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.....