Good Therapy and Good Friends

Luke had a rigorous day of therapy yesterday and his activities included time on the treadmill in the "Lite Gait" trainer. His goal was to walk a total of 10 minutes with a break in the middle. He made his goal breaking at 6 minutes. Using the remote, he lifted himself up in mid-air for a rest. PT Paula calls this "flying time", where Luke can dangle or run suspended in mid-air. This was his favorite part of the session. He requested to do the "Lite Gait" just so he could fly. During his last four minutes walking on the treadmill, he grew tired and his steps got sloppy. Motivated by Fruit Loops to concentrate on making good steps, Luke earned 80 Fruit Loops....one Fruit Loop per quality step. He ate a few, but saved the rest for another time.

Next, Luke did some walking in the reverse walker making a lap once around the gym.
This was followed by some trunk strengthening on the balance ball while trying to hit a tether ball.
Next, OT Anna and Luke played some Cariboo--a very cool team game...while doing some kneeling and balancing. It was the first day that Luke was able to balance in a tall kneel for a few seconds by himself. He was so excited! Daddy reports that today he can do it for over 10 seconds.



In the evening two of Luke's Kindergarten friends came by for a visit, Parker and Brayden. They played air hockey, made snowmen at organized craft time, ate chocolate ice cream and were escorted on a hospital tour by Luke in his stander.

The Name Game

It's actually nice being "cooped up" here in the hospital when it's minus 17 degrees below zero outside.....not having to go out and about on errands, to school or to the grocery store....everything is right down the hall, and Luke's made-to-order breakfast, lunch and dinners come without fail.

Luke greets nearly everyone he passes in the halls or that he works with by their names....I just did a quick count and he calls by first name a minimum of 30 people. There's Andre, Amy, Anna, Annette and Aaron and then Carrie, Kari and Katie. There's Veronica and Danielle, Drew, Dana, Dave and Deb and oh, Darius, too....George and Jessica....Varney, Rory, Sally and Ali....just to name a few! And not to mention that he also knows the names of a least 10 different therapy DOGS!

When Luke's nurse comes in to do periodic checks on him, he often answers their questions before they are posed. For example, nurse Annette popped in the room today with a smile, and before she could say a word, Luke lifted his shirt and asked her, "want to look at my back?" (He's so used to both nurses and doctors checking his back incision daily). She came back a bit later and he said, "I went to the bathroom twice today," before she got her chart out to take notes.

We had the GREAT pleasure of having not one, but FOUR of Luke's teachers from Farmington come visit today: Mrs. M, Mrs. L, Mrs. K and Mrs. J. They brought a way cool book that all of Luke's classmates made for him ..... the book was a glimpse of one days' work and fun at the Kindergarten Center. They brought books,balloons, suckers and lots of hugs, too! Thank you, thank you...Luke can't wait to get back in the school groove with you all!
I can't resist sharing these cute dog photos from yet another dog show that took place this evening. This is Louie the "mutt", as his owner called him, and Sammy...a miniature poodle who could play the piano.After the pet show, Luke rode his hospital trike around the halls for 1/2 hour solid...I was helping him out on one of his police missions. He had his bikes' "walkie talkie" going solid with communique to his partner, Brian. The mission caused him to ride faster and faster and harder and harder looking for bad guys around each corner...that police work will motivate a kid and make him forget the real work that he's doing.

Today Luke's physical therapist was VERY pleased at the WALKING Luke did in a reverse walker (It was just like the one he used when he was 2 to about 4 years of age). All of his hard work is definitely paying off. After Luke's bath tonite, he was sooo tired from his days' effort that I put him to bed, and he was fast asleep before I came back from brushing my teeth.

The end is within sight!

Friday, January 23rd will be Luke's final day here at Gillette....that's just two more full weeks of therapy. We were given the release date today! So he'll start back to Kindergarten on Monday January 26th as well as begin his six month stint of outpatient daily pyhsical therapy at the Courage Center in Burnsville!
Today Luke did some walking on the treadmill! Assisted, of course. They strapped him into a harness and literally dangled him from a tall machine called a "Lite Gait". This machine can control how much weight of his own Luke is bearing at the touch of a button. He did well, considering these are some of the first steps he has taken since his surgery December 10th. He went about two minutes before his steps got sloppy and his legs turned noodley. There was a white line down the middle of the belt on the treadmill, and Luke was supposed to keep each foot from crossing the line.
Luke wants to show everyone the pictures on his new orthotics: a fancy police car and one not too fierce-looking "police dog".












Luke can nearly tall kneel now without support. Good balancing and core strengthening.
Luke helps Mom mail a letter in the mail drop.

A very busy day.......

