First, I want to let folks know that we will be home on Saturday, October 5th for the day, and would love folks to come and visit between Noon and 4pm.  325 Fifth Ave, 35E – let me know if you are coming by responding here

Anyway, today was good, but I was a bit down, which David sensed immediately.  I did stay later than usual tonight, and we watched a few old episodes of “Law & Order: SVU”.  Tomorrow, I am staying even later to watch the debate with David.

It is amazing that David doesn’t believe how well he is doing no matter who tells him.  Julie Halston stopped by today, and we had a fabulous visit.  We laughed and carried on, and at one moment when the nurse came to give David his med’s, Julie thought that they came to ask us to keep it down!  Good times.  Good night, and think good thoughts for our hero and President – Barack Obama!

The word for the day was “Chicken”.  I prefer bacon.

Another good day.  I arrived at the end of speech therapy, and just in time for lunch.  I had on my calendar that today was one of the days when the lunch was not so great, so I picked up some VietNamese sandwiches at the corner, which were yummy.  Certainly better than the dried up chicken that was served up.  PT was delayed again today, but we got to do some walking and standing with Minet and during the PT we had a visit from Stephane who had a box of Macaron in hand, which I used as incentive for a few more steps!  It worked!  Had a nice update from Stephane on goings on at UNIS.  We went back to the room and were soon joined by Betsy Landis-Tipton who was in town for a wedding.  A very nice visit from this UNIS grad, and talked about living on the west coast.  She has been in LA.

These are the certified and licensed clinical therapists with real ability and preferred by patients. viagra for sale The supporting star casts are Patricia Clarkson, buying that viagra super Stanley Tucci, etc. The greater part order viagra from canada of individuals in the world. It is available in the form of CDG discs or download to your computer by easy steps. cialis online pill We then went outside for a bit and got some fresh air, but it was a little chilly, so came in pretty quickly.  Then dinner, and off to bed for David, and I hit the road.  I succumbed and took the subway home, but I did walk up to 106th St today, so I don’t feel like a complete slacker!  David insisted that I post this picture he took of me today, reclining on his bed.  I couldn’t not post it, but it is pretty awful!

One month from today is David’s estimated homecoming day!  A little late for Homecoming, but I’ll take it.  When I arrived today, Gene, Liz, Electa and Quinn were there and had some ice cream for David to eat before lunch, and I had chicken for him that I made last night.  After they left, we decided to take a little adventure and went for a walk to Central Park.  Unfortunately, I decided to take him to the Great Hill, and while the trip up the hill winded me, coming down with the wheelchair was almost  worse!

It is times like this that I wish I could pick up a phone and call David!  When we got back to the room, we caught a UNIS visitor just before she left.  I wish I could call David, because, I can’t for the life of me remember her name!  She is the librarian, and I do know her name, and will put it in here tomorrow when it comes to me, but. . . it’s late.  I left after this visit, and went to Home Goods and got a blanket for David’s bed.  Now that it is getting cooler, he needs an better blanket than the ones the Jewish Home provides.  A little later, Phyllis stopped by for a short visit, which was very nice too.  Then dinner came, and off to bed, and I walked home.

Vivian!  Sorry Vivian and thanks for coming by!

It was a good day, but when I arrived, David was a little hesitant about the dinner out. He was worried about access to a bathroom. I told him that we would try to go before we left, and that he should be able to make it through without an accident. We did some work with the letters and then some leg work, which was good. We also had a visit from Pat Doyle and Geoff Van Kirk. Geoff shared a very nice slideshow with photos of teachers, staff and students at UNIS. Thanks for sharing it, it was great to see.

We sat in the garden for a little while, and then got ready for our dinner out. I took a quick reconnaissance run to make sure that the restaurant would be accessible, and after looking, I came back and David and I decided that we would go to a little Italian restaurant on Amsterdam. As we were getting ready to leave, we ran into Lynn and Richard Kutner, who walked us to the restaurant, and helped us get settled. Nice to see you and I hope you had a good night, and glad we ran into you! We were joined for a little while by Joy Rizzo who was on her way to a reunion in the Village. A very nice visit.

