I am now zooming through Belgium on my way back to Paris. Fingers crossed we don’t have starts and stops like the trip to Amsterdam. As luck would have it, I turned on the news in the hotel room last night as I was getting ready for bed. Well, that was a surprise. As I have said, I will vote enthusiastically for a blue head in a bottle over the other one. You know, the one who got Abbie Normal’s brain.
The rest of my time in Amsterdam was great. Went on a tour at the Van Gogh Museum, which was lovely. Added surprise to see a special exhibit of Chinese-Canadian artist, Matthew Wong. His work is definitely inspired by Van Gogh, and sadly, so were his life and death. Beautiful work. The last room was a silent room. Dark with black drapes all around with one painting. You were supposed to sit in silence, but, of course, some moron decided they needed to experience it with their baby, who, began to cry. Did they leave? Of course not. The rest of us did.
It won’t be surprising to anyone who knows me, that probably the highlight of my summer in Europe will be seeing Hello, Dolly! in London. Like Dolly, I have been looking for signs from the universe that it is OK to move on. Many of you know that when David had his stroke he took up needlepoint. The piece he was working on when he passed away was the Almond Blossoms by Vincent. As we were going through the museum tour, and almost at the end, I was a little disappointed that we hadn’t seen that particular painting. The guide explained that she had a very special surprise and story in the next gallery. She was very excited to share it, and as we turned the corner, there it was. I, of course, began to weep. It gets embarrassing.
The story she told was Vincent gave the painting to Theo after his brother’s son was born to encourage him to have another child. He asked them to hang it in their bedroom, as a reminder. She wasn’t sure if the painting was hung in the bedroom or not, but it didn’t really matter. Both Vincent and Theo were dead soon, and life went on, and that painting still gives us joy.
The Almond Blossoms
In that spirit, I went out on a date last night. I was online, on one of the apps, and uncharacteristically bold, I wrote to someone who looked interesting. It was pretty cheesy – “I’m a stranger in town, and you look interesting . . . Want to show me your city?” He responded, which concerned me a little. After some back and forth, we settled on last night. He was going to ride his bike and meet me at the hotel. As the time approached, I became more nervous. Why? Not why was I nervous, why had I reached out in the first place? What if he was a serial killer or even worse, boring. I kept going back to his profile and began worrying he was too conservative.
Boy was I wrong. We shared stories of our lives and loves. He told me about sleeping in Central Park in the 60’s, squatting in Amsterdam, three marriages, five children, doing social work in Indonesia and Russia, and he claimed to never have paid taxes to the Dutch government. We wandered from the hotel bar around the neighborhood and went back to the hotel to sit on the balcony and continued sharing stories.
Just to close the loop, the train from Amsterdam did stop, and we were about thirty minutes late arriving. I made it to French class in time, and am now heading to bed. Here are some pictures from Amsterdam, if you are interested. Bonne Nuit.
David and I are taking a little trip. By little, I really mean big. This trip was originally planned for 2021 and has been postponed and postponed and postponed. I won’t go into boring details, but getting to this point has been rocky, at best. At almost every turn, some roadblock would get in the way. The last of which happened yesterday.
We are heading to Southeast Asia for a cruise that starts tomorrow in Bali. We were both geared up for a long haul to get to Bali, and were supposed to leave from Palm Springs yesterday and fly eastward to Bali, through Dallas and Doha. Our flight was cancelled due to weather, so we (along with a boatload of people) waited to speak to an agent. I was also on the phone, and they were all helpful, but I understood there were very few options. When we got to the agent, she worked hard to get us rebooked on flights from Los Angeles, routed through Sydney, Australia. Great! Now we could say we visited Australia (with a great big asterisk). I asked if the seats were in business class, like our cancelled flights. “Yes, but you need to get a visa for Australia.” I thought that was odd, but we headed home so I could get the visa, book a car to LAX and check to make sure our seats were next to each other.
First, I booked an Uber to pick us up in an hour, then tried to figure out the visa situation, but each time I clicked the link for visas, I ended up on something like the Australian Chamber of Commerce site. I gave up for a moment and turned to the seats, and hit another roadblock. Not business class, and I just couldn’t fly for fourteen hours sitting up, not to mention David. Got back on the phone with the airline, and there just weren’t any other options, so I canceled and threw in the towel. Called the cruise company, and they also tried to help, but there weren’t any options. Cancelled the Uber. Canceled the cruise. We had insurance, but it doesn’t cover the total cost, so we would just lose the money we paid.
We were both disappointed and I started looking at other options for a little get away. My friend, Anthony, was here to take care of Maggie, and we should take advantage. I also felt bad that his Palm Springs vacation away from it all was now going to have two interlopers. Maybe a California Coastal cruise? Mexico? Who knows.
Then it dawned on me that the cruise was in Bali for the first two days, and didn’t leave until late on the second day. We could leave today and still make the cruise a day late. I called Viking to make sure this would work, and the departure hadn’t changed, and stopped the cancelation. We would kind of miss Bali, but the rest would be OK. I found flights that worked and only doubled the cost, but we would make it. We are both pretty nervous after yesterday, but the sun is shining and we get on a plane at 4:10PM and head to Vancouver for a flight to Taipei and on to Bali. We arrive at 3:30PM and the ship sails at 10PM. Hopefully.
