Steps, large and small

Yesterday, Alex sent video of Theo’s very close to successful attempt at crawling.  We begin with small steps.  This morning, Maneshka told David that he should also work on rolling over onto his stomach and push himself up on his elbows, which is one of the PT exercises that we do.  It is amazing that the steps are the same, no matter what your age.  I can’t help but share the video.  Theo takes after his G-Dad David – the perseverance and the fascination with the mirror, but who can blame them!!

We had an appointment with Dr Blum this afternoon, and fortunately for us, the weather held out, so we didn’t have to take a car to RUSK.  Dr. Blum was very nice, as usual, and gave me all of David’s medical records to bring to California with us.  While waiting for Dr. Blum, I got a call from Dr. Karp, and he had the results for the blood tests that we had done a few weeks ago, and he found that David’s levels of homocysteine were high, and that is what may have caused the clot that caused the stroke.  He has prescribed folic acid, which can lower that number, and hopefully also clear up the clot in his leg.  Then, maybe sometime in the next six months, he will be able to stop taking the Coumadin.

After we got home, Siobhan came and had a Speech Therapy session, which went well, and then we had a visit from Geralyn.  Great to catch up with her, and she looked terrific.  Sorry it was so short, but we hope to see her in California with Marty.

Then, we had some dinner, and watched some TV – Antiques Roadshow.

I wanted to thank everyone who had sent emails or called wishing me good luck over the weekend with the One Act Festival, and also everyone who made a donation to the company, and a special thanks to Lynda who was at the performance on Sunday! Thanks.

Final Performance

The weather was miserable today, and we stayed in most of the day.  Our only outing was with Joy to see the Complete One Act Festival.  We avoided getting too wet, and David stayed through the entire performance without asking to leave once.  I knew he wanted to as soon as my play was done, but he kept quiet.  We went straight home, and ordered in dinner. Comfort, Affordability and Privacy To be able to fulfill your lady intimately. cheap levitra generic Your body produces estrogen with the ovaries and a canada viagra buy few other organs. Because of their ability to reduce risk of gynecomastia (abnormal growth of breast tissue in males) and enhance uk generic viagra recovery of natural testosterone production after a cycle, use of anti estrogen supplements such as Nolvadex, Clomid has become popular amongst the learners. But, Rita was always there to support him. find out that drugshop order levitra online  We also watched the second to the last episode of Foyle’s War.  The series is coming to an end.  The war is over, Sam is working somewhere else and the same with Sergeant Milner, who is now in Brighton.  Well, I thought it was the second to the last episode, but I just read that there is another season that is not on Netflix yet.  Will have to hunt it down.

Then the blog.

Eurovision & Star Trek

Today, after our call with Alex, Claire and Theo, we had two adventures – one outside the house and the other, sitting at home.  First the call was great, and Theo was being very vocal.  I think it demands repeating, but we can’t wait to see them all again soon.  It has been too long.  After the call, we went to the movies.  We saw Star Trek, which was great.  David loved it!  Then, when we got home, Cristina had sent us the link to watch the live Eurovision Song Contest finale.  What fun that was!  Ranging from the sublime to the absurd, and everything in between.  I just wonder why the UK decided to enter Adele’s mother in the contest.  Just kidding, but she was a bit long in the tooth.  I had to run to the theatre before the winner was announced and will have to look that up.

When I got home, David was in bed, and I will be joining him shortly.  That was all that happened today, and tomorrow we are all going to see the the One Act Festival.  Last chance!

Catching up

I have two days to cover tonight, so let me start with yesterday.  It was a glorious day, and we went to the High Line to take in the sun and stroll, along with millions of other people.  We walked down to 14th Street and then along the river and strolled through the old neighborhood on W 20th Street.  It was a great day, and when we got home, the apartment was clean.  Before heading to the High Line, Gail came by to work with David on neuro feedback.  in the early evening, I went to my group at RUSK, and it was a smaller group than usual.  Some new folks and the stories were varied and some were pretty heartbreaking.  I didn’t go to the theatre last night, or tonight, but will head over tomorrow night.

This morning we had Speech and Occupational Therapy, then a break and Physical Therapy in the afternoon.  David, as I keep saying, is doing really well, and all the therapists are a little sad to know that their time with David is drawing to a close.  In Speech, we talked about the High Line and she did some drills with sentences.  The in OT, Maneshka worked on practicing some real world experience, and did some role playing for shopping.  David was able to maneuver to get what he wanted and worked with some money exchanges.  He does still have a bit of a problem with the 0’s, and how many follow a number – sometimes he can’t tell the difference between $10 and $1,000.  Practice, practice, practice.  Then we went home for a while before heading back to PT and gym.  He did a lot of walking, and Caroline did some timed exersises and he cut five seconds off two of the ones he did before.  And that was without the cane.  Very good work.  Then home again, and Siobhan was back tonight.  He was great answering trivia questions she was asking.  She was also impressed with David’s walking without the cane.

