9.11 Ceremony and PT

September has been a great month for Kyle and his recovery.  The month has been filled with hard work, lots of company and visual signs of improvement.  He mostly gets around with crutches now, and as he says, "Isn't it great to see me vertical?"  Yes it is.  All of Kyle's doctors, his physical therapist and family and friends have been extremely impressed with his fast pace of healing.  He has come so far in just three months.  He is very determined and focused on taking care of his leg and making a full recovery. 

Kyle returned to Bethesda this month to meet with a pain management doctor and his plastic surgeon, Dr. Basile.  All reports were good!  The wound on the inside of his leg is really closing up and new skin is growing.  He will return to Bethesda in four weeks to see Dr. Basile again and also meet with his orthopedic surgeon to see how his bones are healing. 

Kyle attended a 9/11 Ceremony recognizing those who perished in the terrorist attacks and our fallen heroes on that day.  Brian Barbieri sent in some photos for the blog so I have included those here.

 Kyle shakes hands with Brian Barbieri during the 9/11 Ceremony held at the Lower Burrell American Legion.  It was the terrorist attacks on September 11th that motivated Kyle to pursue a military pilot career and defend our country's freedom.  

Kyle talks with U.S. Congressman Mark Critz, of Pennsylvania, during the 9/11 Ceremony.  Critz had gone to Bethesda to visit with Kyle when he was an inpatient at the Naval Medical Center.  

Kyle walks down to the gym at physical therapy using his crutches.  He used to have to use his wheel chair to get there because it's a fairly long walk.  But now he is much stronger and can walk down with his crutches.  (Kyle's mom, Elsie, was able to take him to this physical therapy session and she sent in all of these photos - these are from the week of September 20th)

Kyle uses the leg press to strengthen his quads.  

Kyle walks on the stair master working his muscles and gaining strength in his legs.  

He rotates his ankle with weights in all four directions so it works his ankle and helps the mobility in his foot.  

Kyle stretches his calf and right leg.  

Kyle cleans out the wound on the inside of his right leg.  He does this once a day now after his morning shower and then covers it with a bandage for 24 hours.  

The open wound on the inside of his right leg has drastically decreased in size and is looking very good.  Dr. Basile even exclaimed, "Wow!", when he first saw it.  

A view of his entire leg with the spatial frame. 

The inside of Kyle's leg with new skin and a very small wound.  It's so exciting to see how much it is healing!  He has been using an ointment that helps remove dead skin tissue and promote skin growth. 

 

The outside of Kyle's leg, with the other skin graft, that seems to get forgotten about sometimes because the inside has been the "problem area".  The outside graft, which is rather large, is looking really good.  Dr. Basile said it was coming along well and he was very pleased with it.