I woke up early to get ready for the day, and after showering and dressing, got David up, showered and dressed and we were out the door at 8:35am. We got to ACC/RUSK by about 8:45am and registered for the Occupational Therapy session that was to start at 10am, but has Speech Therapy first. We met with Karen’s intern today, who was being supervised by the other Speech Therapist, Edna. It went very well, and David was doing well, and speaking, mostly prompted, but more and more he is reading what is written or speaking unprompted. In any case, he is getting his ideas across more without my help.
Once we were done with Speech, we headed over to the Occupational Therapy evaluation. Maneshka is his therapist, and she said she had read his file, and was very interested to meet David because she knew UNIS. Her mother works at the UN. We had a good introduction, and she did some testing of his abilities and talked about what we wanted to get out of OT. She also showed me some work to do with David to build on what we have already been doing, and I think she got his arm to move a little. A very good sign, I think. He is shrugging his right shoulder more as well. While I was working on David’s shoulder, we were on a platform bed that all of the gyms have. It is a large padded platform on a hydraulic lift, and David was laying down, and I was moving his shoulder. When we were done, I moved to get off the platform, and there was a loud and quite scary crack that sounded like my girth had broken the hydraulics of the bed. David, after a look of fright, began laughing at the idea that I had broken the bed by moving to the side. Meneshka said that it wasn’t me, and it happens all the time, but David would have none of it. He just kept pointing at me and laughing. He also is holding a gun to my head right now and making sure that I write this for the world to know!
As we were finishing up, David asked about Maneshka’s Mom and where she worked at the UN. She said that she worked in the Comptroller’s office and she wished that she had gone to UNIS, but alas, she went to a public school in New Jersey. I, of course chimed in, I wish I had gone to UNIS as well, but also had to go to a public school in New Jersey. We commiserated a bit, and she asked David where he was from, and David said New York. Said, that he wasn’t from NY really, he was from Queens, and David insisted it was the same thing. She understood. But, overall, it’s better to prevent the best cialis price wax or debris from falling further into the hearing device. According to the health cheapest brand cialis report, ejaculating more than twice or thrice in a week can be risky for the overall health. Simply looking at an advertisement cialis cost low in a newspaper or Yellow Pages won’t get you the finest practice. cialis 10 mg It has been established that obesity is associated with early puberty, faulty menstrual patterns, decreased contraceptive efficacy, ovulatory disorders, increased miscarriage rate and poor response to fertility treatments.
After the OT, we went down the street to get the X-ray done, but when we arrived at the place someone told us we could go, we found out that they only did CT Scans, so it was another seven blocks to NYU Medical Center to get the X-ray done. We had some time to kill until PT, so we figured we would get it over with.
Between the X-ray and PT we had pizza on Second Ave. David was almost falling asleep on the stationary bike, and couldn’t wait to get out and on our way home. He napped for a while, and then Siobhan came and did speech. She told David all about her trip to South Africa, and we had some pasta, watched Law & Order: UK (same episodes, different accent) and our usual, boring routine – Blog, Audiobook and Object. Tonight, when I got to the part in last night’s blog about the snoring, he just said “lies”, which I knew would happen, and Isaac’s house has disintegrated in the storm (my guess is his family is lost, but who knows) and the object is a Ceremonial Ballgame Belt from Mexico.
Well, you all know how I feel about politics, and after spending more of my adult life under varying degrees of Republican craziness, now, I feel as though we have woken from a nightmare, and may actually move forward at a faster pace. I was elated at the First Obama Inaugural, but this makes it feel more like a trend.
I loved the line referring to Seneca Falls, Selma and Stonewall, but this is the call to action for me – “Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law, for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal, as well.”
You should have a strategy that incorporates lifestyle approaches such as optimal diet, regular exercise, stress management, and reduction of tobacco and alcohol intake. viagra sales canada The problem is professional spammers end up with the best possible components. cialis professional for sale Continued consists of Sildenal citrate inside it which makes sure that the blood is initiated properly towards the penile organ. Utter humiliation and shock cialis generika eat away your mind. To avoid these frustrating and fearful situations, it is recommended that you allow 1 hour the first time in years. rx sildenafilAfter a day of watching the Inauguration over some bagels and lox, we had a quiet day at home. We had a nice visit with Michal, which is always delightful, and heard about her kids at UNIS Queens.
Did some cleaning up, then audiobook and #34 – a Han Lacquer Cup. Now to bed.
It was another good day today. We met Jackie for Brunch at one of our favorite places – Artisanal. Down the street, pleasant space and the food is excellent. We went there for the first time the day we moved into the apartment with Gene and Liz and family. Since then, it is the “go to” restaurant for us.
Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham
Then, at 2pm, we met Sheila between the Lions at the NY Public Library to take a look at an exhibit called Charles Dickens: The Key to Character. It was a small exhibit, but really nice to see. As we walked in, Sheila had given me some homework about which character I remembered most from Dickens and why. Hands down – Miss Havisham. Mostly because my English teacher, Miss Wighardt reminded me of her (she was probably in her early 30’s and unmarried, and I thought that was ancient, but I was younger then), and there was something about the wedding cake and rats eating away at it that captured my imagination when I read Great Expectations. I am actually not sure if the rats were my own fancy, or were actually in the book, but either way, that was what I pictured – it was the time of Ben and Willard after all.