We were back at the Jewish home within two hours, and David went to bed. He told me that I should not post any of the pictures from the restaurant (still vain), but that I could post this little video of him practicing his dinner conversation. He is still very funny and extremely charming!
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The 1:30 meeting went very well. We met with the Social Working and David’s three therapists. They are hoping to keep David working at the Jewish Home until October 30th, which sound right to me and David. More important than this – we are going out for dinner tomorrow night. David is able to take off site trips as long as he is back by midnight, so tomorrow we are going out to dinner, a week from tonight we are going to a dinner party around the corner from the home and I am making arrangements for him to come home during the day next Saturday. All great stuff, and I think it will make David much happier to begin doing more normal things.

After the meeting, we had PT where David walked without the brace, and his right knee is getting stronger all the time. Yvette also said he has more feeling in his right arm. Progress all around. Siobhan also tried to convince David that he was speaking better today than he was on Monday, but he doesn’t seem to believe any of us.

Tonight, I had a great dinner with Gene and Liz (thanks guys!), and came home to measure the height of the bed and the tub to get ready for the end of October. More progress, and more to come! I will post some pictures tomorrow of our dinner out.

Another quiet day on 106th Street.  The only visitor was my friend Anthony, who talked about his own recovery from the effects of having a tumor removed six months ago.  He is still going to Physical Therapy once a week and said that because of his balance and other issues, it is sometimes very hard for him to come up with words at times.  I think that each time David hears about someone else’s struggles, it helps put his own challenges in a context.

Tomorrow we have the meeting with the social worker at 1:30pm, and I will update the blog as soon as I can after that.  In the afternoon we were visited by a woman representing an at home care company who announced that she was visiting to get some information because David was being released soon.  Now, soon is relative, but I was a little shocked and surprised that this would be how the topic would be brought up, and she didn’t have any details or further information.  I guess we will find out tomorrow.  I hope they don’t tell me at 1:30pm that David would be home by 3pm!  Maybe 5pm would be better!!

Today was the two month anniversary of the stroke, and it was a very quiet day.  I got to 106th Street later than usual because I needed to get my hair cut, and finally found a moment to do it.  David approved of the cut.  When I got to the room, he was working with Siobhan and she said it went really well.  David just rolled his eyes.  He doesn’t believe it when we tell him how well he is doing.  He wants more.  I don’t blame him.

We sat and talked for a while, then off to Physical Therapy.  Minet is off today, so we had a substitute, who was good.  David did some walking and standing, and worked on stamina for standing.

We didn’t have any visitors and didn’t go outside because the weather was threatening, but worked on the letters, and pictures.  Then, I walked home.  Down Central Park West.  There is some event happening on the 29th, or so the signs say.  Anyway, and early night and on to tomorrow.

Another quiet day at the Jewish Home. The word for the day was “bacon”. When presented with the letter “R”, David’s response was “Bacon?” And on many other requests, it was the same, “bacon”. A few days ago, it was “baseball”. Maybe it is the “B”?

Our meeting with the social working is at 1:30pm on Friday, so I will have lots of news (I hope) to give on Friday night. When I got to David this morning, he was working with Yvette on OT, and Chrissie McHenry was with him. She brought my favorite book, “Go, Dog, Go”, for Theo and an adorable hippo (the same one that her son Daniel chewed on) that we are to keep with us for when he can visit, or we can bring it to him on our first visit. Thanks Chrissie!

Chrissie left to go to Queens for work, and David worked with Siobhan on speech, and it went well. and then we waited for Minet and Physical Therapy, which was supposed to happen earlier than usual, but didn’t start until later than it normally did. After PT, we went out to the garden, and did some work on the letters, etc. We then had a bit of an argument about which comedy scene best offered a view of what David would sound like when the tried to talk – the episode of Ellen when she was interpreting a deaf production of “Romeo and Juliet” or Steve Carrel in “Bruce Almighty” when he is doing the newscast, and is having gibberish fed to him. Both are very funny and we watched, but need some help deciding. I will put the links below and encourage you to watch both and give me your input!

Ellen:

“Bruce Almighty”

We had a good time watching them again and laughing, and I remember when we watched both of these the first time and laughed almost to tears.

I hitched a ride with Liza this morning, and we got up to 106th Street after fight some mid-town traffic due to the UN opening and all the rigamarole associated with it!  The city has been quite the zoo for the past few days.  The other night, when I was walking home (I walked again tonight, which may become my M.O. for this uptown stay) down Madison Avenue (it is far less crowded than Fifth Ave), I saw three men in dark suits approaching who shooed me to the side of the side walk, along with other folks, around a single couple who were window shopping.  I didn’t look too close at who they were, but it was one of those classic New York moments.  Really?  I can’t walk down the sidewalk because someone who is more important would like to do some window shopping? Really?

