Freedom !

What a difference a day makes. This morning at 08-30 Leo had a physio session that lasted an hour and a half with Suzie. She did some leg stretches and measured his before and after flexibility and the movement on his left ankle is NORMAL the movement on the right has improved greatly and its obvious the moment you touch it. Leo can not only move his foot up and down,wiggle his toes but he can now go side to side too. He had none of this flexibility before the operation. He is still tilting to an angle of about 120 degrees when he sits up and is finding holding his head up difficult (this is not unusual when you consider how heavy your head is and the fact its sitting on the top of your spine). He can flex his hips and can now open his knees on command. He totally enjoys kicking his lower leg up when he lays down and can do that independently . These movements may not seem enormous considering the operation he went through but they're all foundations of independent walking. Suzie also went through all the discharge paperwork and showed us the quad sticks Leo will be bringing home and also his knee braces he will have to wear from tomorrow night and for the next 6 months at least. These braces are soft and nothing like the UK abductors. Suzie got him sitting and holding his balance on a step while throwing a ball at a basketball hoop. Then she asked Leo what he wanted to do and he said walk. So she said if he walked four steps he could throw the ball through the hoop again. Leo still needs a lot of support but he managed his four steps with flat feet and got to throw the ball. This game continued until Leo reached 12 steps. Suzie then asked what did Leo want to do and he said 'bike' so he got to ride on the bike all round the physio room and out into the corridor turning the pedals all the time. Suzie was pushing it from the rear but as she explained Leo circling his legs even with no weight behind is making those muscles work. At the end of the session Leo (although yawning and obviously tired) complained. However once we pointed out we can now go back to the hotel Leo cheered up a lot.
Its amazing how much stuff you accumulate in just a few days however Leo balloons laptop handbag and suitcase were all loaded onto the shuttle bus and was back at the hotel by 11. Leo is exhausted but determined not to sleep so we compromised and he is now sitting on the sofa watching TV. We will take him out later, we need to get groceries and he needs fresh air. Outpatient Physio starts tomorrow at 11am with Mad Michael