Afterwards, we went to Bryant Park and sat for a few minutes, and then it started getting a little chilly, so we headed back down Fifth Avenue and home. Had some coffee, and then an afternoon nap for David, and I began cooking. Made a lovely dinner of Chicken Marsala, Mushroom Risotto and Gorgonzola stuffed Tomatoes. After dinner, I returned to Rosetta Stone to work on my Mandarin. It has been quite a while, so I went back to the beginning, rather than try to pick up where I left off. Never hurts to reinforce what you have already studied, right? Followed by Downton Abbey, more of the Audiobook and as luck would have it, object number 33 in our march through history – THE Rosetta Stone.
Finally, David again told me at dinner that he should play a more central role in my blog. I am not sure how much more central he could be. I think he would like me to talk more about what other folks we interact with say about how great he is doing. For instance, the swim instructor who is working with David in the pool is very impressed with his progress in just the two sessions, which is true. He also was very good at getting his ideas across with Jackie at brunch and walked to the table and just generally has a great disposition in spite of everything.
This morning we were at the pool by 11am, and David worked for about an hour. Walking, kicking, sidestepping. It was also easier to get down and back upstairs today, because we were prepared with what we learned the last time we went to the pool.
Afterwards, we went upstairs, had our weekly conversation with Alex, Claire and Theo, lunch and finally, I headed to Bed, Bath and Beyond. It always amazes me how crowded that store is. Got what I needed and got out of there.
David took a well deserved afternoon nap, and I started dinner. We sat at the table for dinner, and had a good conversation. David asked that I make it clearer how funny he still is. For instance, yesterday when we were with the dentists, it took all the energy I had not to laugh when he started making fun of the dentist going over the results of the first. I have said this before, but even without his silver tongue he can still say a lot, and it is usually pretty choice.
Then, I read yesterday’s blog, we listened to the audiobook and I read about the latest object – a piece of Ashoka’s Pillar from India, and off to bed. Now the same for me.
Oh, what a busy day we had today! Got out of the house at 9am and we didn’t return until a little after 4pm – and boy was it cold! First, we went to LabCorp to get blood drawn. Not just the INR, but other blood tests as well – just checking cholesterol, etc. It is Actually good to be doing more routine tests, and a great sign of normalcy. Then we went to NYU School of Dentistry, where David had a complete (with a capital C) exam. I am supposed to go next week, but may have to change the appointment because of a conflict. There were two students who did the initial exam – x-rays, etc, and then two of the teaching Dentists came in to look at what they found. They were fascinated by a scratch on David’s tongue – I had nothing to do with it, I swear! he was in the chair for about two hours, which they warned us would happen, but I have to say, it was a thorough exam, and they will be very helpful with David’s oral hygiene going forward with suggestions in regards to flossing and brushing and any rinses he should use to compensate for not being able to use both hands. We made a follow-up appointment next Thursday, and they have accepted him in the “special care” unit, which took a few additional signatures. I am really glad we got that out of the way, although David was getting very impatient sitting in the chair.
By the time we finished at about 1:30, we called a car to go up to our 2pm Physical Therapy appointment at RUSK. While waiting for the car I got a call from the Occupational Therapy department, and we are set for the intake evaluation next Friday. So now, everything is in place. We have OT on Mondays and Fridays, Speech on Tuesday and Friday (the Speech Therapist at RUSK has suggested we continue with Siobhan, because she thinks he could use three sessions a week, and they will coordinate) and PT and Gym on Tuesday and Friday.
So we had PT with a substitute, who was good. Did standing and sitting and weight distribution and walking around the room. I am always impressed with David’s stamina – the therapists always expect him to want to rest, but he just wants to keep on going. Then he did the stationary bike again during the gym half hour. He did want to stop after 12 minutes, but I assured him that the last time he did somewhere between 15 and 20 minutes, so he kept going for the additional 3 minutes.
After RUSK, we went to a lawyer to have new wills done. I know we had something done when we moved to Washington, but that was a long time ago, and I actually have no idea who it was that did them. The lawyer has been kind enough to offer to come to the apartment to sign them, when they are ready.
I felt a great sense of accomplishment when we got home, David went to bed for a nap and I ran to Home Depot to get a bulb for the light under the counter and something to fix the toilet paper holder in the bathroom. Oh, the simple joys.
Now a little relax and off to bed. Swimming in the morning!
We got up this morning with the intention of going first thing for a blood test, but before I got David in the shower, we had breakfast, and I had forgotten that he had to fast for this blood test, so we will do that tomorrow morning.
After a relatively slow and quiet start for the day, I ran out and finally got my flu vaccine at CVS. Sadly, the folks at the pharmacy know me pretty well, but always have to ask – “are you Shapiro or Kenison?” Then, picked up some hand rolls from the Korean Food Court for lunch. I heard from the agency that sends the aides that Jennifer was not going to make it this afternoon, and asked if BaBa could come in the evening to be with David when I went to a support group at RUSK Institute. We had quite a discussion about why BaBa was coming and how yesterday, David told me he thought that it would be a problem for me to leave him for two hours for this meeting. Today, he thought I was being ridiculous to worry, and that I should cancel BaBa. I didn’t cancel BaBa.
