Last week of term but Thomas still manages :
morning stretches with daddy,
one hour in his mollii suit,
breakfast.
1 hour of physio at Footsteps where he reached a new record of 117 steps( with two catches but still amazing).
A whole day at school.
And then out to Abingdon, in -4 degrees, he manages an hour of horse riding!

Next week we start a 3 week session at Footsteps…when is it Easter?

A belated update of the festive fundraising to Help Thomas 2 Dance.

Christmas probably seems a long time ago now, but we wanted to thank everyone who had taken part in an event over the festive period. 2018 already feels amazing, with the progress Thomas is making in physio.

There were so many people doing things over Christmas, so I’ll take a deep breath…

Family in Oxford and back home in Shropshire organised events. The swimming pool where the boys have their lessons had a collection tin on their front desk. Cheney School held a raffle, as did Grace Proko (11 years old) at her big family Christmas get-together. And we had a stand at the local Christmas Market. We even had friends of cousin Andy – people we’d never met, who heard about Thomas through Andy’s own 24-hour ultra-marathon last year – make reindeer decorations to sell on behalf of Thomas.
And to top it off, Thomas’s Northern Irish auntie Alison jumped into the North Sea on Christmas Day!

After all that, we’ve been trying to embrace a bit of normality at the start to 2018. However we do still have some events coming up – a jumble sale; raffle at our local Sunday Sessions music gig; the boys’ former nursery key worker Dan is doing another epic storytelling event; and yet more friends & family in Shropshire who have organised a music night.
So thank you to everyone for staying with us on this journey. Hopefully you have been able to see some of our recent updates on Thomas’s progress, which is just amazing and again made possible thanks to you.

So if any of you are thinking of doing something for a good cause later this year, please keep Thomas in mind.

72 consecutive steps today and WANTING, even ASKING to walk to the kitchen. I don’t feel I can # yet, not until he starts to take steps out of his physio sessions but we are getting closer and I’m feeling sooo excited for him.

Not 30…not even 40…BUT…50 independent steps in physio today! 18 weeks Post SDR and Thomas is beginning to discover what his body can do!

One of my new year resolutions has been to trust the team we have around us. This trust has never been in question regarding the physiotherapists we have working with Thomas but the consultants…quite a different story. However in December, when arriving fully prepared for one particular meeting here in Oxford, I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t need to refer to my list of questions or requests as by the end of the meeting everything had been covered and had come from them including a referral to the 3D Gait Lab – hence the New Years resolution.

So, at 8am on January 2nd, Thomas spent 2.5 hrs at Oxford Gait Lab and has a very cool certificate to prove it!

What are the Key Areas that the 3D Gait Analysis will show?
* Stride length
* Weak muscles
* Tight/Dominant muscles
* Weaker or more dominant sides
* Pronation or supination
* Hip rotation/knee rotation
* Strike force
* Posture evaluation
* Video Feedback
* Skeletal positioning feedback

Hopefully, we shall receive a report in a few weeks time that will inform us on what key areas we need to address and a ‘plan’ as to how best we can support his continued progress.

Trust.

Back in the pool. Back in the saddle. Back to 5 hrs of 1:1 physio each week. Back to school. And all with a huge beaming smile!

The boys turned 5 today. Thankfully their school had an INSET day so we got to enjoy it to the full including an hour of fun physio with Sonia!

Being 5 is going to be fun!

After 4, nearly 5, jam packed years of hospital appts, new diagnoses, surgeries, challenges and fundraising this Christmas and New Year has been wonderfully calm. We have been able to enjoy each other and share time with family and friends.

It feels equally wonderful to be starting a new year without having something ‘big’ to prepare for.

Who knows what this year will bring, we shall see, but for now I’m going to savour and carry with me, the calmness of our recent time together for as long as possible.

2018 IS going to be awesome and I can’t wait to make some memories with you!

With so much love and gratitude xxx

My sister Alison braved the cold waters of the North Sea on Christmas Day to fund-raise for Thomas. She dived in with all the other mad people at the Santa Splash event, despite (understatement of the year) not being a great fan of the cold!! Well done Alison, and thank you to everyone that’s sponsored her! At the time of writing, she’s passed £300, with some more people promising to sponsor her only after seeing evidence that she actually did it!

An early Christmas gift … 13 weeks post-op …back to his pre-op strength and…21 independent steps in physio today ( he had taken up to 11 pre-op). Last week he did 19 and then 8 at school. Happy Christmas to you all. Thank you for helping us give Thomas this chance. 2018 is going to be awesome!