And We're Home!

Before we left our hotel for the airport yesterday morning, I asked Savannah if she was going to behave on the plane.  She looked at me and laughed....uh oh.  Early indications seemed to point towards a not so fun flying experience for Jason and me: Sav REFUSED to use the restroom at the airport before boarding the flight (this trip is our first post-potty training trip...she was great on the way out with letting me know when she needed to use the restroom....in the interim, however, an unfortunate incident involving an automatic toilet flushing while she was still on it had soured her to the idea of public restrooms), she also made quite the scene at airport security (this involved me running around security trying to catch her and ultimately throwing her over my shoulder to get her out of there....), and was generally uncooperative with everything leading up to boarding time.  A miracle happened after boarding, though.  She sat in her seat through takeoff, happily munching on a bagel and watching a TV show about penguins (I didn't even have to bribe her to stay in her seat!); once the seatbelt sign came off, she got out of her seat, but remained in our row, coloring, "reading" her I Spy books, playing apps on the iPad, and taking the occasional (short) nap.  It was great.  It was, dare I say it, pleasant.  A word I never thought to associate with air travel with a toddler.  She stuck to her guns about the not going to the bathroom while on the plane...meaning she went close to 12 hours without going to the bathroom.  She told me at the outset that she would go potty when we got home...and that's what happened.  Stubborn girl.

Once we got off the plane, antics resumed....Sav didn't want to walk..she wanted to "swim" or crawl on the airport floors.  Yuck.  Oh well, she got a nice long bath when we got home and cleaned up just fine.

If you're wondering about the wheelchair part of flying, I'm happy to report that that's become fairly easy. Security can be a bit of a hassle, depending on the airport (SFO and Heathrow are actually pretty wonderful), so we give ourselves extra time for that.  Other than that, we give the people at the gate counter a heads-up that J will need an aisle chair, we board first and exit last.  The good part about this is that there is no waiting for checked luggage...by the time we get to baggage claim, everything has arrived.  I remember being so stressed about Jason's first post-injury flight about this time last year...in the span of one year, it's become no big deal.  Most people don't know what we will need in terms of help, but they never hesitate to ask what we need and assure us that we can call on them for whatever during the flight.  I think a lot of this varies by airlines, as we've heard some horror stories from other SCI-ers who have flown, but, so far, we've been lucky (other than having to assure the folks at the beginning of the flight and when booking our flight that, no really, he can't walk on to the plane...we really DO need the aisle chair...).

So, we're home now.  Up far too early today (hooray for jet lag and a toddler waking you up at 5am!).  Loads of laundry and grocery shopping to get to...but quite happy to be home.

Quick KKI wrap up:
What's New:

• Jason has hamstring reflexes..in both legs!  Woohoo!
• His PT could, at different points, feel ALL of his abs firing.  Also now has some firing in glutes...also new!
• Started a new med, called 4AP, that could possibly give him more function/movement back.  It increases the speed at which the nerves fire down the spinal cord, meaning more signals sometimes get through.  We're still in the early days of this and J doesn't go to a full dose til next week (it takes some getting use to...the major side effects are jitteriness and dizziness, both of which J has been experiencing...so we're slowly ramping it up).  We'll see how it works for him...for some SCI-ers, it has dramatic results (we're talking going from the chair to walking).

Moving Forward:

• Next visit will be the week of July 22.  He will only go for one week that time...it will primarily be a check-up and time to fine-tune what he's doing at home.  The PTs and doctors are really happy with his work at SCI-FIT and his progress.
• Standing frame arrives on Thursday!

Love you all,

Ashley