Happy New Year Everyone! It is the Year of the Snake, of which I am one. No wonder I'm a Slytherin.
Will is progressing well. He has restarted PT at UCSF with the therapist he had 3 years ago. At that time Will did not have the muscle control or had progressed enough to be able to fully use the tools available at UCSF. This past week was very exciting! Will was able to stand unaided for 5 whole seconds!! This is a huge accomplishment and we are both so happy and proud he's come this far. We do need to get his ankle orthotic adjusted, since he should be wearing it when he stands to help stabilize his ankle, which still tends to bend a bit. At his sessions Will is practicing standing up from his wheelchair with the aid of his therapist and a stationery bar attached to a Pilates mat. Will's PT holds on to Will's leg and tries to make sure the knee is as straight as it can be and Will is working on standing and getting his foot flat on the ground. We are hoping getting his orthotic tweaked (right now it's rubbing up against his ankle bone and causing pain) will help with the foot flatness.
The Botox injections he received are working! His leg is not so stiff and the calf and hamstring muscles have loosened quite a bit.
All this is very encouraging. I'm hoping this is the year Will gets to come home. It's been too long (five and a half years) and there are kitties he has yet to meet. It would be great to get him out of his care facility; it is a wonderful place with really great folks who care about all the residents. But it isn't home and rent went up this month. We hope all of you are weathering the storms, both weather and political. These are scary times we live in, but I am trying to do my part by calling and emailing my representatives to voice my displeasure and urging them to take action. Until they come knocking on the door to take me/us to Guatanamo we will go on with our lives. Me trying to get Will back on his feet. Will doing his best to recover physically while doing shows whenever he can. He's had several great outings so far and will continue to regale us with his pearls of wisdom on his socials. We've gotten out for a few live shows, most recently, Some Like It Hot. We thoroughly enjoyed the production. Fabulous dancing!
Here's a pic also of Will's first attempt at using a walker. I've cropped it so the therapists aren't in the frame. Don't want to get them into any trouble with UCSF.
For Valentine's Day I'm treating Will to the Preservation Hall Jazz Band at the Presidio Theatre, the place he had his stroke. I miss the 504 and I'm hoping this bit of NOLA will will help lift my spirits. Baseball soon!
Stay vigilant and stay frosty.
The rebellion will need all of you.
xoxo, Debi & Will