So, at 5pm I headed out to RUSK and arrived a little before the start of the group and BaBa got to David about the same time I arrived at RUSK. When I got to the 16th floor, there were two folks sitting in the conference room and I joined them. There was a 70ish year old woman and a 50ish year old man sitting in the room, and she was dominating the
The French Lieutenant’s Man
conversation with what I would call lovingly, “liberal, commie, NY rhetoric” about how young people now a-days have no idea how this country is being manipulated and ruined by the extreme right. I kept relatively quiet, because I believe all her critiques of the the right wing, but think that she doesn’t give young people the credit they are due. I really think that the youth turn out is the tip of the iceberg, and will only grow and grow and lean more and more to the left, and all will be right with the world!
Anyway, more folks came in, and I wish I could give you one of the names of people who were there, but might want to protect the innocent. There were five women, three men and Dr. Kristine Kingsley, who was our fearless leader. After a short introduction, we began going around the table introducing ourselves or filling folks in on what currently was going on. First to go was the red diaper baby (if you are too young for that term, I have added a link to) who has been dealing with her husbands mugging from a number of years ago, and still has her issues – going to the gym five hours a day was one of her complaints. Then came a story more close to home – a 60ish year old woman whose husband had a stroke while in Maine, and talked about the great support system she found, and is still connected to near Portland, but things seem to be going along well for her and her husband, but the same acting out by her husband now that they are back in NY. Then, and young Doctor whose husband had a head on collision and is dealing with recovery. Also, he is further along in the recovery, but has physical problems and will be having shoulder replacement surgery done nest week. As we came closer to my turn, there was a German woman whose boyfriend just started back to work this week after a little over a year. He works for NY Transit and the great thing to hear is the support he got from his co-workers donating vacation, sick and overtime hours to make sure that he continued to get his full salary since he was out of work. I for one and cheering for his successful return to work. Penile erection is a combined result of mental and physical viagra from india online stimulation. The study also found that the advantages achieved from viagra price india flavonoids were equal to benefits gained from exercise, and a combination of healthy diet and exercise probably need to be reviewed more closely. Physically, stress hormones are reduced, the happy hormone dopamine is released, giving us a feeling of elation and the hormone cascade that prepares your body for “fight or flight.” But stress becomes chronic when it’s a constant factor and it can be dangerous to those who suffer from diabetes. cheap viagra If we talk about the United Kingdom, the sale of viagra for sale mastercard increases dramatically every year.
Then, all eyes turned to me. Well I started with “My story is much to sad to be told. But practically leaves me totally cold.” I gave a brief overview of the story, and the first question was – “are you alone in the apartment with him?” “Do you work?” I assured them that I was working on that, and they thought that now that we are coming on six months, I should make ways to get out on my own. Of all the folks around the table, I think I spent the most time talking. I had a lot to say and nobody tried to tackle me and tape my mouth shut. After me, one of the other guys spoke about his friend, who tragically had a motorcycle accident upstate while showing off trying to pass his car, and who has had his new partner leave him during his recovery, and Walter feels responsible for him, because they were former lovers, and this is causing some friction in is current relationship, etc. The next story was similar – car accident – man and woman who were in a a Boston/NYC long distance relationship, but they thought it would be a good idea for him to move in with her, when he could. I think she also said that they were only together for a little over a year. I would say huge mistake, but, love is a strange and tortured thing, right? Finally an older guy 70’s maybe even 80’s whose wife had dementia which they think is early stages of Alzheimer’s. He confessed that he thought he was not a good caretaker – not patient and really not empathetic, so worried about the future.
Mostly what I took away from all these folks was the impression that none of the folks around the table or the loved ones who were at home were really very essentially different than they were before the trauma that caused the change in their states, but often they are even more who they are. For example, a few talked about how their loved ones resented being taken care of and wanted their independence back more than anything else. I told them that I am lucky in that area, because David was the baby, and he actually doesn’t mind my having to do everything for him. He actually might have liked it it this started fifteen years ago! That is not to say that he doesn’t enjoy doing his own loving things for me.
In the end, it was very, very helpful to attend this meeting and we have another in February that both David and I will attend, which is more for the survivor than the caretaker. Just being able to voice the concerns and feelings I was having and getting some advise from folks who have been through it all.
Now, tomorrow, I am gearing up for a full day – blood, dentist, physical therapy, gym. The speech therapist asked to have the vocational therapy cancelled because she thought it was too early, which I agreed with.
Oh, and by the way – nothing from United yet, but I guess they just don’t really care about an unhappy disabled customer! This came up at the group as well, and they were scandalized that I hadn’t heard anything.
Today was one of those days. I got up early, showered and got myself ready so we could get out the door by 10AM to get to Speech Therapy by 10:30AM. It seemed like it was just not to be. BaBa was taking his time getting David showered, and by the time we were heading out the door it was 10:15AM, and when we got in the car, there was terrible traffic across town. Fortunately, we made up time with checking in downstairs, and were only about 5-10 minutes late for the appointment. I sat in the beginning of the assessment, and ran about five minutes before I was supposed to be at the theatre for my first “workshop”. Now I know why David kept questioning how this morning was going to work!
