Chile - Day 5 & 6

It has been another great 2 days in Chile!!! Abby has been working really hard with Ramon and trying new stuff each session.

Today Abby was walking on organza, taking steps on a large disc and walking up a ladder of sorts. She also took steps all by herself on the floor, stepping over 3 obstacles (balance boards). We were soo excited to see that she was able to do it herself!! It seems like each session Abby is able to accomplish something new. It is a very long journey but we are getting there one step at a time:) We have started to work more in balance with standing positions. After all, we need to stand before we can walk!

We went swimming again today and Abby was jumping into the pool from the ledge. It is a great pool and was very warm today with the bright sunshine!!

2 more session tomorrow and then our flight leaves for Toronto at 9:45pm. An overnight flight and then we are home for X-mas Eve! It has been a great trip but we are anxious to be home for Christmas:)

Thank-you to all our friends and family who made this trip (and all the others) possible!!

Until the next time....Thank-you. Gracias:)

ps. Hi Jill, Brittany, Pam & my YMCA friends! I miss you all and can't wait to see you in January! I love Jack's santa face that Jill painted!

pps. Hi to all my Grade 1 friends in Mrs. Beaudry's class!! I wish that you could have come along in my suitcase!!! Thanks for reading my posts. See you in 2012!!

Chile - Day 4

Today was another beautiful day in Chile!! The sun was shining brightly, it was summertime hot and Abby was awesome during both therapy sessions!

We began the morning with therapy at 8:45am. Steps on 10 pipes, free standing on organza on ramp, steps with loose grip in and out of boxes 10 and attempting to free stand on discs with balls 11. A good morning.

We then returned to our room for breakfast and then off to the pool for a few hours of sun and swim. This has become our daily routine!

More therapy at 3:45. This was an awesome session!! Huge accomplishments especially when standing on large discs (as seen in the picture). Ramon even let his son Alex do a repetition with Abby. He seems to have his father's touch!! Abby loved working with Ramon, Alex & Ladianna (from Brazil) - she always loves an audience!!! Her confidence today was obvious and I think she was very pleased with a job very well done!!

More of the same tomorrow and Thursday:)

Hi again to my friends in Mrs. Beaudry's class. It is 30 degrees here!! No snow, but we are singing 'Must be Santa' and 'My 2 front teeth' to keep in the X-mas spirit!! Love, Abby

Chile - Day 3

Well, we have arrived safe and sound back in Santiago, Chile. The flight was smooth (except for the bumping around over Peru) and we arrived at the Marriott around 2:30 on Saturday afternoon. We checked into our room, which came complete with a bedroom, living room and full kitchen (very handy when we get sick of eating out - which is soon!) and then headed down to enjoy the afternoon of sunshine in the pool.
Sunday was a day of relaxation with some groceries at Tostos and then afternoon swimming at the hotel. Off to the Parque Arcuana for window shopping and then dinner.

Today was our first day of therapy at 9:45 and 3:45. Abby was very excited to see Ramon as he was to see her. We also met Ramon's son Alex and a CME Level II student from Brazil who speaks only Portuguese! He was very happy with the progress that she has made since Montreal in August and we picked up right where we left off.

She took independent steps and stood all by herself on a disc and on a box 10. Her steps seemed much more controlled and they worked on 2 steps then stopping - certainly a challenge!! Abby also did steps up a ramp with light support at ankles and large steps down 4 boxes 15. She was taller than the rest of us!!! She was happy and a willingly participant through both sessions although she was a little tired and chose to sit a few times when she could have stood forever!! I better start taking some singing and dancing lessons as that is what seems to keep her distracted!

Back to therapy tomorrow at 8:45 and 3:45 with swimming and relaxing in between:)

It is very hot here - 30 degrees and pure shine shine!! Great weather for relaxing in the pool and of course an impromptu aqua fit class that I joined in with Abby on my back!!

More tomorrow!

ps. Abby says hi to all her Grade One friends in Mrs. Beaudry's class at ECES!! I miss you guys:) Hi to Ms. Fraser and Mrs. Bailey too!!

Montreal - Day 4

Another great day in Montreal!!! We had a good morning session although Abby is starting to get tired and feel the effects of a long week.

We did walking with schmata, steps in and off boxes and even this huge ramp creation about 3 panels long!! Abby did everything that she was asked to and quite well:) She even asks Ramon what they are doing next instead of asking when we are going home like last year.

This afternoon they once again tried to stand FREE on a panel. Once again, Abby amazed us and time after time stood on her own. The best one was for a count of 92!!! Wow!! She is really gaining balance and confidence. Ramon also told us that he really feels that she will walk free one day! Awesome!! He is thrilled with her progress:)

Tomorrow is our last day. 2 sessions with lunch and a little walk around Montreal in between. We hit the road for the long ride home after the last session and hopefully A&J will sleep for most of it!

