Abby update - December 18

It's T minus 2 and counting...I feel like we're in that breathless period right before you take a vacation--you know, those several days when you're looking forward to the vacation, if you can just survive all the things you have to do in order to leave...Oh well, at least we don't have to check bags at the airport!

Despite our slightly frantic perspective, Abby's still managing to stay focused on therapy. Today her therapists just left her wheelchair in her room, and Abby walked everywhere. She still needs an occasional hand on the back or a reminder to straighten her body up a bit, but she's getting more and more steady on her feet. She had a couple of new experiences today: Her speech therapist had her do some work on the computer keyboard. She still seems to have a familiarity with the keys and was pretty good with the mouse, but her fine motor skills don't yet really let her type as she could before. Then, in physical therapy Abby got to go swimming! Warm Springs has both an indoor and outdoor pool, and I was determined to drop enough hints that we wouldn't leave here without getting a chance to try out the indoor one. Frank and I joined Abby and her PT in the pool, and we all feel a little more relaxed for the opportunity. Now, if we could also just arrange for a couple of neck massages for ourselves...

Tomorrow will be an emotional day, I'm sure, as we have our last therapy sessions before heading out on Wednesday. Abby's three therapists are three very special young women, with a remarkable capacity for fully devoting themselves to caring for a patient (through good times and bad) for a period of time and then allowing us to move on. I appreciate them so much, and I'm afraid that, even if they have developed the capacity to say "so long," I'm going to have a very hard time of it...pray that Gordon and I will know how to say thanks without blubbering too much...

Tears of joy--that's a good thing...
Love, the Linams