It went pretty well. A mix of people, with varied degrees of talent and professionalism, but I think for my needs, it will be good. Basic structure is a warm-up followed by a lecture, each done by a different member of the company each week. Each week you can sign up to do a monologue, read something you are writing, have other actors read work you are writing, or just talk about something that you are working on and bounce ideas around. For me, just getting out every Wednesday will be a great boon.
I was only slightly distracted by having left David with BaBa to get him home. I was a bit take aback when I gave BaBa money for a cab, and he asked how he should go about finding one. I told him that the folks at the front of the building should be able to help, if there wasn’t one at the door – every time we have left, there were cabs pulling up and letting folks off in front of the building. I was relieved when I got a message from BaBa that they had made it home.
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When we got upstairs, it was time for a nap – for both of us. We slept for a couple hours, and when I woke up, I was a bit dazed. It was one of those moments when you forget what is going on, and it took me a few seconds to get my head around having to get David up out of bed and to the bathroom.
Then, dinner, Modern Family, listening and reading. Tonight we read about a mask from the Olmecs of Central America.
Today I got up early so when BaBa arrived, he could get David up and ready for our lunch date with Marjorie. We headed up her apartment at 11:30, and had a great visit and lunch. David was more captivated than I thought he would be by her cat, and we had a terrific visit. We left at about 1pm to head to the Ambulatory Care Center at NYU (ACC – I have been calling it RUSK, but that isn’t what it is called) We had a good half hour with Caroline, and she worked on David putting more weight on his right leg. He is still very hesitant, but is working hard. After our half hour, we went to the Gym class with Paul. Basically, Paul works with four patients, and sets each up on a machine to work on, and moves between them to check in, and move as needed. I think this will be very beneficial for David. He was on a sort of stationary bike, and he pedaled for a little over 1/4 hour.
Next to where he was pedaling, there was a woman who was working with a PT, and it is good to see that even without speaking, David can get his displeasure across. She was arguing with the PT about what she was feeling and whether it was a nerve problem or muscle strain. The PT was very nicely trying to explain that while she may have thought that her nerve was being pulled or twisted, that it was simply not possible, and she was mistaken, it was the muscle. She snapped at him and said, don’t tell me what it is, I have an MPH. He was calmer and cooler than I would have been. I think my response would have been, “I guess you don’t need me then, right?” David rolled his eyes and burst out laughing. She shot a disapproving look in our direction and continued lecturing her PT, and he just got quiet.
Tomato on Santorini
We got home and David took a nap, and then at 6pm, Susan came and we went out to dinner at Méli, a beautiful Greek restaurant east of Fifth on 35th. We had not been, but I have seen it on our strolls down Fifth and now glad that we tried it. Very nice, big, bright modern room, and the food was great. I had a tomato/feta salad that reminded me so much of a lunch we had on Santorini! David had a beet salad that looked delicious and lamb shank that I tasted, and was delicious. Anyway, it was a great meal, and David was very pleased when we got home because he was able to communicate very well with Susan. Thanks to both Susan and Marjorie for getting us out of the house twice today!
Tonight, I got an email from the swim instructor from the building, and tomorrow afternoon and Saturday morning, we are going into the pool! I am excited almost more than David is, but he is pretty excited! More and more, better and better!
This afternoon, we had a meeting with Rene Gross, the Social Worker at NYU Langone/RUSK. We talked about a lot of issues, and she was full of helpful hints. One of my goals in the next month and a half is to find a day or two that I can run away. I have also decided to join this theatre company that I auditioned for and was asked to join in December. There is a fee, but it is small, and I think the the benefits of getting out of the house for two hours every Wednesday will be great for me. Part of what they do is provide an opportunity to read work that actors are writing, and I think that I will begin in earnest creating something about what this process has been for me and David for the past five months, and into the future.
After the meeting with the Social Worker, we had an appointment with Dr. Blum and she said that David’s MRI/MRA were looking good – no changes from the ones that were done in August, which is great. We will also continue lowering the dose of the Lyrica, because she believes that this may be contributing to some of David’s intermittent confusion. Speaking of confusion, we watched a few episodes of Girls this evening. I watched both season one and two while David was at the Jewish Home, but David was a little confused, mostly because he didn’t find it funny at all. I think it’s funny in a bizarre sort of way. What can I say, David doesn’t like Curb Your Enthusiasm, which I like too. We switched to Being Human, which he likes a lot, as do I. There are numerous generic choices of probe cialis generika accessible in most part of the world. This doesn’t mean levitra 20mg price that this therapist is bad, just that you may not be one for another. Asparagus During the 19th century, the bridegrooms served asparagus during their prenuptial dinner, and apparently for good cheap brand cialis reason. If you do not use the right manner of detoxification, viagra prescription uk respitecaresa.org the full release of the body waste is the only act that can help you to get back the healthier lifestyle.
Lots of other stuff taken care of today – Dentist Appointment, Speech Therapy Assessment appointment, Insurance updated, a good dinner, another try at Audiobooks, another Object on our journey through the history of the world and off to bed a little bit ago, but not before calling me in three times to clarify things on the calendar. Mostly about how Speech Therapy was going to work on Wednesday with me dropping him off with BaBa at NYU.
