It's been a while since I updated this blog.  Since the last blog, I took Kathie to London and she flew to Chicago by herself.  I have attached a few of the pictures from London.  I was mostly on a work trip, but I took Kathie and my Mom with me.  Kathie and my Mom went shopping and site seeing while I visited money managers.  All of us had a great time.  We saw 3 plays: Wicked, Billy Elliot, and Hairspray.  All we exceptionally good.  We had fish & chips, rode the Eye and went down Downy Street.  We went to a pub.  Kathie took all kinds of transporation:  the black taxi, the tube and the bus.  We had a terrific time.

Kathie flew on Southwest Airlines by herself and I picked her up at Midway Airport in Chicago.  We took the train to downtown and then I pushed her a couple of blocks to the Sofitel Downtown Chicago.  I had to go to Minneapolis the next day to meet a money manager.  I got a call mid-day.  I was apprehensive because I wondered if Kathie was O.K.  I took the call even though I was in the middle of a business meeting.

Me:  "Kathie are you O.K.?

Kathie: "Yes, I must have pushed on my purse and accidently dialed you, sorry."

Me:  Where are you?

Kathie:  "Oh, I'm at Macy's!"

Me:  "How did you get there?"

Kathie: "I just wheeled out of the hotel and went down a couple of blocks.  I got stuck at one curve, but a nice man helped me over it.  Once I got in the Mall, it was easy."

After the business part of my trip ended, we stayed at Kathie's aunt Jo's apartment.  Her aunt is a remarkable woman.  She really spoiled both of us for two days.  She took us out to dinner and made us breakfast the whole time we were there.  Not bad for 90 years old!

I just got back from a business trip in Laredo yesterday.  Kathie was going to meet me on Thursday so that we could both see Norbert Dickman honored by Jr. Achievement of Laredo, but as bad luck would have it, Kathie could not go because of the Swine Flu.  Not that there was a bid threat of Swine Flu in Laredo, but Kathie's doctor didn't want her to take any chances.  Who could blame her?

While Kathie was in Odessa she had a breakthrough.  One of the problems was that she was having a difficult time getting into her new prothesis from her wheelchair.  This limitation meant she always needed help from someone else to get them on.  Also, the prosthesis would come off when she would sit down.  This meant that she could not go out to eat in them nor drive without someone there to help her.  The breakthrough was that she learned how to use the remote control to lock her legs allowing her to slip into them from her wheelchair.  She's still very new at this, but as she practices more, she will get better at it. 

Another breakthrough was I was able to configure our passenger front seat so that it layed back, allowing Kathie to make an easy transfer in the car to the driver's seat.  She can now wheel out to the van.  She can get into the back seat from the slinding door.  She can lift the wheelchair into the car and put it aside.  Then she can transfer to the front passenger seat and then to the diriver's seat.   From there, she uses the hand controls to drive.  She has been driving to church for the last two weeks and today, was the first day she went shopping  by herself.  She went to Music City Mall and to Albertsons.  When she came home, the whole back of the van was full of groceries.  Also the front of the van was full of clothes she bought from J.C. Penney's.  It was a new milestone.  She is getting more independent all the time.

Tuesday night, the prosthetist worked long and hard to improve Kathie's left leg fit.  He was successful and Kathie has had two good days in a row of physical theropy.  She has another lesson tomorrow and then we leave for San Antonio and then come back to Midland/Odessa on Sunday.  Her spirits are up and there is still a lot of work to do.