accompanied dad

Today, I drove to my parent's place to return the car, had lunch and accompanied my dad for his physio at "Society for the Physically Disabled" (SPD). My mum pays for the transport to bring him there and usually it is either my mum or the maid who goes with dad. So, this time round, I sat in the van with dad to SPD.

Mum drove her car to SPD and waited for us to arrive. My mum came along as after the physio session, I would be going out with mum to settle my vocational license and dad would follow the van home alone. My mum has ordered a van for my dad so that she can take him out in future. So, this vocational license would allow me to drive mini buses. Cool cos I love to drive...

When we arrived, the physiotherapist was not around yet...but we were kept busy as my mum introduced me to all the nurses there..

Of course, I did not leave my camera at home.. This place is like a gym..very neat.

The first exercise, my dad was made to stand up with the help of 4 people. His record so far was 7 mins standing and today, with all our support, he managed to stand for about 8 mins plus.

I must say it wasnt easy to get my dad up. The physiotherapist had to pull him up while the lady helpers, including my mum had to push his buttocks and knees...

After that, my dad tries to use his arms by pushing on the bar. At one point, the helpers and physiotherapist were not using much strength as compared to previous times..and we were all so happy. My dad said he felt that his arms were aching from using it. That is a very good sign as it shows that my dad has gained more strength to his arms.

You can see from the second picture below that my dad is not leaning unto the physiotherapist body already as compared to the first picture..

After standing for a few times, he did some shoulder exercise next by lifting a stick one by one onto a ladder like thingy. Since he has no feelings on his fingers, his hands had to be wrapped up with bandage to allow him to 'hold' the stick.

It took my dad a very long while to get unto the next level. It was not easy..but whenever I see my dad performing the task, I could see his determination in his eyes.

He also played 'basketball' during physio..

The last exercise he did was just exercising his arms by rotating forward. It is like cycling but done with his hands. This machine shows the strength and speed you put in..so my dad kept keeping his speed at 20% until when the physiotherapist said last minute to go..I could see my dad increasing strength and it went up to 50%... Seeing my dad giving his all, really thought me a lot...

I remembered when I was in the van with him to SPD, I asked him if he feels excited every time to go for physio and he said yes as it is another opportunity to strengthen his muscles. He seems to be enjoying whatever he does and I am just glad he continues to have this hope as he fixes his eyes on Jesus.