Anyway, I digress.  We got uptown, and had a nice visit with David and then off to Occupational Therapy.  Yvette did some work with the sonogram to get the muscles in his elbow stimulated, which was fine, and then did some weight bearing on his right elbow.  We then bade Liza farewell.  Then Speech Therapy with Siobhan, and eating for an audience with Melinda.  During the speech session, I headed out and was hoping to get some pad thai, but their kitchen didn’t open until noon, so got some sandwiches from a VietNamese place that was quite good.

After eating, we found out that PT would be a half hour late, so we went to the garden.  It was a little cooler today, so we had to go into the sunlight.  We stayed out for about 3/4 hour, and then headed up to meet Minet for PT.  Did some walking and some work on the strengthening his right knee and leg extension.  He did well, but still needs to be able to extend his right let and not let it buckle.

Then it was back to the room.  David insisted I try to grab a few ZZZZ’s in his bed, which I did for about 20 minutes.  he also insisted I tell you all about the noises that we hear in the hall.  Like the lady down the hall who was screaming as we were going to the garden, who was bellowing “Help!!! Tell someone that I am supposed to be on the fourth floor!!!!” over and over and over again.   We are on the fourth floor, but I didn’t want to burst her bubble.  And the lady next door, who is so belligerent with the aides, that I begin to understand why some of them are surly and rude.  She keeps screaming at the top of her lungs “MISS!!! … MISS!!! MISS!!! … MISS!!! MISS!!! … MISS!!! MISS!!! … MISS!!! MISS!!! … MISS!!! MISS!!! … MISS!!! Is this my pill for my nerves???!!!”  My reply is, “where is the pill for my nerves??!!”  I think that people as they get older don’t really change, they just become more intensely who they have always been, and it is sad, but nobody, except the neighbor’s  irritating daughter comes to visit her.  There are all these very interesting people in the “HOME”, and many of them are very pleasant and inspiring, but the few bad lemons (as I was once described by my typing teacher in HS) seem to make the most profound impression.  There is also the old man who has his leg amputated, who always has a smile, and has the most delightful disposition and his wife is there almost every day, and she also has a very positive attitude.

This brings me to David, who has kept his sense of humor, love of life, and ability to make me feel loved and appreciated throughout the most difficult situations.  It keeps me going every day, and makes every moment worthwhile.

Finally, we had a visit from Pamela Kahn which was great, even in spite of David’s last minute railing at the fact that Pam and Dave didn’t make it to the wedding.  I have tried to explain to him that if he was given the obstacles to getting to someone’s out of town wedding, he would have done the same thing, but he didn’t agree.  Sorry Pam and David, he made me promise I would put this in the blog!  Also, we got a delivery of four folding chairs for the room, but don’t know who sent them.  Please, whoever sent these well needed gifts, let me know so I can thank you!  They will make visits on 106th Street much easier, but also come in handy when David is at home and having visitors!

Ok, Ok, for those of you who caught it, I made a mistake yesterday and jumped the gun.  Today is our anniversary, but as many of you didn’t read my post until this morning – no harm, no foul, right?

Today was a great day.  I arrived at about 11 and David went to Occupational Therapy right away.  He did a lot of core work on balancing and reaching and putting some weight on his right arm.  All good stuff!  We were done just in time to get ready for our FaceTime call with Alex, Claire and Theo.  It was great to see the baby and to chat with Alex and Claire.  After the call, we had lunch and then went to the garden.  It was a beautiful day, and looks like the rest of the week will be an ideal fall in NYC!

When we went back upstairs we were joined by Liza Himmelman from Washington, and she stayed through the day, which was terrific.  As always, she told lots of stories of her life in DC.  We were also joined by Chris Fairchild, Jackie Jenkins and Elke (Science Teacher from UNIS).  Gene, Liz and Quinn visited and brought some terrific croissants.  We didn’t have any physical therapy, which was not great, but David did get a much wanted and appreciated shower, and was in a great frame of mind afterwards.  We then had some dinner, and substituted the sushi that Jackie had brought earlier for the dried out fish that was delivered!  I left after getting David into bed, and walked home.   Walking through Central Park at sunset and twilight is a magical experience, and I would suggest it to everyone!

Well, tomorrow is Monday and it is back to the old grind of all the therapies and arranging things.  Hopefully we will have a meeting with the social worker, therapists and doctors early in the week, and I will post the results!

