Encouraged

Since I last wrote about Daniel’s recovery we have been encouraged. The progress he has made in the last two weeks is remarkable. The weakness we were dealing with right after the surgery and for the next few weeks was hard to watch day after day, and in those moments of discouragement little doubts would creep into our minds. Right around the end of July, though, his progress just began to take off and he was gaining strength every day.

On July 28th, he declared that he wanted to walk up the stairs to his room that night. Holding David’s hands, he went up the stairs – reciprocating left and right stair by stair. It was really a little shocking to see! In the morning he said he wanted to walk back down, and he did. He continues to ask if he can walk up each night and often wants to walk down in the morning instead of being carried.

The physical therapists at Children’s Hospital do a lot to make therapy fun and motivating. The other day I heard Daniel’s laugh behind the door coming into the waiting room, and then the door opened and he came through in the walker he has been using. Tied to the back of the walker was a scooter board (a.k.a. “trailer”) with several hand weights on it. He was off to sell weights around the building. He thought it was hilarious. I thought it was amazing – he was pulling at least 12 pounds of weights behind him and walking like a champ. He walked for 25 minutes straight.

He has continued to gain strength and to show motivation to do the work at therapy. Thank you for your prayers about this! Early this morning he yelled from his room, “Do I have therapy today?” David answered, “Yes, at 11 o’clock.” Daniel’s response was “Woohoo! Walking! I’m going to pull weights!” Wow. Incredible. I am so thankful that the pain is largely gone and walking is not fraught with frustration and failure any more. We are still a long way from independent walking, but it has only been a little over a month since his surgery, so the progress is very, very encouraging.

Daniel is looking forward to starting school on Wednesday. This is also an answer to prayer. The idea of repeating Kindergarten was a bitter pill for him back in May, so I am glad that he is looking forward to it. Please pray that he will not be too sad or discouraged about his friends from last year being in first grade. He will have the same teacher and paraprofessional that he had last year, and he loves them both very much, so I know he will have wonderful guidance and encouragement as the new year gets underway. We do have concerns about his learning, so we would be grateful for prayers about that as well.

Thank you for your interest and care for Daniel and for our family. The meals and help with the children has been so helpful. Both children will have three full days of school each week (Daniel will have 5, Hannah will have 3), so I am anticipating we will be able to get our ship righted and sailing on soon.