My Inspiration

It's a pretty humbling thing when your 11 year old inspires you and makes you stand in awe of her.  I swear sometimes I think my love for her could never grow any deeper and then I watch her do things and my heart feels like it could just burst. 

 

Alex has been in intensive therapy for the past week and a half.  Three SOLID hours of physical therapy.  She works and works and works.  It really hit me this week just how hard she has to work to do the simplest thing, like keep her head up.  I really think that the therapy place should have field trips and when typical kids think they have it so "rough", or life isn't "fair" because they couldn't get the latest technology craze or coolest clothes or whatever else is making their life "so tough" that they walk through this building and see what some kids have to go through.  And HOW they do it.  These kids work so damn hard to do the very things we take for granted every single day, and 90% of the time, even though it's hard and they are struggling, they are doing it with a smile on their face.

 

Alex starts her day riding a bike....   

 

 

She then does some cage exercises with the weights and pulleys and then does some independent standing...

 

Trying to teach her how to clap :)

On to some tall kneeling...

Then it's time to hit the treadmill....

All with a smile on her face...

Here is a quick video of her on the treadmill trying to rock out her stepping....

 

 

After walking on the treadmill she goes into an actual walker and walks a few laps - her legs this past week have been shaking like crazy when it's time to do the walking - her muscles are so worn out.

 

Yesterday at the end of her session she looked EXHAUSTED.  Shannon told her she had to do 10 sit ups and she literally looked at the both of us and just busted out crying.  I know she was telling us she had given all she could and she didn't have it in her to do anymore.  Shannon and I gave her some words of encouragement and got her to stop crying.....

 

 

...and then she rocked the sit ups out like the super star that she is.

 

 

Last night I put her in my jetted tub and let her soak her muscles with the jets on - of course she loved that.  This morning when I went in her room she couldn't even stretch out her muscles were so sore - and her legs were still shaking like crazy.  But guess where she is as I write this?  Right back at therapy, again, being the super star that she is and making my heart just a little bit bigger.