Well, I just came back from Dinner with Gene and Liz, and after I showed this to them, they said, this was really all I needed to post for the evening. Nothing short of miraculous.

More progress tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day!

We had visits from Kathleen, who headed back to DC just before the video, and then from Jane and Henry Berliss.
Good Night, and it was a Great Day!

Today I arrived and David was between OT and ST, and I had a moment to talk to his Physiologist who told me that a meeting would be arranged next week for all the therapists and the doctors to talk about his progress, and what we are looking at for going home, etc.  During the down time, we did some work with the letters again, which was great.  I found it oddly funny that when I put the “S” in front of him, he looked at me funny, and turned it right side up.  Now some of you may be thinking, is there really such a thing as an upside down “S”?  There is, and David found this discomforting.  When the speech therapist came, I mentioned this, and she said he did the same thing with her, and she thought it was funny too, but, you know, that is just David.  We also had some funny moments when she was working on a “finish the sentence” exercise.  For reasons that should be clear if you have been reading the blog (and more on that later) he had a particular word on his mind, and was using to the finish many sentences.  My personal favorite was “God bless ________”.  You or I might have said, America or you, but David said toilet.  I am sorry to say, David was irritated by my laughing at that one so much, but I couldn’t help myself.

Then it was lunchtime, followed by PT where he walked again with the bars and a new knee brace and foot support.  He did quite well, and one of the other caregivers mentioned to me on the elevator that he was doing very well.  I asked how his wife was doing, and the story was not so promising.  At the end of the day, it really doesn’t make you feel better to know that there are other folks much worse off than you are.  After PT, Kathleen Stevenson came by again, and we went with David for his afternoon of beauty!  He finally got his hair cut again as well as getting it washed, and he looked great, and I think it made him feel better too.  We then went out the garden, and played some more word games – this time, I gave David tiles with letters and he was to rearrange them into words, and he did quite well.  Then, when asked to pronounce the words, he had more trouble, but practice, practice, practice.  Soon, we were joined by Mary Hall Surface who was in town to see a play.  It was great to see her and hear about how INTERSECTIONS is coming together.

Then we went inside, and during dinner, Susan and Barry Dratel came by.  Susan worked with David at Fieldston, and Barry had a stroke about 13 years ago, and their stories and insights were at once inspiring and daunting.  It is great to see folks who have survived and done well, but also difficult to hear their stories of struggle and work, and see what the lingering effects are.  Barry’s stroke was on the right side of his brain – the opposite of David’s – so his difficulties were very different.  He didn’t lose his speech, for instance, but lost the ability to put inflection in his speech.  Currently, he is able to walk, but has no use of his left arm.  Even with that, last year he got his degree from college.  Bravo!

I will end with just a brief update on the nurses aide situation.  It seems that the same nurses aide was on again last night, and still was not helpful.  I have spoken to them again, and if she is working again tonight, I will hit the roof tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Alex!

Today was a pretty good day.  When I arrived, David was busy working on his OT, and then we moved on to Speech, and Siobhan is working with him, which made him very happy.  She has a good rapport with him, and I think is very interested in David’s particular problems with speech, so is working extra hard.  He did more of the alphabet with him, and I ran off to arrange for a day of beauty for him – his hair is getting a little long.  He had more PT with Minet in the afternoon, and did well there as well.  Kathleen Stevenson arrived just before the PT and we both sat in on his session.  After his session, we went down to the garden for a little sitting, and Kathleen brought some great gifts – Pom Pom’s for me to cheer David with, some delicious madeleines, some ginger cake and a bottle of grapefruit cologne from Jo Malone – one of David’s favorites!

When we got upstairs, one of the nursing supervisors wanted another statement and kept asking David to tell her, in his own words what happened.  It amazes me that these folks don’t check before coming in to see what the patients status is, and she doesn’t know that he can’t speak.  She then asked me to write my version of what happened, from my point of view, and when I was done, her only concern was, “did I say that he didn’t soil himself?”  I simply added a PS that he didn’t soil himself, but it doesn’t change the fact that he was not taken to the bathroom when he asked to be, and this was not acceptable.  I am hoping that tomorrow I will not hear that this aide was on duty again.

Today I arrived during David’s Speech Therapy with Siobhan, a substitute for the holidays, which was great.  His regular ST comes back tomorrow, and David asked if he could have Siobhan replace his current ST, but she said that she couldn’t.  Her boss – David’s current ST – wouldn’t like it.  Later, he had Physical Therapy with Minet, and did some walking without the brace on the parallel bars.

