The Caldwell family

Update from the Caldwell family. Saturday 26th August 2023.

Hello good people! We’ve been trying to put together this update for weeks, sorry!

Many of you have mentioned you’ve been waiting for it. We’re approaching 4-months in Harriet’s SCI journey.

Oh, we can’t tell you how good it is for us to all be back home together again! It’s all those creature comforts; our beds, our fireplace, our shower, the fresh country air, our own coffee, our pets, and the familiar faces in our community!

It’s wonderful to catch up with family and friends and we hope to see a few more good folks as things sort themselves out in time.

All the caring conversations, check-in’s and general banter is a real feel-good for us!

We truly feel the support and enjoy sharing Harriet’s updates with you beautiful souls.

Day by day, we continue to find and settle in to our new normal, juggling a return to business, alongside Harriet’s very busy schedule of Physio, strength training through Exercise Physiology, Hydrotherapy sessions, and a gradual return to school which she had been pretty nervous and uneasy about, but it’s another box ticked now!

Aside from the obvious big emotions at times, Harriet’s in great spirits, always smiling, and working hard. Her progress continues to improve, however maybe slightly at a slower rate in recent weeks. All along, we have had to remind her how well she is doing and that the process to walking shall be a slow process.

As parents, we want the best for our kids and would do anything for them, but it’s a hard reality when you can’t just fix this one for her.

And then, at times, we have to listen to our own advice, reminding ourselves that it’s just one day at a time on this long road to recovery.

So it’s that rollercoaster ride we are on - You can get pretty down when you allow yourself to think that maybe this is as good as it gets, after no real obvious improvement for a few weeks and that maybe a positive attitude can only get you so far…. And then, that rollercoaster goes back up!

Harriet had a freak day a week or so ago, where for the first time she managed to ride the exercise bike without holding on, which proves that her core strength is activating!

Then after a week of trying, she stood up out of a chair by herself!! There was pure grit and determination all over her face, all while laughing at the same time! She was so proud of herself!

We have a couple of trips back to the Royal Children’s Hospital over the next couple of weeks for a follow up MRI, tests and a Neurology review, so fingers crossed the location of the stroke in her spinal cord will show less trauma now. Time will tell.

It’ll be great to catch up with our Physio team down there!

Sending love - Team Caldwell! X

Update from the Caldwell family. Saturday 8th July 2023;

Greetings! Well, we’ve just clocked over the 9-week mark in Harriet’s Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Journey here at the Royal Children’s Hospital.

Harriet continues to show improvement in her grueling battle to regain the ability to walk again!

She was given Botox injections in her left calf a bit over a week ago, which seems to be assisting her movement. It initially relaxed the muscle enough for her to be able to straighten her knee and push her heel down, and then ultimately allows all the muscles in her left leg to strengthen!

With her strength and determination, she has pushed herself to be able to now walk small distances on a walking frame, and gave crutches a little go in Physio this week. (Just enough to put a few tears in her old dads eyes!) She’s determined to practice and develop her ability, so she can move around home on them with confidence, instead of in her wheelchair at times.

Talking of home… We were all able to return home last weekend for a night, which was wonderful. It was good to test a few things out regarding access and general mobility around the house.

There’s been a real lot of boxes to tick before we can safely and confidently bring our girl home. Discharge has just yesterday been confirmed for 2-weeks time - bringing our stay here in Melbourne to 11-weeks!

Harriet is so (beyond) happy that she can return home to Bendigo and continue her Physio and Rehab! (However, we are all feeling already, that it will be bittersweet leaving her unbelievable Physio and OT ‘family’ here!) We’ll look at adding more schoolwork into her schedule then too.

Every day throughout Harriet’s stay, her Physio’s, OT and Allied Health staff have really encouraged her love of basketball, having her grab the ball at the end of most sessions, transfer into a sports wheelchair and take herself out to the court, where we all shoot hoops over and over.

After being convinced by the staff to accept an invitation to join a Para-Sport Wheelchair Basketball session at the High Performance Centre at the Essendon Hangar, Harriet (& Darci) spent yesterday afternoon learning some skills and playing a game.