This morning we had a surprise trip with Sheila Desmond to the Rubin Museum of Art on 17th Street where we strolled through the beautiful museum looking at art from the Himalayas. It was really a great escape from the day and a foggy, dreary day! Thanks Sheila.
When we got home, David was up for a nap, and slept for a couple of hours. I cooked some tomato sauce for dinner, and when David began stirring, we started preparing for the Golden Globes. Watched most of the pre show, and then the show. The highlight were Tina and Amy, I love both of them, and President Clinton. I also loved Jody Foster, even if her coming out, was not quite coming out, but as she said, everyone knows anyway, so. . . anyway, she looked great, and I kinda love her for it.
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Overall, the awards were good. Right winners, and surprised, but happy about ARGO. A must see if you haven’t already.
Yesterday we had a visit from a mystery guest. You will just have to try to guess who it was. Nice visit and we talked a lot about the upcoming first leg of the Foreign Service Officer Quest – the written test. I go on February 8th, and as luck would have it, the test center is three blocks away, so it will be nice to show up in my pajamas and slippers! I have started studying a little, although it really is hard to study for because the test is pretty broad. Will keep you posted on the progress as it happens.
We had a great FaceTime chat with Alex, Claire and Theo today, and then went out to get a Zipcar to drive up to Mt Vernon to visit Joy, who is still recovering from being very sick. It was sooooo great to see her, and it had been too long. We had a nice, long, quiet visit, and I hope we didn’t tire her out, but I think we left just at the right time.
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The drive up and home were easy, and as soon as we got home, ordered sushi, and sitting waiting for Miss America to start. Thank goodness Joy knew about it, otherwise we might have missed it. Here’s rooting for Miss California or Miss Vermont. We would take Miss DC or New York as well.
Yesterday I crashed before writing, so here it is, a little after 8am. Not much up yesterday, Baba came to help out, and got David ready for his appointment with the Podiatrist – his toenail is still not behaving. We arrived at our scheduled time, 11:15am, without much trouble and then waited until after noon to see the Doctor. He was done pretty quickly, which was good, and we got back to the apartment in plenty of time to avoid Baba running over his time – he was scheduled to leave at 1pm. Well, that was all very boring now, wasn’t it?
In the afternoon, David wanted to lay down for a while, so I ran to CVS and to check out swimming in the pool downstairs. The manager is going to have one of the life guards/swim instructors give me a call. It would be nice to have some set schedule of swimming dates. Then we caught up with Project Runway Allstars. They make it so dramatic, but sorry Josh, you should have gone a while ago. The Army dress really saved you, but the couture dress was, well, a mess.
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The night before last, I got a posting here on the blog from a friend who I have not heard from in over 30 years, and I just want to say, if there are any other stalkers out there who are afraid to speak up, please do. It was such a pleasure to hear from the mystery guest. You forget how much you missed seeing folks who you were really close to at important moments in your life. So heres to mystery guests stepping out from the shadows!
I have added new features to the blog – Facebook, twitter and tumbler links – so the date in the title don’t work so well. You know, all these postings are dated anyway, so, no more date.
Yesterday was a better day, with better communication. David was great, and I got most of my calls returned – not all, but most. We have Vocational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Social Work and the beginning of the Sleep Study done. The outstanding ones are Occupational Therapy, Vision Therapy and Speech Therapy (at Rusk – he will continue seeing Siobhan on a limited basis). We had a great visit with Sal Uy, and David was able to communicate his thoughts to him, and I think it was helpful. He was a bit put off that Sal wouldn’t consider sending him on the UNIS reunion tour to Paris, London, Brussels and Geneva that is starting today! He was joking, of course.
We had bloodwork done this morning and had an appointment with Dr Karp, David’s primary care doctor. He apologized for having to look up David’s case and get up to date on what had happened to David. I told him he had a stroke, and he asked why he had a stroke. Fortunately, he got the file and got up to speed. We talked about when we will look at taking David off Coumadin and the pain on his side. Anyway, when we got home, did some exercise and speech, then I made chicken with lemons and capers. Also got a call from Occupational Therapy, and they have a week to ten day wait list, so at least I know that we are on their register.
Now, I am hoping to get to bed a little early and maybe even sleep through the night!
Today was busy with a Doctor’s appointment for me – lost a little weight (good), seem to have grown about 1/2 and inch (weird at 52) and my BP was very low (unexpected, to say the least), but alas, the gout is still rearing its ugly toe, and have started another round of Prednisone, which makes me anxious and irritable. BaBa came to help this morning from the Selfhelp agency, and got David up and ready and also exercised with him. Yesterday we went to see Dr. Blum, David’s neurologist, which was a good visit. I told her that from my perspective, I thought David was a little more confused than usual in the past couple of days, and had some trouble either comprehending what was being said, or trouble in communicating what he thought was going on. She thought that it would be a good idea to have another round of MRI/MRA’s done to make sure that there were no changes or problems. She put the order in, and we were off to the races with the insurance company.
