George's Footsteps Diary

2nd April 2013

Well today is day 1 of our first Footsteps course since having SDR surgery and it has been fab! They said that they cannot believe how different George is and when I asked what they noticed, they simply said 'everything, everything is better'. This made my day :-)

Over the 3 weeks George has been working hard with the mat work and doing some 4 point crawling, maintaining it for a while which is great. He has worked really hard in the spider and has been achieving 110 steps on the treadmill. On a few days we even followed this with 100 steps in his walker out of the therapy room and down to the front door to go home.......over 200 steps at one time is just brilliant.

Well done George for working so hard, now we need to continue that work at home to encourage him to continue moving forward.

17th August 2012

George's last course at Footsteps before we go to America for his SDR surgery. He worked so, so hard and really did do well. They are very pleased with how well he is doing. The positive outcome is that they feel George has really good mobility, he is just let down by the spasticity.....so they really look forward to seeing how he is after his surgery. How exciting!!!

14th APRIL 2012

George's first course of 2012 was fantastic! He has worked so, so hard and the therapists were very pleased with him. Each day started with 1 hour of mat work and the therapist doing this got George from lying down to sitting up with minimal help by the end of the course which is great. Then George did 1 hour in the Spider each day and as always he enjoyed every second....finishing with 5 minutes on a treadmill each day and his ability to take steps became easier as the weeks went on. All this intensive therapy is going to really help George for after he has had surgery in November. Well done George.

30 SEPTEMBER 2011

Last course of 2011 complete and what a star George is.......30 hours of therapy done in 3 weeks. His first 2 hour a day course done and we have not had a single tear. We are so, so proud of you little man. You have done everything asked of you and the therapists were so impressed with your determination. His left arm is so much stronger and George willingly uses it as much as the right arm. George is also taking great steps on the treadmill with what looks like little effort while supported in the Spider. George has even taken a few proper 4 point crawling steps these last 2 days so he is trying so, so hard to master this.......just shows how much stronger his arms have become! George has done so well these last 3 weeks. Lots of cuddles and a treat when he comes home this weekend I think!!!

Next course March 2012 guys so watch this space!

8th JULY 2011

Course number two of 2011 complete! George has done very well on this course - his use of his left arm is so much better and they are very pleased to see him using it so freely. The therapist also commented on George using his legs much better when kicking skittles, footballs and when on the treadmill. Usually his left leg is better but this time he made much better use of his right as well. He was very happy on this course but also a little quiet.....is this to do with the medication he is now on or is it just his age and he is growing up a little.....? Well done though George, as always we are proud of you :-)

15th APRIL 2011

Today George has completed his first 3 week programme of 2011!! We are so proud of him as he had his seizure 3 days into this programme (see latest news for info on the seizure) so for him to go back and carry out the rest of the 3 weeks recovering from that was amazing. Well done little man!!

17th DECEMBER 2010

George has just finished his last Spider programme for 2010!!!! This was a 2 week course instead of the usual 3 weeks but it was great to fit one in before the end of the year. We did 1 hour each day and as usual he loved it and was very good. I noticed that his therapist was getting him to kick a ball and as each day went on he was getting better at this. Sometimes he is so stiff in his legs this is not an easy movement for him to do so over time he gets looser and more able. I am thinking of attempting this at home if I have someone with me to support him so we can help him with the leg movements......this is all steps towards walking one day. So goodbye 2010 and thanks everyone for following my progress, Love George xx

12th NOVEMBER 2010

George has just completed a 3 week Spider programme and it went very well. He happily went into the Spider frame each day and we were encouraged at how willing he was to do all that was asked of him. His therapist encouraged lots of use of his left arm with play - picking up toys from a raised platform and dropping them to his side, playing with skittles and knocking down a tube first with the left and then with the right arm. George was also encouraged to take steps on a mini treadmill. Again George was more than happy to do this and he found taking the steps easier than our previous visit to Footsteps in the summer. All in all the 3 weeks was fantastic.

Since coming home George is lifting his left arm higher than before and went supported in a standing position he is trying to take steps with both legs. Prior to the 3 week programme he was still dragging his right leg so this was very positive.

Really looking forward to going back for another programme in 3 weeks time :-)