7/17 - Standing tall... almost as tall as me...

So, I was talking today to Jennifer Griffin about scheduling her next visit to come talk to Jamie... you remember her, right? We've been in contact with her since our days at Seton hospital in Austin. She's been a source of inspiration for Jamie and our family because, although she didn't contract the meningococcal bacteria, she became severely ill over two years ago. Her illness required the amputation of her legs below the knees and the removal of all of her fingers. She's overcome so much and done it all with grace and a smile. Very nice.

Anyway... so, I'm talking to her outside of 24-hour fitness, where mom is signing herself up for a gym membership (and getting Roni and I 24 day free passes), and she says, "... and you're doing a great job keeping up on the blog." I had actually thought she'd say something to the contrary, like "Where have you been?" I told her, "I'd type more, but there aren't really a lot of significant events to type about... I guess I could type about the lack of activity, and I probably should, but..."

So, be careful what you ask for, because there just happens to be some cool things to show you from today.

First of all, when we got back from 24-hour fitness to pick Jamie up from her PT session, she had something to show us... do you want to see?



Pretty cool huh? Yeah, I took that on my iPhone... She also stood for over 5 minutes, which is also a record for her. This progress is the result of a few things falling into place. First, JP, the man behind her prosthetics, tweaked her prosthetics so they fit her a bit better. She was having discomfort due to another problem that popped up... Apparently, when Jamie fell off of her bike in October, she dinged up her knee pretty bad. This caused her patella to list to the side a bit, which, in turn, caused her some discomfort when she stood on her prosthetics. So, Jamie and her therapists (and soon, you can add Nick and mom to the list of people) are helping Jamie massage her knee so that her patella realigns itself properly.

Jamie felt pretty great about her effort today. She felt even better about what was waiting for her at home... her new wheelchair! Finally, Willie the wheelchair guy (the Schanbaums are good with coming up with names for people... Dr. Bummer, JP, Dr. Foot Doctor, etc.) came by the house to deliver our specially customized wheelchair. Every aspect of the chair is exactly as Jamie and mom wanted. This includes, of course, the sparkly wheels that shine when they're in motion. I'll capture some video of this and send it along. There's still a few things that need to be added to the chair (e.g., the knobby wheels that are designed to allow Jamie to stop her chair easier, since, you know, she doesn't have fingers...), but it looks like its good to go for the next big piece of news, which is that...

Tomorrow, we see Ghostland Observatory perform!!! Lots of pictures of that are sure to follow. Have a great weekend, everyone!