It has been a great week, really more than we could have ever imagined. She has met soo many milestones and accomplished amazing feats. Thank-you Ramon for being as brillant and passionate as you are, thank-you Abby for believing that you CAN accomplish anything, and thank-you to our friends and family who make this all possible!

Next stop, Chile in the winter:)

Montreal - Day 3

The week is half over but it feels like we have accomplished a year's worth of confidence and milestones!!!

Tuesday and Wednesday were filled with great sessions!! We seem to be doing alot more balancing and walking with schmata than the boxes, but those little wooden creations still manage to work their way in there!!

Yesterday we ended the afternoon session with Abby walking for 245 steps with Ramon only 'guiding' her by schmata wrapped on each wrist. He then held the schmata, not Abby, and walked along behind her. We went so far we had to walk out of the room, down the hall and to the end of the Yaldei clinic!! It was awesome!!!

Today we had a good morning session and then we stopped for a 10:30 ice cream treat and a ride on the city bus (a first for Abby & Jack!) This afternoon we continued with Ramon and Abby amazed us yet again!!

He had Abby standing on a square board that was resting on 4 balls to create instability. She stood on top and while we thought he was just going to hold her ankles, he let go and held the board, not Abby! He even moved the board back and forth to create a bigger challenge. She stood, ON HER OWN, for a count of 43!!!! We were in shock!!! It was unbelievable!!! Then, she went on to do it again and again for counts of 20 to 40. The old Abby would have stood for maybe 3 seconds once and then refused to do it again. This is the new Abby!!

It has been a great 3 days and we still have 2 more to go!! 2 sessions tomorrow and a trip to the BioDome in between.

Again, thank-you for supporting this amazing opportunity!! Every penny is worth it!

Montreal - Day 1

We are back!!! The gang of us arrived on Sunday afternoon after a long drive to Montreal from Alliston. We settled into the hotel, had a swim and a easy dinner in the hotel apartment. We have a full kitchen, bedroom and living space. Small, but nice, especially since we are right downtown!! The hotel is right across the street from McGill University, on Sherbrooke, one street over from St. Catherine, the main street. We are 5 minutes from Yaldei, the clinic where Ramon is working out of.

Today was our first day of therapy. Our sessions are 9:30 and 4:30 each day. Today was fabulous!!!! It was great to see Ramon again and he certainly got us moving right away!!!

For the first exercise, he had me sit about 5 feet away from Abby and just said "Go to Mom". She walked, on her on, for 5 steps!!! It was amazing!!! A wobbly 5 steps, but 5 beautiful steps!!! We were overjoyed! What a way to start the week:) Now this doesn't mean that Abby is currently walking the streets of Montreal, but this is certainly a HUGE confidence boost and a glimpse at the future!!

We then kept going with standing at a wall with flat hands, a key milestone that we will keep striving for at home. Then steps at the wall with flat hands. Moved on to some boxes with support only from the schmata. Not a single tear!! Abby trusts Ramon completely!!!

Spent the middle of the day in the rooftop pool, relaxing and a little walk around the town to check out the surroundings.

The afternoon session was just a great! He is very impressed with Abby progress and feels that she is even stronger since Chile and he was able to do walking on pipes, which he could not do in Chile. We did more boxes, walking with schmata, walking up the ramp, and standing from 4 point squat. Again, no tears!!! Jack filled the time by creating his own exercise using ALL of Ramon's boxes!!!

It was a great day! Can't wait till tomorrow:) It is a great feeling to look forward to therapy!! He is brilliant and the relationship that Ramon and Abby have developed is one based on trust and confidence.

Stay tuned for more Amazing Abby:)

Walking Tall Fundraiser

Join us for a fabulous party for a fabulous cause!!

Friday, June 10th
7:00pm
Professors Lake Recreation Center
Brampton

$20 tickets at the door.

Donations can also be made at
http://www.sellyourevents.com/eventpage.aspx?name=2ndAnnualWalkingTallforAbigaleMcCauley

Our last day!

Well tomorrow is our last day in Chile. We fly out tomorrow night at 9:25pm and fly all night to Toronto. The way here was smooth flying so hopefully the way back should be the same.

We have our final 2 therapy sessions tomorrow at 8 and 3:45 and then off to the airport.

