Day 99 - Friday 5th August

Today went from bad to excellent.

I didn't arrive until about 10.45am as I was picking up a hot chicken and fresh rolls from Sainsburys. By the time we had chatted it was 11.15am. This left us 45 minutes to have a bath before lunch arrived. It normally takes an hour and she still wanted to go for it.

We did the bath thing, but it was disjointed, rushed and every so often in my haste to dump kp in the bath, I would move a limb like it was a joint of beef with the resultant pain. If she was double-jointed, I could have got the bath done in 45 minutes no problem, but no I chose a wife whose joints bend only in one direction. But that's a 12 year old mistake which I won't rake over now ;-)

At the end of the bath, kp was ratty with me and I was ratty with her. We were ready at 12pm (on the dot) but both had faces of stone. Normally, kp's room being next to the kitchen, she gets her food first, but today they had started at the other end of the ward (working back to the kitchen) so we had 20 minutes to lighten up our moods. Which we did !

Our last bit of rattiness was how long before the trolley arrived I should butter the bread for the hot chicken sandwiches. Once the chips arrived, we both enjoyed our lunch and the morning trials were behind us. Things got great from there in.

kp had a sleep between the bath and physio and I did some Su Doku puzzles left by Linda Mac.

Physio was awesome ! Marie had come early to see the standing and the 3 physios, Karen, Marie and I were in stitches within seconds of getting in the physio room. The first stage was getting Karen sitting on the edge of the bench and loosening up her leg muscles. The lead physio got kp to stretch one of her legs up in front of her. As she did this, she leant back and had the sensation that she was going to fall on her back. The physios reassured her that this wouldn't happen, but kp still grabbed out at the physio on her left.

Physio :- Hey, watch my [plastic] pinny ?

kp started laughing at this. Really belly laughing. Her laughter spread round the room and we were all laughing. It took about 5 minutes to calm down. Not at all funny in the blog, but hey.

After these warm-up exercises, it was time for "The Stand".

kp had told me earlier in the week that she was concerned the stand wouldn't be any easier than last week.

She needn't have been concerned.

She went from sitting to standing much quicker (probably about 3-4 seconds, instead of 6-7). All the physios remarked about how much less they had to do this time. She stood for a minute (not 20 seconds) and was over the moon about the fact it was easier than the previous week. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't easy by a long shot, but last week was such a struggle.

After a few minutes of rest after the first stand, she went on to do 2 more stands (1 minute and 30 seconds respectively). The physios were VERY pleased at this and kp was chuffed. After the second stand, she was starting to feel sick, so the 3rd stand was a real bonus.

I haven't got any video footage :-( as I was the fourth "physio" taking care of kp's left arm (from the front) with no time to get the camera out.

Marie really appreciated being there for the stand. It is hard to put into words how wonderful it is to see one's loved one standing after 100 days (tomorrow) in bed. Marie had a side-on view for the stands and she remarked that the physio behind Karen didn't do anything for the final stand ! All I did was take care of her left arm, and the 2 physios (1 for each leg) probably only help kp lock her knees into place.

So, I don't think it will take too long to get kp to stand freely herself. She is amazing !

To finish the day (for me), we had some more laughs with one of the nurses. She did some impressions for us and we were all howling. I was in pain I was laughing that much and it is so lovely to see kp grab her belly and laugh till it hurts.