home on the horizon

With the possibility that Freya will be discharged from the RCH in 3-4 weeks, all of her rehabilitation sessions will be directed to getting her ready to come home and function as independently as possible on her return.  We will be having some of her O.T. sessions here at home, so Freya can practice doing things such as making her own breakfast and making her bed by herself in own environment.  (I've been too embarrassed to tell Jane, the O.T. that these were things Freya actually didn't do by herself before the surgery!).

Very important will also be teaching Freya to safely navigate our winding staircase to the upstairs bedrooms.  She is beginning to re-learn the skill of walking up and down stairs in physiotherapy, but it will still be a couple of months before her left ankle is strong and she will be declared safe and steady enough to tackle the staircase at home.

Over the next few weeks, Freya will also be having a range of cognitive tests to establish if there are any particular areas that she will need additional assistance with next year at school.  We are expecting her to be challenged by maths concepts and visual spatial tasks, as these are functions that usually reside in the right brain, and often their transfer to the left brain can take some time.  Last Friday, Miss Sear, Margot Sheridan and the acting principal of Fairfield Primary School,  Anne Morton came to the hospital to meet with Anthony, myselfI and the Rehab. Unit's education co-ordinator to discuss Freya's transition back to school.  Thank you so much Rachael, Anne and Margot for your wonderful concern, support and enthusiasm for Freya's return to school - we are so grateful for all your efforts and ideas.

Freya has been missing school very much, and we really hope she will be well enough to join in some of the fun end of year activities, before returning for the serious stuff in 2011.