Photo updates

There has been a request for some new photos of Shirley, so this edition is a photo-rich update.

I took several pictures the other day during her physical therapy session, so here we go.

Here is Shirley getting ready to go down to the gym for a round of PT.  When she wants to sit up for extended periods, she's using a wheel chair currently.  It is also helpful for longer transports.

Check out those skinny legs!  Here is Shirley working on her balance and leg strength with her PT Margaret. Shirley is up to walking a couple hundred feet at a time.  She is using a walker to balance herself.  Yesterday, she was cleared to walk with me as her only supervision, meaning the therapy staff are comfortable that she has enough understanding of her limits and knows when to stop.  Her walker has a seat, so she can turn around and grab a seat if she needs to take a break.

One of the criteria that Shirley has to pass before her release is proving that she can climb the nine steps she'll need to access Pete & Caroline's house (our temporary home here in Seattle).  Step one of stair climb training is done on the parallel bars.  Different height blocks are used to slowly increase the height that she is lifting herself.  This photo is with the 6" block, which is just shy of a normal 7" stair height.  

You'll note that Shirley has a yellow gown on.  This is because in the course of a route weekly swabing, they detected MRSA, which is a Staph that can be very hard to control in hospital settings.  She isn't experiencing any ill affects, but has been labeled as a carrier.  She'll need to be gowned up when she leaves her room until they have three consecutive weekly negative swabs.  

After successfully completing the block steps on the parallel bars, Shirley moves on to the 4-step flight that is used to simulate a normal staircase.  She made it to the top of the stairs and here she is on the way back down.  Later in the day, on this same device, her legs buckled on her and she jarred her back as the therapist grabbed her as she fell.  This aggravated the same back injury that has hampered her rehab throughout this stay.

Time to relax after a hard day of therapy.  It's nice to have enough tubes out that I can actually sit next to her in bed without worrying about pulling something important out.  :)