Additionally, Sildenafil medications are linked with decreased blood flow to viagra no prescription the penis. The side effects cialis external stress of the office atmosphere round them affects the internal mind. The quality of healthy erections levitra 10 mg can be maintained and sustained. Men who have experienced a best price for viagra stroke, have uncontrolled diabetes, or suffer low blood pressure should not take this drug.WARNINGS :Kamagra Polo is only men for men who are just looking for an easy-to-use device for enlargement. I haven’t mentioned this in the blog, and many folks already know, but Alex, Claire and Theo will be moving to Paris in August.  We are both very excited for them.  I haven’t mentioned it in the blog because it was nice to have something new and interesting to tell folks when we see them, but I thought I would mention it tonight.  We are going to visit in November, and again in the Spring of 2014.  I actually booked a cruise for us, that will be a lot of fun from Los Angeles to Copenhagen for our Spring trip.  It will be 29 days, and we will go through the Panama Canal, with many stops along the way.  Then we will spend a month in Paris, and head back to NY on the Queen Mary, and spend the summer in Vermont.  As I have said before, it is great the David and I have many adventures to plan and enjoy in our future!

As David was getting ready for bed tonight, he admitted that he has noticed that his speech is getting better and was pleased with his walking.  It is so great to hear him say that, because he is normally pretty impatient with himself and doesn’t always see the progress that he makes.

One Month

One month from today, we will be on a plane on our way to Palm Springs.  The representative from the moving company came today to begin work on an estimate for the move.  We have lots of things to do and people to see before we head out of town.  These next four weeks are going to fly by and I am already starting to come up against scheduling problems.

We were alone this morning, and took a walk down to the gym and did some exercising.  We will do more of that.  It is good for David to see himself walk in the mirror.  For lunch, I decided to use the pork tenderloin that was leftover from earlier in the week, and make a pork salad.  In one of my fits of energy, I decided to make mayonnaise and consulted with Julia.  It was not as difficult as I thought it would be, and tasted good.  Don’t get me wrong, my arm was close to falling off again with all the whipping. After lunch we watched a good episode of Foyle’s War.

Tonight was the opening of the One Act Festival, and it went well.  David will be coming to see it on Sunday with Joy.  The house was not bad either, but it would be nice if it were fuller.  Folks seemed to find Holy Cow funny, and I give most of the credit to Alec and Cassie.
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The other night, at the ballet, we had one of those David moments.  I went to get his wheelchair after the performance, and on my way back, I saw a couple who were chatting with David, and it became obvious to me that they must be Fieldston parents.  When I got there, the woman said her name was Goldstein, and how much she loved David, and I was the luckiest person in the world.  She was not a Fieldston mom, but a UNIS mom, or so David told me, and after a while, it dawned on me that she was the mother of Betsy, who had visited David at the Jewish Home in September or October.  It is wonderful how parents of kids whose lives David has touched, will be so open and forthcoming with their praise.  I got an email from a Burke parent whose son was graduating this year from college thanking David for the influence that he had on him.  Very nice.

Anyway, time for bed, and David was in bed when I got home, so no reading or listening.

Cooler Day

This morning we headed to Speech Therapy, and it went very well.  David really is getting better at getting works out, and was able to talk about the Ballet and opinions about Kinky Boots, which Karen saw on Sunday.

We went home and then I headed out to our final tech rehearsal.  It went well, and we open tomorrow.  Cassie and Alec, the actors in the play I am directing, are doing really well, and the play is getting tighter.  I had to leave at 2pm to take David to Physical Therapy, and he did a lot of walking without the cane, and Caroline and I both think that he actually walks better without the cane.  After some practice and more confidence, he will be walking outside without the cane.

After PT, we headed home, and David took a nap.  He didn’t want to go to the Young Stroke Survivor’s Group, so we stayed home.  We watched So You Think You Can Dance!  It has been a while, and it was fun to watch.  Then the blog and Garrison, and now David is snoring, which he will deny.

