Chile - October 2012 - Day 4-6

Yes, that is really Abby standing on her own on top of those pipes. Ramon is holding the pipes, not Abby!! Amazing! I did not think this one was possible, but once again Abby and Ramon continue to amaze me!!! It has been a great few days of therapy. Abby has been pushed to new levels with many new and challenging exercises that push her brain to find it's new balance. She has done a lot of standing on balls, boards and pipes. Walking up pipes and boards, and in and out of boxes. We are working to train her brain to push forward not back and not to overcompensate on the right side. Abby is doing a great job, always with a smile on her face:) These are the hard working limits of CME in action. Re-wiring the brain at it's finest!! Abby and I also had a great adventure on Wednesday at Kidszania! This is an underground city built just for kids that mimicks the real life balance of earning and spending money. Children get to try out tons of occupations like a doctor, dentist, fire fighter, house painter, vet, car mechanic and so on to earn enough money for their spending. They can spend their Kidzo's on things such as manicures, food and tattoos!! She loved it!! See the pic of Abby as a doctor!! We also had another adventure today when a 5.5 magnitude earthquake rocked Santiago. Abby and I were on the 32nd floor of our building and felt that rumbling and shaking for about 10 seconds. That was an experience! No damage or injuries:) Tomorrow is our last day with 2 sessions and then the flight home. It has been another amazing trip that we are truly blessed to have experienced. Abby continues to progress each trip and we continue to be amazed by her persistent spirit! Thank-you just never seems like enough for making these trips possible, but thank-you for everything! Gracias:)

Chile - Day 1-3 - October 2012

We are back in Chile!!! This is now our fourth trip to Santiago with 2 more to go this year! Our flight was uneventful and actually seems to 'fly' by pretty quickly now:) We seem to get through one tv show before we both doze off and wake to the usual, but yummy, fruit and custard pancakes. An Air Canada special!!! We moved quickly through customs and the airport and stepped out into a rainy Santiago day. We have never experienced cold or rain in all the times we have been here so it was definitely an adjustment!! We checked into our hotel and then ran through the rain to the grocery store to stock up on some drinks and a quick dinner before turning in early. Sunday was also cool and very overcast so we decided to try the city bus tour of Santiago. Abby and I spent 6 hours touring the city and stopping in a few hot spots. What was going to be a nice cafe lunch turned into a McHappy Meal when we realized that our English was not getting us very far! The pointing and hand gestures at McDonald's seemed to work for us:) Today was our first day of therapy. Most of the morning session was spent with Ramon and Abby finding their grove with each other and picking up where we left off last March. She did a lot of standing with boxes and walking on the ramp. Independent standing and steps too. We were lucky enough to see Ramon for a double session this afternoon when another client cancelled. Abby did a great job with narrow steps on boxes and bars. She also walked along a tilting panel and the took independent steps off the remaining boxes at the end. A great first day as Abby journey continues to make progress, one step, box, panel and ramp at a time:)