Latest on Liv
13 August 2021
Apologies for the delay in updating Liv's progress. We would like to start by saying how thankful we are for all the donations and support we have received from everyone. It is very much appreciated.
Liv has been in the Burwood Hospital spinal unit for nearly a month now. The initial focus of her rehab has been focused around her breathing and building her diaphragm muscles and lung capacity up. During her first week she started weaning completely off the ventilator for 10 minutes at a time, 3 times per day. She smashed this out with no problems. Her medical team decided since she was doing so well that on her second week they moved her up to 1 hour off the vent, 3 times per day and kept increasing it by an hour every 2 days.
On the second week they were able to deflate her cuff on her tracyostomy which allowed her to say her first words in nearly 5 weeks. Since then they have fitted a speaking valve so she is able to talk whilst she is off the ventilator. Liv has had a chance to look through the Give A Little page and she is blown away but the amount of people who have been so kind to donate and send their support. To say she was blown away is an understatement.
Today (Friday 13th August) Liv has reached her first major milestone. Liv is off the ventilator! She no longer requires any support for her breathing.
In regards to her paralysis this remains largely unchanged and she still remains in a tetraplegic state. She has been lying down in a bed for near on two months now. Her left arm has improved with more strength and now has a reasonable grip with this hand. She has been able to move her right arm onto her stomach. It requires a lot of energy and isn't always possible. She has been having a lot of pain with her right shoulder; The doctors believe this could be due to the muscles coming away from the joint or nerve pain, once Liv is up to it they will perform a scan to find out what is going on. She has been able to move her left leg towards her right and lift it up slightly as well as wriggle her toes, she can't feel this but can move it slightly. Her right leg is largely unchanged, she is unable to move it, there is only a small area on her calf where she has some feeling of sensation.
The next stage for Liv is to get her sitting up and hopefully into a wheel chair. Since she has been lying down for so long she immediately feels sick when she sits up past 20 degrees. She has also lost a substantial amount of muscle condition. This means that most movements are very hard to do without support and are very tiring for her. These are going to be the next biggest hurdles for her to overcome.
We would just like to say again how thankful we are to everyone who has donated and the support they have given. We are so proud of everything Liv has achieved and everything she is going to achieve. With her determination and attitude anything is possible for her.
Chris & Ramari
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Thanks for the update x.
So great to hear that Liv is breathing in her own❤️❤️
Keep fighting Liv xx. Thinking of you all.