Today's morning session was great - excellent work and a positive attitude:)
The afternoon was a bit more work and there was a lot of tears, brought back some tough memories from Montreal. Thanks goodness that the majority of the sessions have been tear-free and Abby's attitude has changed:) She still peformed all the exercises this afteroon and the coolest one was when Ramon had a schmata wrapped around each wrist and then she walked around the room, essentially with little support. She took over 100 steps before they finally stopped. I think she could have gone all day:)

Spent the afternoon in the pool and then to the ultra fancy McDonald's for supper as we have cleared the kitchen of all food except for tomorrow's breakfast:)

You realize very quickly that the only word you really need in another language is THANK-YOU.
Gracias Ramon for all that you do for children with special needs and thank-you for seeing the potenial in Abby.
Gracias Chile for being such a wonderfully beautiful country to spend 2 weeks in as a family.
Thank-you to Abby for pushing yourself over these past 2 weeks to achieve the ultimate goal.
Thank-you to our amazing friends and family who made this all possible and who continue to support us in every way.

Muchos Gracias! Adios Chile!

Chile - Day 10

Happy Tuesday!!!

Things have been pretty quiet around here since our big adventure on Saturday:)

On Sunday we stayed around the apartment as our goal was to relax. We did go out to the big outdoor mall and had a nice lunch on the patio. The kids each got a little toy from Paris, the big department store to keep them busy for the last week here.

On Monday we had therapy in the morning and again at 3:45. The morning session had lots of tears and I think this large block of therapy is catching up to Abby. That said, the afternoon session was much better and there were only a few tears. It was just Abby and I in the afternoon as Jack & Mike went to pick up my Dad from his day adventure in Bella Vista. She continues to do really neat stuff that challenges her mobility and balance. It will be an amazing day when it all comes together and she is able to be independent. For now we continue to put our faith into CME and remain confident that one day it will all be worth it. Journeys are tough as there is no express path to the end:)

Today we had therapy in the morning at 8 and she did a great job. A few on and off tears but nothing that dominated the session. At one point she was standing about 3 feet off the ground on a tower of boxes to challenge her balance. After the morning session we did our usual breakfast routine at the apartment and then since it was a cloudy day we headed to Bella Vista, a cute little part of downtown Santiago. The interior has local shopowners with their handmade goods and patio restaurants to enjoy. We shopped around and had lunch at an Irish Pub...how ironic:)

Just waiting for our afternoon session. The internet in the apartment in down and so I am stealing from the Marriott:)

Hopefully tomororow the sun will be back and we can enjoy a swim between therapy sessions:)

3 days and 7 sessions to go!!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year from Chile!!! Here is a summary of the past few days:)

On Thursday we had therapy at 8 and then 11:30. Abby was great! She performed every exercsie and only shed a few brief tears with the really scary ones ie. the ones that really challenege her balance and force her to be free. The video shows her walking with just a band of schmata wrapped at her thigh. Ramon is simply providing balance but is not actually holding on to Abby. It was very cool!!

Because our 2 sessions were early in the day it allowed us to have a little adventure. After the second session, we all boarded the double decker bus and headed off for a tour of the city. The open top bus was great on the sunny afternoon. It took us all around the city and we could get off at any stop and then jump back on as many times as we wanted. Our big stop was the central fish market in downtown Santiago. It is a landmark location! It is a traditional slinging fish market with Augusto's in the middle. We had a lunch in the market which consisted of a HUGE King Crab that the 3 of us split!! It was amazing. Soooo yummy!!! After lunch Abby and Jack found a llama outside and hopped on for a quick pic...of course:)

Friday was only one session because of New Years Eve - Ramon only worked a half day, which was a blessing in disguise because Abby was really tired this day. I think the week of hard work has caught up to her so it was good to be done in the am and then have the weekend to rest. We hung out at the apartment and then spent the afternoon in the Marriott pool. Quiet New Years but we did get a good view of the fireworks from our balcony. Even Jack woke up to ring in the New Year!!

Today was New Years Day and we headed off for our big adventure to Vina del Mar, a little town on the coast. It was a beautiful hour and a half drive through the mountains and into the valleys littered with vineyards....and the odd stray dog wandering across the highway! We arrived in the busy little town to find the beach busier than we would have expected - I guess the beach is a cheaper alternative for the drunken partiers:) We found our spot and played on the beach and put our feet in the Pacific. Too cold to go all the way in and the waves were pretty rough:) After some time on the beach it was up to the boardwalk to shop the little huts full of trinkets and jewelery. Great deals!!! I was in heaven!! One man even ran after us down the beach because we had paid too much....such wonderful, genuine and honest people here!! Lunch at a great spot just off the main road and then back for a little more sand and surf. It has been a long day!!!

Tomorrow is just some R&R at the apartment and then back at the therapy on Monday for our final week. It has been an excellent week and we are already looking forward to coming back to Chile:)

Stay tuned.....