James’ News & Progress – 20 March 2009

Following a relatively relaxed morning in the gym on Saturday, James was lucky enough to catch up with some old friends who were playing lawn tennis locally in Hunter’s Hill. As there was a Wimbledon theme, the trusty water bottle (which never leaves the side of James’ chair) was conveniently topped up with fresh Pimms and lemonade, which made for an even more pleasant afternoon. An added bonus, given the vicinity of the party, was that James could find his own way home and was spotted speeding along the footpath in the late afternoon.

Sunday was all about the hands, with James’ aunties, uncle and grandmother arriving with small, concealed containers full of various materials for James to try to activate some sensitivity in his hands. His sister Penny was also keen to find out if James could manage a Rosé glass given the beautiful sunny afternoon.

Whether the activities over the weekend had anything to do with it or not, the week itself was very successful with three major positives. James kicked off the week with the physios claiming that he had stood independently for almost three minutes, which was an exciting first given the focus and effort in previous weeks.
Secondly, there were reports that James was seen in a manual wheelchair (another first) trying to negotiate his way from the gym to his room. However, we are unable to confirm whether he reached his final destination.

Finally great progress has been made with the important skill of ‘transferring’, i.e. wheelchair to bed, which is vital for James to gain some form of independence in the short term. The staff at Moorong have been fundamental in facilitating this progress. Following some friendly encouragement, one other attempted first was putting on a t-shirt, however, some further practise might be required with this one.

Maybe having a few drinks on the weekend made all the difference but Mum thinks it is all the hard work paying off!