Help Harry Walk Fund

Hello its Saturday 8.40 pm local time and its Harry’s last night in Hospital so one more night then we can get back to the apartment and I am really looking forward to that and so is Shane. Continuing on from yesterday’s post Harry’s second physio session went well the first 10 minuets Harry has to do some leg stretch’s to get warmed up then he moves on to small basic movements of the legs like laying flat on his back and having to touch a ball with his toe’s the ball is being held a couple of inches away its little things like that we all take for granted but to be fair to Harry he gives it his all and made some good progress we then move on to a big floor mat and Harry has to roll over from side to side it’s all about strengthening his core muscles and for him to start using muscles he has never even used before. It was the spasticity in his legs that gave him his strength and that’s what held him up and allowed him to scoot about on his walker but with the spasticity gone the strength has gone to. Harry managed to complete most task’s set for him and his physio was pleased with his first day for me personally its difficult watching him struggle to do the things he used to do easily and that’s because their were so many things he could not do due to his cerebral palsy and now its like he can do even less. To be honest it was something that was explained by specialists in the UK and i have read about it many times but again I put it out of my mind not wanting to think about it but then you see it and then you have to accept it but you don’t have to like it and I didn’t. Harry has really been doing well since the op and had another unbroken sleep waking about 6am (saturday morning) the first word was Dad which made me smile because normally its a different three-letter word that begins and ends in M and has a U in the middle well Mum was his Second word of the day and the M word was then used until she appeared an hour or so later so I still have some work to do on that one. The first physio session today was at 11 it followed the normal routine and then Harry was allowed to get down on the floor and crawl about, the weakness in his body was obvious his crawling was weak and laboured he found a toy zebra a toy that you are meant to ride on by sitting on it and using your feet to move along , Harry was content just to crawl along the floor using it to support himself . Again the physio reassured us that Harry was doing ok and not to worry she then appeared with a walking frame very much like his own one and when he spotted it his eyes shone and his smile was as wide as i had seen for four day’s he went back to the zebra and  began pushing it then he could not resist the lure of that frame the temptation was too much he crawled over to it and used all his strength to pull himself up in to it his legs wobbled and he fought to control them his physio was standing ready to support him but he wanted to do it himself he lurched forward taking a stride but his legs failed him he crashed to the ground and the tears flowed in bitter frustration….. what was our son thinking he thought he was coming to America to have his legs fixed and now he can’t do the things he was doing with ease how do you explain to your three-year old whats going on its heart wrenching, again I felt a lump in my throat and so did his Mum. We finished up and went back to our room and Harry fell asleep within seconds of being on the bed he slept solid for nearly 2 hours the physio clearly taking it out of him. When he woke he had a quick-lunch and some pain-killer that’s taken before all physio sessions. Another warm up session and some supported weight-bearing on his feet followed , seeing Harry’s feet flat on the floor and not standing up on his toe’s gives me fresh impetuous for the session again after warm up he found his new friend the zebra it was like his new crutch as he used it to balance as he moved slowly around the floor. We asked Harry if he would like to sit on the Zebra and he said yes i was surprised as his old spasticity would make his legs really hurt as he tried to straddle any type riding toy. We picked him up and placed him on the zebra his new legs straddled it with ease i could see the surprise in his face as his legs were forced apart from the width of the Zebra but the pain never came and Harry looked relaxed and then he did something he has never done before he pushed his feet behind him moving the toy along with ease with no pain and with his Mum and Dad looking on stunned We cheered and clapped and praised him and i felt relief as my son was doing something children younger than him can do with their eyes closed. Harry’s face lit up again he beamed as he conquered the Zebra no crying on this occasion or tears of frustration just a smile to join three other smiles . What a great feeling inside my heart it was just what Harry needed and it came at the right time. We now look forward to Sunday Physio at 11am clocks go back an hour here tonight so its our turn for an extra hour and boy do we need it!