Though slightly later than we had expected (they got in touch when we were just back from Bristol ),Thomas has been nominated Superstar of the week by Tree of Hope, the charity we are registered with. Nice.

Our visit to Brainwave was everything I had hoped for and more. The boys had a fabulous time and we learnt loads! Feeling informed. Feeling more confident in how best we can support Thomas on his journey. Feeling happy. Now we have just got to follow the programme they designed for us…

Courtney, the young woman in this video is my hero. It was a video she courageously shared back in March, of her own journey of living with spasticity that got me to where I needed to be to go ahead with the surgery for Thomas. I will be forever grateful to her for giving me that strength to know that it was the right thing to do. I genuinely felt a part of me was dying inside with the weight of making such a decision.

She has just had the same surgery as Thomas, SDR, but in the States. She is 19 and raised the money she needed herself.

One day I hope we shall have the good fortune to meet her in person so I can thank her for what she gave me, what she has ultimately given Thomas. This is why she is my hero.

10 weeks Post SDR and we walked in to school after having a an hour of physio USING OUR STICKS! I don’t think we are quite back to our pre-op strength yet but we are close and he is trying so hard. We are going to keep working hard for the next four weeks and then all have a well deserved break over Christmas and New Year – I can’t wait!!!

A warm thank you to Dave and Sophie for letting us hold the raffle again this year at their fabulous Sunday Sessions at Florence Park Community Centre. We had a lovely afternoon listening to the incredible pianist Andy Quin and eating cake. A huge thank you also to Jolly Post Boys for their generous gift of a Family Sunday Lunch voucher to help draw the crowds to the raffle. We raised £83.00 towards Thomas’ post -op therapy! Enjoy your prizes and hope to see you in February for the next session.

I was going to keep some of these images for next week but I can’t as my daily mantra is about trying to get back to living in the moment. Not only was Thomas standing independently in physio today he was blowing AND catching bubbles!!! So…remember that event you attended, that ticket you bought, that fundraiser you organised? This is what you have helped make happen! As one of his physiotherapists said ‘It’s starting to happen for him’. Poetry. Happy Friday everyone. Happy, Happy Friday! Xxx

It’s become all about standing! He looks so much taller and it is so exciting to see that his muscles now get to work through the whole range of movement.

He seems to have also settled right back in to school. I just hope we can keep him healthy for the rest of term!

A lovely morning connecting with our wonderful East Oxford community while also selling a few Christmas cards and decorations at the Winter Market. We would like to say a special thank you to Jackie Dean and Stewart Auckland. After buying a donated play station and box of games from our jumble sale in March, Jackie has been taking the time to sell the games on eBay and donated the money she has raised towards Thomas’ post-op therapy. It was so lovely sharing the news of Thomas’ progress and being able to thank people for all their love and support.