We had a visit during lunch from Julie Halston, who brought some black & white cookies and French macaroons.  Later in the afternoon, Lynda Crawford stopped by and read a scene from the play that she is working on.  I stayed through dinner, but hit the road when I saw that there were some severe thunderstorms coming through NY.

David seems to be speaking more, but during the session with Siobhan, she was working with letters of the alphabet, and said that David and I should do this practice whenever we could, so later in the day we did it twice.  Basically, I show him a letter (consonants only) and he is supposed to say what the letter is, and then produce the sound.  She said that this would help with his beginning to initiate sounds and words.  Unfortunately, he didn’t get many of the letters, and most of the sounds were also slow to come and often difficult.  He also would forget the letters and sounds immediately after he had gotten them.  I guess that is why it is important to practice this, and we will continue.

Last night, I didn’t sleep well, and woke up later than usual, so got uptown late, and David was busy with Yvette his OT doing exercises.  He had a much better night, and was in good spirits.  We then worked with Minet, his PT and did some more walking with the brace.  It was great to see, and he gets more comfortable every day.  He also loves the nurses aide who is working with him today, so that was a relief, and the staff supervisors came by and talked to me about the issues over the weekend and assured me that they would identify the person who had made David so upset, and make sure that they were not working with him again.  Of course, the sad thing was that they were still going to be inflicted on another resident who may not be able to speak for themselves.

Yvette told me that there was going to be a meeting scheduled this week to talk about David’s progress and what the plan for brining him home will be.  I will keep you all posted on that.  David also made it clear that while he has made progress, he thinks that he is not quite ready for coming home yet, but we have a clear goal, and I have it in my view on the horizon.

We had a visit from Joy and were joined at the end by Frank Banton.  Both were great visits.  Oh, and by the way, after my lapse in memory last week, it came to me – Jane and Henry Burliss (sp?)

Heres a little video proof of David’s walking.

First, thanks for all the advise.  It was all helpful.  I am not planning on doing anything rash, and today was much better than yesterday.  There were two momentous things that happened today.  The first one was that David walked a bit.  First a short distance with a walker and the Physical Therapist’s help, and then two longer walks with a brace on his knee.  The second was we had a great FaceTime chat with Ales, Claire and Theo.  It was great to see the happy family!

We also had some visits today from Nancy Hoffman and Peter Greenwald, Jackie and Marjorie.

Today was quite a day for events and visitors.  When I arrived, David was quite upset about something.  He finally explained to me that he had rung the bell for assistance earlier in the morning, and one of the nurses aides came in, asked what was the matter, and then left.  Not sure if she understood what he was asking for, or just didn’t care.  He rang again, and the same aide came in, and again, I am not certain what transpired, but he did seem to be upset by whatever did happen.  He simply wanted to be taken to the bathroom.  I asked him if there was someone who was not nice to him, and he said yes, so I asked him to let me know if the person came into the room so I could identify them.  Then I went to the nurse, and told her that David had asked twice to be taken to the bathroom, and still needed to go, but wasn’t sure what had transpired, but that she needed to get someone to help immediately.

A few minutes later, two nursing aides came with a lift to hoist him out of bed and take him to the bathroom.  I told them that this wasn’t necessary and that the aides simply need to help him get to his wheelchair and then to the toilet and I thought this was a step backward and refused to let them use it.  David then pointed at one of the aides, and I asked if this was the one who upset him earlier, and he said yes.  I asked them both to leave immediately, and that another attendant would need to be called.  I then went to the nurses station and asked if there was a nursing supervisor that I could speak to.  I was in luck, because the woman at the desk was the weekend nursing supervisor, and that she would be with us in a few minutes.  She came down and David confirmed the story to her, and she said that she would submit the report and that another attendant would be sent to help.  Needless to say, David needed to go now, so, I took matters into my own hands, got him dressed and transferred him to the wheelchair and then to the toilet.  When he was done, I moved him back to the chair and we sat for a while.  After a few minutes the supervisor came by and saw that he was dressed and in his chair, and she chastised me for moving him, and asked if I had taken him to the toilet as well.  She said that I should not have had to do that, and would make sure that it never happened again.  We then, took a stroll to the garden, and while there, I thought to myself – if I can transfer him to the chair and the toilet, what the hell are we doing in this sub-accute facility?  If I could have some help at home, why not move him there?  At least I would know he was safe, and I think that outpatient therapy would be just as effective, if not more so.  So, on Monday, I am going to talk to the social worked and see if I can spring him from the Jewish Home!  I mean the private room is nicer, but, after today, I think he could get better care at home.  Not to mention, he would be happier.  The big question is the therapy – how much and the quality.  Also, how will the insurance company feel about it?  Please, chime in and tell me this is a good idea or what the hell am I thinking?