A Lovely Night

You know, you go along and have boring days, and then, you have a night that reminds you how magical life can be.  We went to the American Ballet Theatre’s Gala tonight.  The performance was terrific, and the people watching, even better.  Even better than that was spending the night with the Deulls – especially nice to see Sara and meet Hannah.  Pictures, I am sure, will follow.  So, for the star gazing part of the evening, we saw Bebe Neuwirth as she was photographed on the red carpet, sat in front of Courtney B. Vance and Lucy Liu looked lovely.  But, of course, the best part of the evening was seeing all the reconstructed faces that should probably be condemned!  There were a couple of doozies!  Anyway, the performance was pretty spectacular, particularly Le Corsaire and a piece choreographed by Marcelo Gomes in the second half.  It was all delightful.  Then, off to the tent for dinner.  We left before dessert, but the dinner was great, and again, so great to be with friends!

Earlier in the day, we went to Occupational Therapy, and I have some video which I will work on incorporating into something special for a later date.  We also had a visit from Marjorie, which was nice, and then I ran off to a tech rehearsal.  I am dealing with canceling aides, so have to scramble for tomorrow, or miss part of the rehearsal, which is looking more and more likely.  At this point, though, I am not really needed for anything.  It is pretty much in the actors’ hands.  Opening on Wednesday!

Happy Mother’s Day

Got up this morning and had a quiet start to the day.  Decided to head out in the afternoon to the movies.  Saw Iron Man, which was fun.  David didn’t like it quite as much as I did.  Then, dinner and after that, an episode of Foyle’s War.

Tomorrow is tech for the One Act Festival, which starts on Wednesday – get your tickets!

Looking forward to more adventures!

Today was a relaxing day.  We did some speech exercises and some walking around the building.  We had a great talk with Alex, Claire and Theo.  Theo is growing, and we can’t wait to get out to California to see them all in person.  We talked a bit about plans for the Fall and looking forward to 2014.  Hard to even wrap my head around that, but, it is fun to make the plans. The sole difference among Sildamax and other sildenafil citrate based medicine which is an exact copy of the top anti-impotence medicine generic viagra on sale that was made by Pfizer. best viagra prices Remember, no pill, device or exercise can enlarge penis permanently. check out this link cheap sildenafil uk They extend the blood vessels in the penile region and ensures more blood to the penis region. In not all the case stress is a problem but isn’t super cheap cialis being addressed.  We may take the opportunity to cruise from Los Angeles to Copenhagen when we make our spring visit to Paris, and cruise back to New York for summer in Vermont.  You know, at the end of the day, we aren’t really in any rush to get places, and as long as we have a good chunk of time in Paris with Alex, Claire and Theo, why not?

This evening we headed uptown for dinner with the Berliss’.  We were joined by the O’Neill’s and had a great evening.  David was very good with the communications, and dinner was delicious.  Great curry!  Then home, and David was ready for bed, but not after the blog and Garrison.

Excitement returns!

OK, I lied.  Excitement didn’t return.  We did, however, have Speech Therapy this morning, and that was great.  We did some more singing, and David was stringing more words together.  Karen also wants him to begin practicing writing, which is a step forward.

It was a glorious day, and we took the opportunity to get haircuts.  At our favorite place – Roman’s on 31st Street between Madison and Park.  A French couple came in to ask where there was a ladies’ hairdresser nearby, and one of the customers was able to help.  It made me think of visiting Paris.  Looking forward to that in the fall!  After the haircuts, we took a roll to the park, and boy was it crowded!  Nice to see folks out.  When I was going to school on 23rd Street in the early 80’s, I don’t recall anyone hanging out in Madison Square Park, but times have changed and so has New York!

We had another visit from potential renters this evening, and I made a pork tenderloin for dinner.  Followed one of Julia’s recipes and it came out good.  I tasted only a bit, and went back to my salad, but David liked it.  We watched another episode of Foyle’s War, and he has resigned his position.  It was the end of this season, and we are on to the next.  Glad that there are two more to go before the end.

I made an appointment with the movers for Wednesday morning to come by and give me an estimate.  Only one more month to go.  Yikes!

Greetings from Dullsville!

OK, today was pretty boring.  Had rehearsal in the morning, which went well.  Then home and lunch.  The apartment was cleaned, and I hate being home when it happens – much prefer just coming home to a clean apartment.  Then a nap.

Excitement came when we had a visit from Elke from UNIS.  She brought David’s favorite, marzipan.  Then some shrimp for dinner, and a little TV.  Then last night’s blog and Garrison.

Tomorrow will be more exciting, I promise!