Time here at the hospital ticks by so fast, in part, I think because they keep Luke so busy here. There is always something to do, and Wednesday was no exception. Each morning on our door, Luke's daily schedule is posted....where he has to be, and at what time he has to be there. He had 11 official appointments, each 1/2 hour long: ADL (daily living skills), 2 sessions of PT, 2 sessions of OT, Therapeutic Recreation, 2 sessions of school, Play Group and Swimming Pool Therapy. And to top it off, he got fitted for new orthotics (leg braces), as well as attended a dog show AND attended his sister's mini hospital birthday party. Here are some pictures of the day:



Working on estimating skills and non-standardized units of measurement here with teacher Ms. Lisa, we discovered that Luke was 6 pencil lengths long. Ms. Lisa is an excellent teacher incorporating many new things for Luke to learn like touch point math.
It was Luke's first day of Pool Therapy and he worked out HARD for a 1/2 hour. I was so proud of him. With the water's support he could kneel and side walk for a long time. It was very good exercise and strength-training. Ideally, they said they would have him doing pool physical therapy 3 times a week.
After his day's work, one of Gillette's orthotists named Aaron came to our room to mold Luke for his new orthotics (ankle-foot braces). They will be done in 24 hours. Our private orthotist, Bob, has always done an exceptional job, but it would have taken about 3 weeks to get them from him. Luke got to choose a design for the back of the braces....it will be a dog on one leg and a police car on the other. He was thrilled those were two of the choices.
Twice a month at Gillette, private people pull in their prized pooches for a Pet Production! There were four dogs at this dog show doing their best tricks. It was so fun! Here, Luke is pictured with a super smart doggie named CoCo.
Back to the room to celebrate sister Sydney's 9th birthday.....Luke wrapped up his Ipod Nano he received last week at the hospital. It was just what sister wanted, and needless to say, she was thrilled!
Whew! Time for bed!! Luke's bed can be raised up very high with the touch of a button. It's easier on mom and dads' backs to tend to Luke when they don't have to bend over. We call this his MONSTER TRUCK BED! Also pictured here is Luke's stuffed dog, "Big Buddy", (yes, I know, it has already been mistaken for real several times here at the hospital). His cousins from Franktown, Colorado sent it to him, and Luke sleeps next to it every night!

Standing Tall!

Our stay here at Gillette is halfway through! Luke is keeping up with his rehab schedule and his team states that he will be here the full six weeks as planned. This will put him back home for good somewhere around January 20th or 21st. He has started doing some standing with lots of assist...his knees buckle after about 30 seconds. If he wears his knee immobilizers to keep his legs straight, he can stand for longer. On Saturday, it was Zach's turn to spend the day with Luke and he was able to see first hand all the work that Luke is cranking out. One of Luke's favorite toys to play with during therapy are the helicopter whirly-birds. He can now make them hover on the ceiling for 5 or more seconds before they fall. Playing Candy Land with Zach and his therapist is also fun. (Lying on his belly helps strenghthen his back.)
Luke was happy to have his friend/neighbor/secretary from the Kindergarten Center come visit him at the hospital bearing a huge plate of chocolate chunk cookies. Sally and Luke worked on writing a letter to his teacher and classmates to be delivered Monday when school starts again after winter break. Luke also will start his classes again Monday with his hospital teacher Lisa, a St. Paul teacher. She was out on winter break as well. Luke did 11 book reports during the two week holiday and is excited to show Ms. Lisa his book journal.

WORK and PLAY

It amazes me how quickly Luke has made progress in his abilities. Just 3 days ago when he was put on the pedal bike, he could barely make one rotation around pushing with his feet. And now, he can cruise down the hallway with ease. He does lose some steam and wants to be pushed from behind, but much of it is pure distraction. He wants to look at the interesting objects on the wall as he goes by them or he wants to people watch/visit with them.
He is also now beginning to "half-kneel", (which is half of a tall-kneel)--he is a little wobbly, but becomes more and more stable each day. This is a big accomplishment for him. He is also starting to do some knee-walking. It's all baby steps, just like how an infant progresses through babyhood and toddlerhood from rolling over, to sitting, to crawling, to standing, etc. It is fun to watch his progression!
Luke enjoyed riding this "arm" bike with his OT "Carrie" yesterday....all for upper-body strengthening. He also began working on some daily living skills with her, like getting dressed. He put on his own socks for the first time with great ease yesterday. Before the surgery, he was so tight, he couldn't bend down quite right to do it. Yea!
Some singers came to carol for us here at Gillette....a Lakeville South High School group. It was all I could do to stop Luke from strumming his guitar along with them.

A boy who had surgery moved in with Luke yesterday afternoon....so we have a roommate again for a "few days" ...... according to the nurse.

This afternoon we have a meeting with Luke's physicians and therapists to get a "tentative" release date from the hospital based on his progress....we'll let you know what they say. On New Year's Day, there is only a half day of therapies, so Luke gets another pass to come home for a quick visit and back early on Friday.

After a hard day's work....a little leisure time! (Yep, you got it, Legos! (This is a picture of the play room that is right on the unit.)

Back to Work!

We arrived back at Gillette ready for a full day of therapies on Friday, the day after a totally awesome Christmas! Luke got to scoot around the halls of the hospital on a scooter board to give his upper body a workout. He has always had huge six year old biceps, often using his arms to compensate for lack of lower body/trunk strength.....so it was fun for him to show off his muscles on the scooter board.














This is 4-year-old Ajaiye and Luke in their standers. Ajaiye is from Aurora, Colorado and she had a Rhizotomy the same day Luke did. Her Mom researched the top 3 hospitals (St. Louis, New York and St. Paul) that do this procedure and liked St. Paul's program the best. (Aren't we fortunate to live within an hour of this great hospital!) Luke and Ajaiye are the only two kids on the unit now rehabilitating after rhizotomies. There are 6 other kids on the unit either recovering from serious spinal cord injuries or some other disability. Luke has gotten to know several of them well. He has commented on missing his roommate Sam at times, but it's nice that we can spread out in the double room and not bother anyone if we're too loud.