More Exciting News

Well, where do I start? It seems like every time I sit down to do my blog I have so much new and exciting news I just don't know where to begin. Since my last blog on Sunday I believe I have had the most exciting five days of my whole entire life. With every new day it seems my stem cells awaken a new part of my body and allow me to reach one step closer to my ultimate goal of being able to walk again. It is amazing at how quickly the stem cells are taking affect and I believe that it is safe to say that everyone, even the doctors, are impressed with the progress. Every improvement I mentioned in my last blog has continued and all have grown stronger. I have also added a few new tricks to my repertoire as well. I am now able to bring my thumb and index finger together to touch on both of my hands. It is a slow process and the muscles in the hands exhaust quickly but it is there. The whole week showed steady progress during my physical therapy sessions. My physio sessions have also been moved to twice daily due to the completion of my standing calipers. One session for table work and another for working on standing. Dipen, my physical therapist, is very competent and pushes me to work hard as well. Friday came and with it the most exciting development in my recovery yet. The morning started with a small conference in my room. Dr. Sudeep, Dr. Ashish, Dr. Shroff and Dr. Rohit were present. Dr. Sudeep and Dr. Rohit are the two doctors we are in contact with daily. Dr. Sudeep is usually our go to guy. He is young, always smiling and very witty. The meaning of the conference was simple. We have been reporting all of my progress to Doctors Sudeep and Rohit and in turn they have been reporting it to Docotrs Ashish and Shroff. We had a small discussion to kind of confirm all the progress that has been mentioned. Afterwards I headed down to physical therapy to start my workout. I hadn't been on the table five minutes and there were the doctors ready to see for themselves. On Dr. Shroff's command I moved both sets of toes. I was able to move the fingers on my hand. Upon seeing the strength I have regained in my hips she immediately asked for my leg calipers to be put to do some standing. Once in place at the parallel bars I was told to shift weight to one side and try to use my hips to move my leg forward. While my balance was being assisted I am proud to say I took my first two steps. One step with each leg. Everyone was amazed. As I looked up at my father I could tell that it was a very emotional moment for him to see his son on his feet once again. Like I said the doctors couldn't be happier with my progress and for now we are just going to keep with what we are doing. No new procedures are scheduled for now but I will keep everybody updated. I have more to tell but fingers are getting weak. Talk to everyone real soon. I appreciate all the comments. Lucas

P.S. Fred and dad are doing great. I will discuss the three of us in the next blog a little more.