Morning on his own

This morning I had rehearsal followed by the theatre workshop, and before I left, I got a call from the agency that the aide had called out sick.  So, David was alone for the morning.  He did very well and when I got home, he was playing scrabble and watching TV.  All was well.  We had a visit in the afternoon with Lynda, which was great.  We stayed in the whole day, because the weather was so unpredictable – one minute pouring rain, and then sunny.

The owner of the apartment is trying to rent it for when we leave, and the agent had a showing today.  We watched an episode of Foyle’s War, then the blog and Garrison, and off to bed.

Sleepy!

I woke up this morning and it was almost impossible to pull myself out of bed.  I had to, of course, because the aide arrived at 8am, but it was tough.  Not sure why, I didn’t go to sleep too late last night – I didn’t write a blog entry, as you may have noticed!  Thought taking a shower might help, but it didn’t and I was dragging the whole morning.  We went to Speech Therapy this morning, and David told Karen about the reunions this weekend, and then we sang a bit.  We will add that to our speech schedule.

Once we got home, I ran out and got some sushi for lunch, and then went to sleep.  Slept for three hours, which is a long nap for me, and then up.  We exercises and took a walk.  David was shakier than he has been, so we kept the walk short.  Had dinner, and watched Crazy, Stupid, Love which had it moments.  Sweet story, and a few surprises, which were nice.  Then, just some Garrison tonight – this time about a mistaken trip to Costa Rica.

Yesterday, we had Occupational Therapy in the morning, and a great visit from Debbie and Laurie who were in town for the reunion from England.  Nice to see them, and I can’t wait to try the stilton that they brought us!  In the immortal words of Julia – yum!

Nice, quiet Sunday

We went to the movies this afternoon.  The Place Beyond the Pines.  It was not at all what I expected, and really was three movies in one.  Pretty depressing.  Before going to the movies, we took a walk (sans cane) on the street.  Once we got to the sidewalk, David held my arm, but really didn’t lean on me heavily.  His gait is getting more smooth and and even.  We will continue doing this to build his stamina and security with walking outside.

We played some scrabble, and watched The World According to Dick Cheney, which I had hoped would feed my dislike for him, but it really just confirmed everything that I already knew – a very bad man who thinks that nothing he did was bad.  Not surprising that he learned at the right hand of tricky Dick Nixon.

I had rehearsal in the evening, which went well.  We have two more rehearsals this week before we head into tech and open next week.  It is looking good, just need to tighten it up a bit.  Stayed up late to watch Funny Girl, and earlier, watched a bit of Hello Dolly!.  Must have been Streisand musical night on AMC.

Reunions

OK, so we got home a little while ago from two of David’s reunions.  First, we had the UNIS reunion, and David was swarmed by former students who chatted with him, and told me how much he had influenced their lives.  Once again, I found myself feeling sorry that I had to go to a school that I hated, and couldn’t wait to leave.  Just glad that I was with David and share is the reflected glow.  It was great to be there, and David was genuinely pleased to have been there and reconnected with so many people.

Then we headed to Scandinavia House for the 50th Reunion of Jamaica HS.  Also, great to see so many old friends for David.  The only drawback was David couldn’t stay longer.  He got tired after about an hour, but it was good to see him with old classmates, and hear stories.
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Then home, where we enjoyed a piece of the delicious chocolate that Lois had brought on Thursday, then blog, Garrison and bed.  At the end of the day, after so much time spent planning and working for the future, it is nice to take a moment and just revel in the past!

Look, no strings!

Today, we had a very good day.  Busy, as usual for Friday, and David was having some shoulder pain in the morning, but it ended on a high.  First, we went to Speech Therapy, where we were subjected to listening to another caregivers ideas about christianity and government.  You know, how god handed down the constitution, and how christians were persecuted because they weren’t allowed to inflict their beliefs on others.  Don’t get me started.  She wasn’t talking to us, but made sure she was loud enough for everyone in the waiting room could hear. Oh, brother.  She did have one attentive listener though.

Well, then we had a good speech therapy session, where Karen talked about some crazy project for people to be selected to colonize Mars.  I told her there was a lady in the waiting room who I was sure would love to go!  We then went to Occupational Therapy with Maneshka, and she worked on David’s sore shoulder a bit.  Then, a nice stroll home, and picked up pizza for David, and I had some spinach.  Diet is going well.

Then, in the afternoon, we went to Physical Therapy, and Caroline did some work with David that was pretty impressive.  Alright, it was very impressive, and very exciting.  David walked without the cane!  Yes, Caroline needed to be there to make sure he didn’t fall, but he really didn’t falter.  We also walked around the apartment, and by we I mean David did.  I was only there for moral support.  Here is proof:

Anyway, it was all very exciting, and great progress.  Then home, and we had a visit from Parker and his friend Chris.  We had some dinner, some TV (loved the Project Runway Season 11 Reunion) and blog, Garrison and bed.

