I hope everyone had a great Christmas & New Year as promised for those who can't keep updated on facebook, here are Rhiannon's achievments to date: Rhiannon has regained movement in both her arms, her hands are still not there yet, but I'm sure with lots of O.T this will happen! We have been through a very frustrating time before Xmas as we couldn't get Carers to get Rhiannon home for the 4 days over Christmas, so I spent one week in Royal Talbot in the self contained units and was educated on all her personal care etc.. It was great to be able to be with her for that week to cook and be like our little family that we are! Yes we had her home for 4 days at Christmas and it was great. Her stepdad made temporary ramps for the house and we managed to get her in her own room and bed! This was hard work lifting her and sliding her and I was exhausted, but had a little smile on my face as the Doctors told me it wouldn't be possible. We then had her home again for New Year (not the New Years Rhiannon would have liked!) as all her girlfriends had gone off on holidays without Rhiannon and this was emotional. They did come and spend some time with her before going and this was nice. New Years Eve was spent at home and we took Rhiannon off some of her med's just so she could enjoy a little cocktail to celebrate and say goodbye to the worst year of our life and to welcome 2010 as this will be our YEAR! He are the highs and lows: Rhiannon's boyfriends split up her - couldn't handle it!, Rhiannon's ex-boyfriend of 4 years came back as a friend and has been supporting her (lovely boy). The Fundraiser on the 4/12/09 was a great sucess with us raising around $20k and then my husbands company donated $10K on Christmas Eve, this is what we needed for the fees at "Project Walk" for further treatment. We got a proposed release date from Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre 7th April 2010. Rhiannon has been working so hard in Rehab, her left leg is moving so much and she has regained slight movement in her right leg - I fought with the physio's as they kept saying there was nothing in her right leg, so when I got her home, I kept exercising it and massage as my Balinese friends taught me and I could feel quads it her right leg and little flickers and they didn't believe me. I was right, they can now feel them!!!! Just before Xmas they put strapped her to a Tilt Bed to stand her up - her blood pressure went very low and she got dizzy, this happened a few times, but she then mastered this! Rhiannon has been using a Functional Electrical Stimulation Bike for her legs (We had to ask for her to be put on it - they thought it was no use!) I honestly believe this bike has stimulated her muscles and nerves and this has helped to achieve the movement in her right leg! A Current Affair came out and filmed Rhiannon and I for a story they were airing that was supposed to air before Xmas - well this never happened, I received a text message from the Producer saying it will go to air soon and she will let me know the night before - (Well I don't have too much faith in the media now) We spent nearly a whole day with them and Rhiannon's time is very precious in Rehab so it was a big disappointment to us all, however if it does go to air, I will let you know. Rhiannon has a new physiotherapist now that is so great, he is not negative and he is fantastic, yesterday he stood Rhiannon up for the first time without any harness and I couldn't stop crying, she has been working like crazy building her upper body and she even managed to balance with the physio's assistance on both her legs, you can only imagine how elated I was! I had forgotten how tall she was and she has lost so much weight and when I saw her standing, It all felt real and I know she will fight and take that step we are all waiting for! I had the first really good night sleep last night as with all the bad vibes from the medical staff she has amazed them all and will continue to do so!
We are holding another fundraising event to raise funds for acommodation and house modifications in March, this is going to be a "Trivia Night" and I hope people from Melbourne on this forum can attend, I have managed to secure a venue, now we are just organising the letter to be sent out for donations/sponsorships, I will keep you informed of the date. It would be nice to meet you guys in person and it would be nice for Rhiannon to meet the people that have supported her. We are also working with Spinal Cord Injury of Australia to do a Major Fund Raising Event to bring the treatment they offer to Victoria, I will also keep you informed of this. The awareness needs to get out there and we all need to band together to get the best possible outcome for our friends & families. Thank you all once again for all your support. Until next time - Happy Travels, be safe and DO NOT TRAVEL WITHOUT INSURANCE!!!!xxxx