The rest of the day was much better with a steady stream of visitors.  Margot Steinberg, an old UNIS staff member, followed by Hilary Ainger and Judith Honor and husband Ron, then Gwen Lipsky and finally we were joined by my brother Chuck and his wife Doreen.  We had an engrossing conversation about Honey Boo Boo, and now I know who that is, because I kept hearing comic references, but had no idea.  I’m so out of it.  We also got a lesson in all the types of reality TV from Gwen, who is something of an expert, and she promises to bring a diagram showing how they all work together.

Heres another picture of the baby!

Today was uneventful.  We got off to a late start because of taking care of some morning business, but then we were off and running. First with Yvette, the Occupational Therapist followed by some standing with the OT and the Physical Therapist, Minet.  Then a break, and I took a walk, but when I got back, he had already had Speech Therapy with Ilana (I think that was her name, will check tomorrow).  Before my break, Mary and Peter brought sandwiches for lunch, which was great.

I was exhausted after the second PT session, and I wasn’t even doing any of the work!  We went outside to sit in the garden again, and at around 4pm, we had a visit from Jane and her husband, and I want to say it was Bob, but that is probably wrong.  I have got to get folks to begin signing the book again, or I will never get names right!  Sorry.  Jane worked with David at UNIS, but is now retired, and we look forward to more visits, as they live nearby.

Then, I headed home, and took a nap, and now remembered that I had to write this, so up for a few minutes, and now, back to bed!  You will forgive any typos or glaring grammatical errors!

OK, so now we have had the first day with his regular therapists at the Jewish Home, and David is feeling much more relaxed. He really was worried about his new “Teachers”, and I think he is pleased with the team. We met with the Speech Therapist this morning, and she did her assessment and it went well. I was glad I was there to explain, from my perspective, what David’s issues were, and David didn’t look at me like I was crazy at any of my comments, so I think they were good. I actually got a thumbs up for a couple of my insights. For some reason, when he was admitted, he was moved back to soft foods, so she had to come back and watch David eat lunch. He thought it was very weird to have us sitting, like an audience, watching him eat the lasagna that Peter and Mary brought for his lunch. He passed again, and can eat anything. She said that she was impressed, because many patients take months to get swallowing down!

Peter and Mary came by earlier, but were left in the hall waiting patiently while David was using the toilet. You may think that this is TMI (Too Much Information) but, he didn’t use the bedpan, he actually, with the help of the nursing aide, moved from the bed to the wheelchair to the toilet in the bathroom, which was momentous for me. This is one of the things that he will need to be able to do to come home, so, one more step! When I arrived, he was very uncomfortable because he was constipated, and after his visit to the toilet, he was in a much better mood and ready to face the day.

After lunch, the Occupational Therapist came by, and we went to the gym to work. She worked on his arm – both strengthening exercises, and stretching, and then the Physical Therapist took over and began working on the mat. His transfers from chair to bed to mat are much better, and I think that his strength is getting better all the time. During his PT, Lucy Kernen-Schloss came by and at the end of the session, we went to the garden, and had a nice conversation about Burke and her vacation in France over the summer. When we went back to the room, Sheila was there with a card and gift of the new Grandfathers! Thanks Sheila, and it is indeed, a wonderful world!

Soon after Sheila left, Andrew Brust stopped by with some wonderful dark chocolate, which David was saving for after dinner. Then, Peter and Mary came back and we had a nice, but short visit before David wanted to take a nap. I left with the Clutes, and we had a bite at Eataly, which was very nice – actually, I had a bite and some wine, Mary had some wine and Peter nibbled and then had some gelato on the way out. Such a fun place is Eataly – not quite as good as being in Rome, but nice, just the same!

So, at the end of the day, it looks like we have set a schedule for his therapies that looks something like this:

• Occupational Therapy from 9am to 10am
• Physical Therapy from 10am to 11am (working on walking)
• Physical Therapy from 1:30pm to 2:30pm (working on strengthening his legs)
• Speech Therapy from 2:30pm to 3:30pm (still to be confirmed – it may need to move to 11am to Noon)