Visits and the Dentist Finale!

David was thrilled with today’s visit to the Dentist, because it was his last!!  The crown is in place and from what I see, it is doing well.  We had to wait a while to get started, but once it started, it was done pretty quickly.  Once home, we had some lunch and then had our first visitors.

A great time with Françoise and Joe.  Nice conversation and beautiful flowers!  The baked goods were good too!  Thanks.  David thinks that Françoise should go to Fieldston reunions, and I found that comical, because David is always dragging his feet when it comes to events like that.  That being said, we are planning on attending the UNIS reunion this weekend, and he will have a good time.  He always does, but getting there is the hard part.

We also have the Jamaica HS reunion this weekend, and Lois came for a visit tonight as a precursor to the main event on Saturday evening.  David and Lois were both talking about defecting and not going, but in the end, he will go, and have a fine old time.  At least for the first 45 minutes!

David was tired at the end of the evening, and went to bed, but only after the blog and Garrison.  This one was about how a fish saved his life, or made his life possible.

Walk in the park

We took a walk to Madison Square Park to spend some more time looking at the art.  We also sat in the sun for a little bit, and then, David in his wheelchair and I went back up Madison Avenue.  I do have to say, I find it strange that almost all of the Southwest corners on Madison don’t have curb cuts, so getting the wheelchair across the street was a little bumpy.

We had a great visit from Joy this evening, had some dinner and we all watched an episode of Foyle’s War.  It was a very complex one, and I got the murderer completely wrong!  Oh, well. Also a lot going on with the regular cast’s love-lives!  We like the show.  After Joy left, we read the blog, and skipped listening, because it was late, and David was ready for sleep.

New York

Well, today was a beautiful day in NY, and I had to run across the street to CVS this evening at just the right time.  Looking down Fifth Ave to the Flatiron building with the light hitting it just right was quite spectacular.  I am starting to get sad that our time here will be up soon, but, as alway, more adventures beckon!

We had Speech and Physical Therapy today, and both went well.  We did some homework and also had a great visit from Henry and Jane.  After they left, David took a nap, and I relaxed a bit.  Then dinner and we watched Veep.  Read the blog and listened to some more Garrison Keillor.  Tonight was a cautionary tale about moving to warmer climates.  It has not put us off moving to Palm Springs!
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Two more days to go for the fundraising effort for the Complete Theatre Company.  Close, but not quite there.

Sleep

I am writing early tonight, because I have got to get some sleep.  It was a busy weekend, with the hospital and all, and I haven’t been able to nap at all!  I got an appointment with Dr Karp this afternoon, so we went to HJD where his office is at 4:30pm.  He was late seeing us, and I think he picked up the pace when he heard David say “please” in exasperation.  We talked about the hospital visit, and he told David that he needs to ask for more water, and he actually asked for some tonight before heading to bed.  That was good.  We then talked about the clot and Coumadin and the pros and cons of staying on it.  The major con is having to get blood tests done every other week.  We also talked a bit about the move out west, and making sure that Dr. Loftus has all David’s records.  We were then sent to have an ultrasound done on his legs to check the clot.  It looks like it is still there, but not a total block.  We should hear from Dr. Karp tomorrow or the next day with results and recommendations.

After the ultrasound, we walked home – across 18th Street to Broadway and then up Fifth.  It

Madison Square Park Art
Rendering of Art in Madison Square Park

was a lovely evening, and there is an amazing installation at Madison Square Park.  There are these undulating walls made from woven rope in three colors – red, blue and gold.  I love stuff like that, and they are really impressive.  It is worth a visit to see, especially now with all the trees in bloom. To read more, click here.

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We also went for a swim today, which was also nice, and before that, we had occupational therapy.  I can’t tell if the other therapist are irritated or just jealous, because we always get looks when we begin laughing about something David has done or said.  Maneshka is always finding something funny about David’s reaction to things, and we are alway having a good time.  We are working, but making it fun at the same time.

I haven’t had much down time today – maybe that is why I am ready for bed.  The aide called in sick this morning and we woke up a little later than usual, so it was a rush getting out of the house, and I haven’t had a chance to check email much or return messages.  I will be taking care of some of that once I post this.  Tonight we began a series of Garrison Keillor stories that we got from Susan Willen (thanks Susan!) and I read the blog.  His story tonight was about a swan who became one of the dogs.