The Wheel Chair

So first the ice chips, now the chair! Here we see Chalupa getting situated into the wheel chair. This is HUGE. It's a painful process to shift all that weight, stand, shift, then sit. Now we let the muscles relax and adjust for 30 minutes, then it's back into the bed for a while.

Later this afternoon, she'll return to the chair for 45 minutes, then again for 60 minutes. Each time it stretches muscles and builds strength. Once she sat up straight she had to cough up phlem. This too is very difficult because of the lack of re-developed strength and lung power. But this too, is all part of rehab for her. It is tough work, and she makes us all look whimpy.

We had a surprise visit from "sister" Molly. This was the first time Chalupa has smiled since surgery. I confess, it brought tears to my eyes to see he smile. Then she smiled again when Ike called in his soccer score. I told her that he was worthless talking on the phone, but he wanted to speak with her. She asked him 2 or 3 times when his next games were, and she just smiled, shook her head, because it was clear... she agreed with me, he was worthless on the phone, and not getting the answers she wanted.

Special thanks to Joe, Delma, Emmy (and family), Ms. Keech (teacher), Randy Housler and the crew from BASIC for the flowers and cards. Oh, and the Lipman's for the wonderful muffins from JAVA House.