Working hard on the day before his departure, Luke got a great report from his primary PT, Amy. She has been impressed this week at how much his strength has increased from such weakness in the beginning (4-5 weeks ago) to doing some very strong walking in his walker, and doing the
stairs! She also said that had Luke still been here next week, she would have been so brave to try Luke in his forearm crutches. Also today, OT Anna had Luke practicing getting in and out of the bathtub.
Luke's much anticipated wheelchair for home use arrived today. For some reason, Luke is so excited to take it home. Since we'll only need it for a couple of months, this chair is a rental, and it came embroidered with the name "Lydia" on the seat. Knowing we had to lose "Lydia" quickly, I pulled out a patch Luke was given by our police officer friend, and stitched it on right away. Now, Luke has an official police vehicle for travel. Watch out civilians!
Another big day in sports today.....last month it was professional hockey, Monday it was baseball and today it was basketball! Ryan Gomes (#8)from the Minnesota Timberwolves came to visit the kids here at Gillette. He read a book to them in the playroom and gave each of the kids a backpack full of basketball paraphernalia. Standing at 6' 7", Gomes towered over Luke in his stander, but Luke didn't seem intimidated. Luke has had so many neat opportunities while at Gillette to meet some great professional ball players and many high-quality people.
Luke began his good-byes today for his departure tomorrow. He was extremely fond of one of his primary nurses, Ali, who was such a caring and devoted professional. Along with over 10 more people, she attended Luke's Care Conference release meeting yesterday. There were several more of his team "present" with us from Luke's school in Farmington, conference call style. For about 45 minutes, we heard all the reports on Luke and his accomplishments in the last six weeks and received the plans for continued goals and therapy at home. We feel ready for the new challenges that lie ahead. They said that we won't get a
true picture of the change in Luke's motor abilities until
a year after surgery. (Important to keep in mind!!) It's terrifically exciting to picture Luke and his future walking skills!!!!
Working hard on the day before his departure, Luke got a great report from his primary PT, Amy. She has been impressed this week at how much his strength has increased from such weakness in the beginning (4-5 weeks ago) to doing some very strong walking in his walker, and doing the stairs! She also said that had Luke still been here next week, she would have been so brave to try Luke in his forearm crutches. Also today, OT Anna had Luke practicing getting in and out of the bathtub. 
Luke's much anticipated wheelchair for home use arrived today. For some reason, Luke is so excited to take it home. Since we'll only need it for a couple of months, this chair is a rental, and it came embroidered with the name "Lydia" on the seat. Knowing we had to lose "Lydia" quickly, I pulled out a patch Luke was given by our police officer friend, and stitched it on right away. Now, Luke has an official police vehicle for travel. Watch out civilians!
Another big day in sports today.....last month it was professional hockey, Monday it was baseball and today it was basketball! Ryan Gomes (#8)from the Minnesota Timberwolves came to visit the kids here at Gillette. He read a book to them in the playroom and gave each of the kids a backpack full of basketball paraphernalia. Standing at 6' 7", Gomes towered over Luke in his stander, but Luke didn't seem intimidated. Luke has had so many neat opportunities while at Gillette to meet some great professional ball players and many high-quality people.
Luke began his good-byes today for his departure tomorrow. He was extremely fond of one of his primary nurses, Ali, who was such a caring and devoted professional. Along with over 10 more people, she attended Luke's Care Conference release meeting yesterday. There were several more of his team "present" with us from Luke's school in Farmington, conference call style. For about 45 minutes, we heard all the reports on Luke and his accomplishments in the last six weeks and received the plans for continued goals and therapy at home. We feel ready for the new challenges that lie ahead. They said that we won't get a true picture of the change in Luke's motor abilities until a year after surgery. (Important to keep in mind!!) It's terrifically exciting to picture Luke and his future walking skills!!!!
