At 'Home'

Today's agenda included laundry, cooking, at home physical therapy, and a walk out to the lobby of our hotel.  All really exciting activities :).  It is nice to be out of the hospital and taking care of things on our own.

Eliza got up in her chair in between naps so she could spend time in other places than the bedroom.

After working with the knee immobilizers, we got them to fit better.  I think the problem is that her legs are going to be uncomfortable no matter what she does right now.  She's trying to get used to the way her legs feel and gaining confidence in what she is able to do and how to do it with the least amount of pain and discomfort.

Part of that process is the physical therapy they sent Eliza home to work on each day. Right now all of the exercises are pretty passive and require one of us to do the moving of her legs for her.  She is able to wiggle her toes pretty well now, and can move her right foot up and down slowly.  Her left foot has only a little motion, but that is where the hardware from her last surgery was removed as a  part of the surgery last week. When she left the hospital yesterday, she couldn't move her legs on her own at all.  Though she still can't lift or move them yet, she is now able to scoot herself in her chair or in bed.  We can raise her legs higher already and today can bend her knees a little bit.  It might not seem like much, but that is pretty great progress in just a day or so.  Getting to her stomach and spending time in the prone position is probably the most challenging exercise, but she did it with no complaints!  

We enjoyed spending time with Dan's cousin, Ben, this afternoon.  It's nice to have some family and a few friends of friends living in the area.  The visits give us something to look forward to on our otherwise quiet days.

    

This evening we took Eliza to the lobby to enjoy the fireplace.  Living in a hotel for more than a few days is something new to all of us.  We are finding ways to enjoy the experience.  Eventually, we  hope to be able to take Eliza on some outings, but for now we don't have a safe way to transport her.  So we are thinking of ways to keep tomorrow interesting...  Maybe card games.