We were pleasantly surprised when we were approached by a guy from the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) who wanted to have a chat with us about her remarkable ability to still consistently shoot hoops from a wheelchair and the skills she’s already developed. Whether it leads to something with development for Harriet one day or not, it was an amazing experience, that’s for sure!

As we count down the days left of hospital life, we want to loudly echo again, just how much your love, support, prayers and faith in our family have helped us through our time here and Harriet’s fight to walk again!

By the time we depart, it will be just short of 3-months… yet seriously feels like a lifetime!

Despite this, we’ve met a lot of other kids and their families here, and have heard what they’ve had to endure over not just months, but years…

And although we’ve felt that heartbreak too now, we’ll always remember this time fondly and with very thankful hearts.

Our most genuine huge thanks for being there for us! ❤️ Seeya soon! X

Hey folks, here’s a quick update, 5-weeks on in our new norm’ at RCH Melbourne.

Harriet is working hard every day to get her body stronger, and her legs functioning enough to stand and eventually walk again.

Our days are very busy, going between Physio, OT, strength exercises, hydro, gym and other specialized activities in an attempt to fast track a road to recovery…

She is doing very well with her core strength and is able to do some pedaling on both a FES bike and a recumbent bike once her legs are strapped in.

Her right leg is getting stronger every day and she has perfected her transfers in and out of a chair/bed.

Her left leg that was completely paralyzed, with no reflex at all for the first few weeks, has now gained toe & ankle movements and some leg control.

The Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) bike has started to locate a flicker in her hamstring muscle which we can only hope may lead to more signs of muscle movement and regeneration over time.

With a custom AFO fitted to her left foot/calf, and a specialized support brace to stop her knee from collapsing, she is now able to pull herself up to stand with and take small, slow, supported steps between parallel bars.

We (Harriet in particular) can’t wait until the day she can improve enough to move back home and continue her rehabilitation back in Bendigo.

She is strong, brave and resilient, and so very determined to walk again, so digs deep every day in her journey!

As Harriet’s parents, we are beyond proud of the way she gets on with every day, pushing herself, gritting her teeth, strains, shakes, sweats, breathes, sheds a tear out of pure frustration and then pushes all over again…. Inspirational to say the absolute least!

The prize at the end of this journey is bigger than any medal or trophy… it’s the chance to be a regular kid again.

We are blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives - words don’t do any justice to the support you have given us- our truest heartfelt thanks to every one of you.

There’s hundreds of people to hug and shake hands with… Lots of love! ❤️

We are fundraising for Harriet Caldwell and her family.

Harriet is a happy and active 13-year-old girl who loves playing Basketball and Netball.

Outside of attending school at Victory Christian College, Bendigo, she enjoys spending time with her friends & family, being with her pets and is always keen to take on creative art projects.

Three weeks ago on May 4th, Harriet was stretching at home, preparing to go to basketball training, felt a pop in her lower back and immediately felt her legs go numb and couldn’t stand up.

From Bendigo ER, she was transported to the Royal Children’s Hospital, where after a full week of traumatising and invasive testing on the Neuro ward, it was discovered she had suffered a Spinal Cord Infarct (Stroke).

Spinal Cord Strokes in children are extremely rare, with only 3 cases seen at the Royal Children’s Hospital over the last 20 years.

Harriet was informed of the heartbreaking news from the team of Neuro specialists that she may never walk again and had to mentally prepare herself for a lifetime confined to a wheelchair.

Words cannot describe the heartbreak, tears and utter devastation of the next week as any parent could only imagine.

Some good news came from the brilliant Physio team who have been able to find some positives from the strengthening of her right leg and her left leg has seen her able to wiggle her toe and on occasions, ankle, which gives us all hope and positivity that little wins may continue over time.

She has began her rehabilitation journey and remains in the Royal Children’s Hospital for her long road to recovery.

Due to the busy daily Rehab & OT schedule, Tim and Rhiann are required to be present and very hands-on with Harriet in the Rehab ward and are unable to run their mobile coffee business to the capacity that they normally would.

Along with everyday living away from home costs, travel, a mortgage, ongoing business expenses and accumulating bills, there will also be a need for additional equipment to support the family in caring for Harriet.

Tim and Rhi have always shown their generosity to their community in times of need and this is now our opportunity to support them.

All the messages of love, support and prayers are truly appreciated. X