was absolutely thrilled to see Brooke, and both of them enjoyed working in the gym at the same time again (although with different instructors).

Daniel and Brooke both slogging away in the gym

Of course, nobody could work out in the gym all day, and there has been time for some relaxation too. We have visited Scone Palace (twice!), and have enjoyed some fun in the garden with Grandma, amongst other things.

On Wednesday evening, both children were thrilled when Daddy arrived, to join us for the final couple of days, and Dan was keen to show off his new skills!

So, what is this 'dramatic progress' that I referred to at the start of the post? The first is that this week Daniel has learned to walk with his quad sticks!

From now on we will be using his sticks to walk around the house, and walker when out and about, but hoping to move to sticks being his main method of walking within a few months.

The other major breakthrough is shown is this clip below - Daniel's first EVER two independent steps!

So, all in all, an excellent couple of weeks, and we will look forward to our next trip to MP Fitness in a few months. We now have the new exercise programme from Mike, which requires us to find another 45 minutes in every day. I have no idea how we are going to manage that, but we are determined to do so, because we now understand that the combination of strengthening work, in conjunction with the great physio input he already has, could truly help release Daniel's potential, whatever that may be.

MP Fitness - end of Week 1!

It has been a tough old week, with Daniel pushed to his limit... and then beyond! There have been a fair amount of blood, sweat and tears. Well, ok, no blood, but the sweat and the tears were certainly there!

Daniel has worked really hard. We knew he was weak, and in some ways it has been nice to identify exactly which muscles are the really weak ones, and start to focus on them. On the other hand, nobody likes to be constantly reminded of their deficiencies.....

He has done a lot of core work, and also some leg work. Mike is very funny, and makes Daniel laugh, but he is also very strict, and is completely unmoved by tears!

Daniel's hard work has included-

• Some asymmetric work - very difficult for Daniel to have the two sides of his body doing different things, especially at speed.

• A lot of core and balancing work. In this photo Daniel looks like he is having a nice sit on Mike's knee. In fact he is working extremely hard on balancing, without being able to use his legs at all, and finding it very hard indeed!

•  Practising standing balancing. When Daniel was wearing his tall splints a few months ago he could balance for a few seconds. However, since going down to the small splints, which give him much less support, he has found this a lot more difficult, and has never managed more than a couple of seconds. Mike is hoping to improve that by the end of next week.

•  Total gym work, to strengthen his legs, both with both legs at once, and just one leg at a time. This is very valuable since Daniel's right leg is stronger than his left, so when pushing with two legs, he will still put more weight through his right. Hence the need to work both legs separately.  

 

The low point of the week came on Thursday, when Daniel was forced to confront his phobia of the treadmill, which has been steadily increasing over the last couple of months. The treadmill here is particularly difficult for him because the handrails are at shoulder height for him, so although he can use them for balance, he can't bear any of his weight through his arms at all (which is what he is used to doing in his walker). He has to weight-bear entirely through his trunk and legs, which might not seem like a big deal to you, but certainly is to him, and he feels very unsafe doing it. On Thursday he had rather a panic, which eventually became a full meltdown. I was asked to leave the gym (I was ready for that, because I had seen it happen to other parents the day before. It was distressing, but I knew it was coming, and could still watch through the little window!) Mike calmed Daniel but made it very clear that the tears were irrelevant and would make no difference to whether Daniel went on the treadmill or not! Eventually he went back on and managed the allotted time, still hiccupping! However, that night he proudly told Daddy on the phone that he had "conquered his fear of the treadmill"! I must say I was not at all convinced, cynical mother that I am, but sure enough on Friday morning, when we arrived he said to Mike "I'm ready to go on the treadmill", and he did! He wasn't happy on there, but he managed it, and I was bursting with pride at the courage he showed!

He has also been taped up with kinesio tape for 3 days, on both legs and his left arm. It has helped to stop him hyper-extending his legs when walking. I think the feel of it took a bit of getting used to, though!

Mike has taken the hip supports off Daniel's walker, and locked the wheels, as well as tilting it forwards slightly. That has made it quite a bit more difficult for Dan, as he has to bear weight fully through his legs, while lifting the walker to turn, and he has no hip support to lean against. He has a tendency to walk close to the left of the walker, I think for security, because his left leg is weaker. So, Mike has put an elastic tie thing (it has an official physio name, but I can't remember it right now) round his waist, to pull him back into the middle as he walks. It is all intended to make him work harder, and it does.

Today has been our one day off, and we have had a lovely day at Pitlochry with Grandma (who is here for the whole two weeks to help) and Grandpa (who has joined us for the weekend). The children loved the 'wibbly, wobbly' suspension bridge and both had fun jumping in puddles! Dan managed to walk all the way across the bridge and back with his new walker set-up, even though he clearly finds it more difficult.

Tomorrow we start week 2. Bring it on!