Twinkle toes

So Jessie has not been able to wiggle her toes or really move her feet since her surgery back in November. Due to the inflammation of the surgery and the pressure on her spine from the tumor, she just can't tell her feet and toes to do what she wants to do.



I guess you kind of forget how amazing and complicated the human body really is. So many of us take for granted the fact that to make our toes move, we just move them. We don't have to sit there, stare at our bare feet and concentrate just to have the slights movement or twitch come from our feet. But that is exactly what Jessie has been doing for the past 3 1/2 months since the surgery.



Our mom came up to help with transporting Jessie around town for her daily radiation appointments. But Mom has also become a top notch at-home physical therapist! Every day (morning and at night) she gets Jessie set up in her room for about 30 minutes of therapy. Jessie's therapy appointments have been postponed until she has finished her radiation since her insurance right now only will cover 20 visits a calendar year (we can appeal later to get more PT). But anyways, Mom has her therapy diagrams taped to Jessie's bedroom wall and then she follows the diagrams and makes sure Jessie does the required amount of reps.



For the past 3 weeks, it has been religious that Mom and Jessie are doing the physical therapy and would you believe, Wednesday night Jessie was able to wiggle the toes on her right foot! She hasn't been able to do that since the surgery! Little things like that shows her progress and it just makes us so happy and excited. The theraphy, along with her daily steroids, must be helping to alleviate some of the pressure in her spinal cord. Plus I believe that the radiation will get rid of the tumor so maybe this is just the first signs of her healing!



So now Jessie has her twinkle toes back on the right foot. Hopefully her left foot will follow. Sometimes I watch Jessie laying in bed and it makes me think of that scene in "Kill Bill" when Uma Thurman's character has been in a coma for a while and wakes up and can't walk. She sits there and focuses on her toes and says, "Move big toe" and wills her body to wake and to work again. Hmmm.....maybe Jessie needs a spiffy yellow motorcycle jumpsuit for her birthday to complete the look :) So here is to hoping the next two weeks with Mom will bring more progress and many more milestones (and miracles) for Jessie!