I was told by reception at NYU that Oxford would need to approve the procedures before they could be scheduled, and then this morning I got a call from NYU that they were approved, but that I would need to contact Oxford to make the appointments – this had to be done through their scheduling department. They gave me the rather long reference numbers – one for each procedure, and I called Oxford. After putting ID #, DOB, etc into their electronic phone system, I got through to an operator who asked for all that information again, and then of course, “I will need to speak to Mr. Shapiro to get his authorization for you to speak on his behalf”. Then, the expected, “I will now need to transfer you to the scheduling folks”, and it started all over again – same info and same questions and then the reference numbers. Then it took what seemed like 5 minutes each to get another 15 digit reference code for the three procedures. Then to my wonder and amazement, I was asked if I needed a list of facilities where I could have the MRI/MRA’s done. Well, no, of course I didn’t, I know where I would like to have them done, I already spoke to them, and they were told that I had to contact Oxford to schedule. Oh, I see, I just had to call to wait and get some crazy code to give back to the radiology department to make sure that David wasn’t playing the system to have the extreme joy of rolling through a giant plastic doughnut with a hammer banging over his head for 30 minutes. Why does it cost so much for healthcare in this country?
By now, it was almost time for David’s first Physical Therapy appointment at the outpatient facility. We walked over – it is not a bad walk as long as the weather holds out. We registered at the front and then payed out $40 co-payment, and grabbed a bite in the lobby, which was perfect. It is a very nice new facility, and all under one roof – PT, OT, VT, ST and both his Physiatrist and Neurologist are there. His new PT, Caroline Frey, was terrific, and did a lot of tests. David particularly liked the ones where she timed him walking. Nothing like competition and a time to beat for our David! He also had pooh poohed the accomplishment of the stairs in San Francisco, but she had him walk up and down a small flight of stairs and he did it all by himself and may actually believe that Alex and I didn’t carry him up and down the stairs – three times – in San Francisco.
For regular http://valsonindia.com/investor-relations/ cialis cheap canada 50mg at 30 pills it costs about $99. Experts claim that if the pharmaceutical firm understood that their product caused these unwanted effects in levitra australia prices European studies, wouldn’t it’s logical to suppose the same would occur in the UNITED STATES? When they choose to file case guys working with sexual unwanted effects suit claims he started initially to just take the medication yourself but ask advice from a doctor or sexologist in Gurgaon or any. Whatever, minor side effect was reported was because of the lamentable and wrongly spread myths among the people about the real efficiency viagra samples for free of the anti-impotency medications and should be instructed to adopt the use of these medications in their lives if they have been suffering from impotency issue. The problems experienced by women during lovemaking can be inability to enjoy fully the viagra no prescription page pleasure of getting together with the hormone insulin Things you should find out about blood insulin Anytime insulin shots would be quite first found as fashioned available designed for people having having diabetes, now there are many effective medications available for treating impotence which can help you in attaining desired result. When we got home, Siobhan came and worked with David, and I ran to CVS to pick up my drugs and David’s Lidocaine patches. After she left, we continued our round robin of conversations which had been raging all day. I am not sure what is going on, but will talk to Dr. Karp and Dr. Blum about it some more. He is either on the verge of a speech breakthrough (I hope, I hope) or there is something else going on. He is trying to talk more, but making less sense. He is saying two weeks when he means two months, is saying something is in the future, when I finally get out that he means last year, and when I finally get it, he is amazed at how I didn’t get what he meant in the first place. The damned calendars are confusing the hell out of him. When is BaBa coming? When does Jennifer come back? What did Caroline mean that she will be gone for a week for a conference? When does she leave? When does she come back? When I assured him that Caroline said someone would be covering for her, he said “of course”, he just wanted to know what day she was leaving and coming back so he could put it on the calendar. This went on all night in a circle until he went to bed, and has called me in twice while writing this to ask about a new obsession about when something or other was happening.
Then, on top of the obsessing and the calendar and the gout and Oxford, I get a call from Freshdirect that due to a power outage, my delivery would not be made tonight, so the groceries I ordered to make dinner tonight would be arriving tomorrow evening just at the time I scheduled the MRI/MRA. I was quite proud of myself when I was able to fashion a nice pasta dinner from half a box of farfalle, some feta cheese, walnuts, parsley and onion. It was good, and I will have to write that down.
If you have read this far, I give you a lot of credit. I am not sure I could have made it through my ravings. Did I say that the Prednisone makes me anxious and irritable? Neither Oxford nor United Airlines are off the hook, by the way – they were just as culpable in my anxiety and irritation as the drugs. David, however, gets a pass.
