Days 48 - 54

February 17th - 23rd. Sorry for the lack of updates this week, its been a busy but quiet week if that makes sense! I've still got my daily routine of FES bike or hydrotherapy first up, then straight to gym, then to OT, then lunch, then physio and some days circuit or other extra physio at the end of it all. This week there just hasn't been any major achievements or big steps or new 'firsts'. Hydro included a bit more attempting to walk, which my right leg seems to be slowly getting better at, but the left is a bit moody. In physio I have been mainly working on transfers from the chair. It's slowly getting better but I still have a lot of strength to build up and need to find that perfect balance point.

The most exciting news this week was on Monday when Luke went to his orthopedic check up for his foot and the doctor was amazed by the xrays showing his foot had fully healed! It still causes Luke pain but it's now about getting used to walking with a fused foot that doesn't have the natural bend in the middle of the foot.

Last night Luke and I went out for dinner to the Excelsior hotel with my parents, and I had the most tender steak, it was beautiful! My sister, Kylie, and Kale joined us for a drink after dinner.

From now on I'll be doing a weekly update, likely on Sunday, unless there's something worthy of posting straight away!

Delay...

Luke and I are heading out so the post will be a little late , I'd recommend not waiting up for it, might not be til morning!

check back tomorrow...

For an update of the week...

Day 46/47

February 15th/16th. Nothing much to report, just got to spend the whole weekend with Luke, mostly at the unit but we went out for lunch on Saturday to Ingle Farm and got me a pretty dress which I'll wear one day soon!

Here's a photo of me with the flowers Luke got me for our date day back in November!

Day 45

February 14th. Happy Valentines Day! The day started with a big move... I'm no longer in room 4, I'm now in 24! I went to see Luke in the afternoon and even though as Luke says, I'm not his Valentine because I know he loves me, he still got me flowers. And I got him a pocket watch that he's been wanting for years. Then he cooked me hamburgers for dinner.

Day 44

February 13th. Quiet day today, starting with hydro again. Today's achievement was playing boxing on the Wii while sitting up. I even managed to win a game, or maybe Megan let me win?! It takes a lot of balance, especially as my core muscles aren't working very well! This afternoon we had a meeting with the carer agency I've chosen so it's one step closer to overnight leave!

Day 43

February 12th. No big events for today, I wore myself out pretty well yesterday. This morning in my OT session I got to be a model! It's been a number of years since the OT photos have been updated so Kate has had a few of us pose for photos. I got to do the one for technology/using my tablet, as well as applying makeup with modified techniques!

Day 42

February 11th. Big day today! This morning during hydro I walked across pool twice! My right leg moved pretty good but my left dragged a bit. I had Megan and the another physio helping me. Then this afternoon I stood up in physio! I was sitting on one bed with another in front, a physio on either side of me and one behind helping me get up. After that Megan and I played a game of mastermind, working my fine motor skills!

Day 41

February 10th. Another day at the office today, managed 4.01 miles on the FES bike this morning. New trick for the day - when I'm in a good position with the chair I can lift my leg up from the hip, knee still bent, foot just lifting up off the foot plate a few inches!

Had dinner and a movie date with my man tonight, we watched 2 Guns. We were both so confused for half of it because we didn't know the story line at all... well Luke didn't and all I knew was that both guys were undercover for different agencies!

Day 40

February 9th. My sister, Joanna, got back from her 6 weeks overseas today! Mum and Dad picked her up and came out to see me this afternoon. Best thing was she brought Luke and I chocolate from England!! And sorry Joanna, we like the first one we shared so I don't think you'll get the other one back! I got a Body Shop shower gel too which I love the smell of. I got to hear all about Joanna's trip and showed her my leg movement which she hadn't seen! Luke brought me in dinner and it's an early night for both of us.


And (shameless promotion) I've got a whole lot of Body Shop products from being a party consultant that I've put a sale on, the list is on Facebook but if you're not, email me at elise.summerton@gmail.com if you're interested!

Day 39

February 8th. What a hot day! Thankfully spent most of it inside. Tonight we went for dinner to Caffe Primo for my Nanna's 84th birthday which was yesterday. I had to order a garlic bread, I love their garlic breads! It was lovely to see a few of my Mum's family, and I'll catch up with my parents a bit more tomorrow.

Check back soon for the photo, just a classic down the table food shot!

Day 38

February 7th. Was feeling a bit flat this morning so I had a sleep in and stayed in bed to practice putting shorts on. I managed most of it, just needing a little bit of assistance to put the second foot in!

Tonight I went home again for a few hours and Luke cooked a beautiful, massive piece of steak that we shared with chips on the side, but the steak alone could've fed an army! Just means plenty of leftover for luke to snack on! Then my country hillbilly came back to Hampstead with me and settled me in bed.

Day 37

February 6th. Started the day with hydro again, and did a bit of kicking! So far I have been trying to bend at my knees while swimming around, but the swim teacher in me came out and said 'kick from your hips not your knees'! And my legs flutter kicked slowly and steadily!

This afternoon my beautiful friend Kailah came in to visit which was awesome, we chatted away for a couple hours and then said goodbye... but even though I mentioned it earlier,  I had to yell out for her to turn around again so we could have a photo!

Day 36

February 5th. Significant event for the day - my first attempt at a transfer from wheelchair to bed with a slide board (and some assistance)! I managed to shuffle forward in the seat myself and put the slide board mostly under. My lifting still needs more strength but I can get the push across okay. It still doesn't feel like I'm doing much myself but I know it's a big step in the right direction!

