Mary Free Bed Day 4: Determined Donovan

In true form, Donovan has been doing remarkably well. He's standing for brief periods with guidance from therapists and us. He works (i.e. plays with new toys and in new ways) for six 30 minute sessions each day and he's incredibly strong and tolerant. We can see how hard this is though, he's had some rough moments and has taken a nap on each of the past two days... something he hasn't done in close to a year.

The therapists are great and do a good job of challenging him while keeping him engaged. The work behind the play has included practicing properly standing, getting up from a seated position, bending to pick something up and dressing himself. His proudest moment for today was crawling to his wheelchair and getting himself in it. We've heard from his primary PT, whose been doing this for 2o years, that Donovan is doing really well... more than they expected from a rhizotomy patient.

We had our first "in-patient team conference" today. This is a time when we sit down with his lead physician, Dr. Rush (a physiatrist), his PT, occupational therapist, recreational therapist, nurse, social worker, and the manager of the in-patient program to discuss Donovan's progress and how to move forward. Most of the discussion was dialogue about the best approach for ensuring that Donovan will grow strong with proper foot and ankle use. He will have new AFO's (braces from his feet up the back of his calves) and may have one or both legs in casts at some point in the near future. This all helps him correct this placement and progress.

We're working towards the goal of Donovan walking a few steps with help and with confidence. The intent is to get him home as quickly as possible and to ensure he's getting the most out of this intensive therapy.

We can't express enough how grateful we are for all the help and support we've received. We've been able to have dinner together as a family most nights with wonderful meals that have been provided. This has been invaluable! We're more than a week into this and each of the kids seems to be doing great. We try to spend as much time together as possible and connect on the phone, like Donovan saying good morning to Emma and Carl this morning. Even Emma and Carl were getting a kick out of skyping (instant messaging) Dad last weekend as he spent the night with Donovan.