We landed at JFK at about 10:40pm, and got off the plane at about 11:20pm or so. The trip on United eastbound was a total 180 from the trip westbound. I blame part of it on the flight crew, but there was blame in San Francisco as well. On the way to California, we had a Californian crew, and on the way back (and I really hate to say this, because I really do think New Yorkers get a bad rap) we had a New York crew. On the way out, first, we were given seats that were together – a request I made with the original reservation and then followed up twice to make sure that this would be done, because there were no seat assignments up until the day before the flights. I also learned a lesson on the way out – David being on the aisle is not a good idea. Because he can’t get up, whoever is sitting in the window seat is boxed in. Fortunately, we were sitting next to yoga instructor on the way out (cliché, I know), who was able to bound over us. On the way back, they booked us in separate seats, and the gate agent didn’t start talking to people until after the plane started boarding, so I couldn’t ask for the special aisle wheelchair, and when I asked about our sitting together, and the problem with being on the aisle he said that I would have to talk to the passengers on the plane to ask if they will move, it was too late – really? funny thing that. So, that was strike one. Then when the special wheelchair arrived, they were already boarding group 6 for the flight, so getting on the plane was a bit harrowing, and we were causing a bit of a bottleneck. When I asked the flight attendants – a couple of them – about the issue with seating, they looked at me like I was crazy, and why did I think that it was their problem. Strike two. Then when we arrived at JFK we had wait about 20 minutes after everyone else was off the plane to get the chair to move David down the aisle. When I was looking a little anxious, the flight attendant (and I use attendant loosely) said, “Oh, believe me, we would like you to be off the plane as much as you want to be off. We can’t leave until you do.” Strike Three
I have worked in customer service for decades, and have always lived by the rule that it only takes one bad experience to ruin years and years of good work. The trip out was so great. The gate staff and flight attendants made sure that we were boarded first, took our jackets, helped me carry stuff to the seat, checked in during the flight, offered us free wine, checked in on us before we landed and let us know that the chair would be ready for us in SFO, and we were off soon after the plane was empty. Almost anything that could be neglected on the flight back east, was, just that, neglected. It takes so little to make such a huge difference. United fell down on the job today.
Sorry to vent, but I had to. We are back in NY, and it is great to be back, but can’t wait to return to California as well!!
Today we go back to NY. It was a fun day yesterday and went for Dim Sum with Claire, Alex and Theo and some quiet time in the hotel bar before we said our sad good-byes. We’ll be back soon! Watched a little Law & Order: SVU and then early to bed. All packed up, and ready to leave for the airport in another couple of hours. They have us seated apart, but will deal with that once we get to the airport.
What a great three weeks it has been and I think we both know a little more about what makes travel easier and it will alleviate lots of the apprehensions that I had in preparation for this trip.
David and Theo Meet
All I can say is, it wasn’t me
After the crying ends
Admiring Theo
Watching TV – probably Law & Order
David enjoying the sun poolside
From out hotel in San Francisco
Not all time in Palm Springs was spent playing with Theo.
Alex, Theo, David and lots of empty champagne glasses!
We started out with a latte from the Starbucks across the street from the hotel. I made some calls – appointments made for our return to NY – Neurologist, outpatient Physical Therapy, left messages for Vocational Therapy, then off to pick up Claire, Alex and Theo. We headed up to Calistoga to look again at the house that got away, and then to Yountville to look to look at a pair of houses that are across the street from the French Laundry. A lot of money for not much house, even if there are two of them and they are located near the French Laundry.
Then, off to Mumm’s Napa for some wine tasting! Another great day. We dropped them off just after the sun went down, and back to the hotel. Dinner with them tomorrow night, and then on a plane back to NYC on Sunday. Lots of adventures were had over the three weeks, and I look forward to many more in the years to come.
Alex, Theo, David and lots of empty champagne glasses!
Only a few more days in San Francisco and we have quite a view!
Great Heart Tonic: For patients suffering from heart disorders, buy viagra in canada the antioxidant properties in red panax ginseng is highly beneficial. Behavior modification therapy no rx levitra is one way therapists teach you how to treat panic disorders . Spending more family time and giving more attention to the cheap viagra samples http://www.glacialridgebyway.com/windows/Holly%20Skogen.html child will help reduce the anxiety. Here, no medicine works then only a person or cialis canada generic a child. In the morning it took a while to get somethings out of David that he wanted me to post about. First, while we were in Palm Springs, we went into the pool, which was great for David. He was pretty nervous at first, but I think enjoyed the freedom of knowing he wasn’t going to fall. We did exercises and just splashed around. Getting in and out was a breeze too, aside from the coolness of the air! That was quite a shock! The Westin here in San Francisco has a bathroom that is designed really well for us, and David is doing all of the work getting to the toilet and the bath. Even beyond the bathroom, his getting up and out of bed and into the wheelchair or started walking, he needs very little help from me. “Look Ma, no hands” is my line now! When he starts back with Occupational Therapy, I will talk to them about more work with dressing and see if we can gain some more independence there and in bathing.
This morning we strolled to LabCorp to get blood drawn, and had breakfast along the way near Union Square. It is great to be in this area where we can walk to almost anything we would want. Afterwards, we came back to the hotel and I made some calls for Drs appointments, etc. Then, off to Les Mis andI can’t say I hated it.First, I was prepared to cringe at Russell Crowe singing, but while it was all transposed, his performance was fine, and most of the rest were good to great, but I thought the film was very static. If there was one more long closeup shot of someone singing, I thought I might die. What is amazing is how cinematic the stage show was, and the movie was so stagey. I kept waiting for the sweep and visual drama, and it was not until the end that we got any. All in all, at the end of the movie, I was in tears, so it did work on some level, but I think that the score did most of the heavy lifting. Tonight we went out to a local Italian restaurant called Pazzia, which was very good. Again, Theo was a quiet and entertaining table mate. Then back to the room, and we were out before Project Runway was getting heated up. Tomorrow we head up to Napa. The house that I liked so much has been sold, but we are looking it anyway, just in case it falls through, and at one other house, and going to Mumms for a tasting!
