Saturday 14th August - 6 weeks post SDR surgery and 3 weeks post hamstring and perc.heel cord lengthening.

It's fantastic to be home. Franny is GREAT and gaining strength and confidence every day. Life revolves around physio and stretching which is really hard for both us but Franny remains motivated and I am very proud of her. We've had a little setback, an infection in one of her hamstring wounds but we're on a course of anti-biotics and it looks worse than it is. We are trying to incorporate as much physical therapy in our daily routine as possible and focusing on assisted walking with nice big strides. The treadmill arrived this week. Franny has named it 'The Mighty Tread' and is loving using it (as are all her cousins). I've made her a special playlist and she is now able to walk (and sing!) for six minutes holding on to the handrails.

We've managed some fun stuff too. Franny has had a makeover (check out the new doo!) and we particularly enjoyed our trip to Legoland with Yasmin (11) and her Mum who are leaving for St Louis today. Franny wasted no time in proudly showing Yasmin her scars and was generally very positive and encouraging "it's worth all the pain and the physio just to feel so stretchy" she said. My heart goes out to Yasmin and Karen as they start their own SDR journey but I know that the long hard slog is really worth it and our girls are two little fighters and they will get there. Here's some footage from this week

Thursday 26th August

Francesca is continuing to make steady progress. Life revolves around physio and stretching. We begin each morning with a a full programme of stretching followed by formal physio then something fun and vigorous in the afternoon, basically as much as Franny will tolerate. Franny is bonding well with her therapists, there are tears at every session but we always finish on a positive and Franny is working extremely hard. There are so many muscle groups to work on I find myself continually thinking of ways to sneek them in to our daily routine, Franny is a smart cookie though so it's proving difficult,.

The new trike arrived on Saturday and Franny spent a really happy hour in the park pedalling away and ringing her new bell. It was a lovely sunny afternoon and I felt a sense of relief. We were back in the park with Nanny and Bruno (the dog) and enjoying normal stuff again. It was progress and felt great.

We've started using the balance games on the wii fit. Franny has to transfer her weight to move along a course. It's quite hard but great fun and doesn't really feel like physio.

The treadmill challenge also continues. Franny is managing 8 minutes sessions now holding on to the handlebars at a slight incline and very slow speed. Franny had her first swim post-op this week and really enjoyed it. She can walk unaided in the water and we concentrated on walking backwards and sidewards and lots of high kicking. Franny enjoyed sitting between a long noodle and 'pedalling' her feet like a bike to move around the pool. We begin formal aqua therapy in a couple of weeks. Franny loves the water and I know that Neil her coach will bring another pair of eyes and a new dimension to her therapy.

Here is some footage of the past week.