Powering Up

A lot has happened since the last post. Our "moving without moving" project has come quite a long way, as every closet, drawer, and shelf have been emptied and sorted through, while every piece of furniture we own has been moved to make way for the painters and carpeters. In the midst of this we had a slight complication, when a minor cut on Ray's finger became infected with MRSA and his hand swelled up like a softball. Part of the effort to keep him out of the hospital required him to constantly elevate that hand. This prevented him from helping much with the house projects, but, even worse, made him the victim of 12-year-old humor.

You know the kind: slightly funny, mostly annoying, relentless. "Dad, do you have a question?" "Excuse me sir, can I help with something?" Poor Dad just wanted to bring his hand down, if for no other reason than to cover the twins' mouths! They couldn't just say it once, or even three times. Oh no, they were certain it would finally make us laugh at repetition number fifty!

Ray did manage to avoid the hospital so that we could meet Chase in Santa Clara on Thursday for his college orientation. I have not been on that campus since I graduated. It was nice then, it is beautiful now! I wanted to ask whether they accept moms for a second go 'round. It was a blessed time as we learned where, how, and with whom Chase will be spending the next four years growing into a godly man.

We arrived home on Saturday to find our anxiously awaiting princess looking beautiful. Genevieve said she was sad while we were away, but the day she knew we were coming home she jumped at every sound, even from a dead sleep, looking for us.

Today, I learned that some angels wear green and drive big vans. One is named Derrick. This particular angel, a wheelchair technician, has been conspiring with Abbie's therapists for well over a year about how to get her into a power wheel chair. Today, we were blessed with the results of their behind-the-scenes planning. I had expected a wheelchair like she has now with a motor under it, not knowing that we would be speed warping into High Tech Land.

The power chair looks NOTHING like what she has now. It sits on a base that reminds me of the scooter chairs you see seniors zipping around in, although Abbie's chair has two front wheels. We seated her in it, and she fit very well. She was then able to use the toggle switch to control the chair: elevating her seat way up in the air -- to a position that will allow us to seat her without bending over, what a blessing for our backs! She could then move it all the way back down. She also learned how to recline the chair (it went wwwaaayyyyy back) and then incline it again. It took her a little while, and a change of the type of switch, for her to really get the hang of it, but she definitely conquered the recline move by the end of therapy today! Eventually, she will be able to use the switch to drive the chair around -- although I did ask about remote control brakes!

We will be working on the switch access at OT on Wednesday, and then perhaps we can bring the chair home. I am stunned by how remarkable a piece of equipment it is, and so overwhelmed that all of this planning went on without my even knowing it. Much of a special needs mom's mental energy goes to figuring out what her child needs and how to get it. To have this process go on without me, and result in such an amazing chair....I cannot put into words what this means to me. More importantly, I cannot imagine what having some control is going to mean to Miss Abbie.

I got a huge grin from her when I mentioned, "Abbie, you are going to be able to drive before your brothers are!!!" So, consider that fair warning...if you visit Kahala Mall or the surrounding neighborhood, be on the look out for a girl in pigtails speeding by in black blur. Once she gets going, I'm not sure there will be any slowing her down....in many, many ways!