Day +217

Posted on: 01/11/2014

Happy Halloween! We have had a good half term week, which has been a busy rotation of tutoring, therapy and play dates. Ava has tried very hard in her occupational therapy sessions, boosted by the fact that Angelina has been allowed to join her, which has led to trickier obstacle courses and more risk taking. We are at a crucial stage in Ava's rehabilitation, where we must keep challenging her motor skills in order to stimulate new brain responses. This week Ava has been much less hesitant, which is really terrific. Her renewed enthusiasm may have been due to the building excitement of Halloween and we managed to throw a great impromptu party when we realised a few good friends were back in town. The other big pleasure has been a weekend in the country, where Ava went swimming for the first time this year! She has not been allowed to swim since January, when her catheter for chemotherapy was fitted. Even though this was removed at the end of June when we left Milan, since then her lowered immune system post-treatment has not been ready for the risk of infection posed by a public pool. However, we recently learned that her white blood count is stronger, so we decided to try swimming, which she was ecstatic about. Despite the fact that she has lost coordination and can no longer swim independently, she was thrilled to be back in the water and is now determined to regain her skills with regular lessons again at our local gym. We are lucky that Ava is getting so much enjoyment out of her therapy. People are forever commenting on how punishing it must be for her, but in fact I seem to be the only person exhausted by our routine!