Day 35

February 4th. Big day as always, not too busy just exhausting. It started in the pool with hydrotherapy. I did a bit of backstroke arms, moving my legs and then some standing up and doing a bit more with my legs. The most exciting bit was when I did a few tiny steps forward and backward with one foot at a time. It was only little but it happened! The session wore me out but after a shower I still headed to gym and did a light-weights workout. I had a quick rest before lunch, for which I had my reheated Twister that Luke brought in last night! A bit more of a rest after lunch because my physio was going to be just the circuit time slot and at 2:30pm I quickly caught up with Patricia and did a row of knitting.  Turns out Patricia has an 'Elise's knitting record' complete with stickers! I feel so special!

This afternoon we had another carer agency meeting which went well, now just to decide between the two. I talked to Vicky and Neil, the 'Peer Support Advocates' for Paraquad at Hampstead for about an hour afterwards, Vicky came into the meeting with us. They're both paraplegic so I spent a while talking to them about carers and just things about life in a wheelchair. After tea I talked to Patricia for a while more then jumped into bed so I could watch The Block! Luke came around again to say good night and settle my legs comfortably.

Day 34

February 3rd. Good day today for the most part! Started this morning on the bike again, this time I went 3.86 miles! Hopefully I'll break 4 miles soon! After that I went to gym like usual and had a full session but struggled just a little. Made it through OT doing a little push in the rugby chair again but my shoulder played up a little and again struggled feeling a little off... and when I got back to the ward I discovered why. My blood pressure was about 85/40... which is very very low for me! For lunch I finished off the left over fettuccine from last night which still tasted beautiful. That seemed to do the trick and I was feeling a bit better by the time lunch was over. I headed to physio and attempted to work on transfers but didn't get too far as I had to cut my session in half because I had to get back on the bed for my first catheter change since I got the supra pubic catheter (SPC) put in 6 weeks ago. An SPC, rather than going in the normal 'hole', is a surgically inserted tube into the bladder from the 'top' just above the pubic bone. There are a few advantages like less risk of infection. So my appointment was supposed to be at 2:30pm... but on my way to my room at 2pm I crossed paths with another patient who said he had an appointment at 2pm and the doctor wasn't even here yet! So I gave the nurses my number and said call me when he's near, because Luke had just got in and I was going to sit outside with him not wait in bed being bored! Luke left not long after to do a few errands then at 3:30pm I got the call saying to come in! Then a few minutes before 4pm the doctor finally showed up. Why do doctors, especially this one who is known for running late, make appointments for unrealistic times? After all that the change went well and I didn't even feel much like I was scared of.

This afternoon a wonderful girl called Elise... not me, silly, my friend!... came in to visit me and I got to meet her boyfriend Will too! Even though we haven't seen each other for at least a year (me changing my number and Facebook didn't help!) we managed to pass by almost 3 hours chatting away! Elise was amazing and asked if I wanted anything, and so all I asked for was a box of water seeing as I finished mine over the hot weekend,  but she brought in some Maltesers, caramel Tim Tams and a magazine! It was so great to see her and Will. I'm horrible at remembering to get photos so today you get a photo of my massive bag of Fruchocs that I got from my Uncle Bruce and Trish ages ago! I went to the nurses station and loudly asked if anyone was free to open my massive bag of Fruchocs and got a few quick responses! I offered them around to the nurses but don't worry Dad, there's still plenty left!

Day 33

February 2nd. This whole day- number and date thing is getting harder now it's not matching! I got all dressed up this morning and actually felt pretty again. We were going to head out for lunch and then head to a candle party held by another of Luke's nurses but I didn't even make it out my bedroom door! I was all ready then started  feeling a bit light headed... classic sign for me of low blood pressure. A quick check and yep, my blood pressure was in my boots! It didn't go away in a few minutes so I made the decision to do the better thing for my body and head back into bed. Luke still came in and instead of meeting us out for lunch, one of my other-mothers(!) Beki and her husband Anthony came in to Hampstead to see me, and brought their gorgeous niece Izzy! It was great to see them and chat for a while, and before they left, I got a big tub of M&Ms, which I got Beki to open before she left! I was feeling better but thought I might take the chance to rest and recover, ready for another big week ahead. Luke, my little master chef, cooked up a beautiful fettuccine with creamy sauce for me for dinner and brought it in. It tasted amazing even though there was mushrooms and onion in it!! He has gone home and it's time for us both to get a good night's sleep, ready for what will hopefully be a big, busy, productive and positive week!

Check back tomorrow for the photo of me in my dress while I was up for those few minutes! 

Day 32

February 1st. Pinch and a punch for the first day of the month! After a sleep in this morning I was wondering what to do from the spare half hour or so I had, so what else do I do but go find Patricia and do a row of knitting! Then Luke turned up and we headed into the city for lunch. We were celebrating Chinese New Year (happy new year by the way!) with one of Luke's nurses, Angela, who we both get along really well with. And what safer way to have lunch than also have one of his doctors there as well as Angela's friend who sells medical pharmaceuticals! The 5 of us dug into Yum Cha, sometimes I didn't know what exactly it was we said yes to as the dishes were constantly offered to us! It was a fabulous lunch, very very busy but a bit of fun! So much that I forgot to get a photo for the day, so you just get a photo of me today. We went home after lunch and just chilled out for a few hours. I was wearing a pretty dress but found it easier to relax in something a bit more comfy!