Sunday, October 6th posted 9:45 pm
Yesterday my Mom and I started the day off with a trip to the SICU at Albany
Medical Center. My Mom was going, on the request of AnnMarie, to talk to a
woman whose son had been paralyzed from the waist down and was developing
pneumonia. AnnMarie said the mother was very upset and thought it might help
for her to talk to a mother who had been in a similar situation.
I talked to the nurses who all thought that I was very far along with my
recovery, and I told them about how I'm going to type up the story of my
accident and recovery for the trauma victims story contest. Granted, a lot
of people have had pretty bad trauma nationwide, but I'm gonna give it a
chance and if I'm selected, I get to meet the president. Not that George W.
is my favorite, but that would still be SUPER DUPER cool.
Then my Mom found out that her college roommate BK was going to visit us with
her husband Gibby. My Mom and I made them a welcome sign and wrapped a
couple welcome presents for them. All last minute but cheesily fun. We
discovered a neat restaurant close to the Fisher House called Stephanie's and
had a wonderful dinner. Then we played PASS THE PIGS (my Mom won AGAIN!) and
watched the Red Green Show which is this hilarious show from Canada.
This morning my Mom made the three of us (BK, Gibby and I) scrambled eggs and
then we headed an hour south to Rhinebeck to see the air show at the Old
Rhinebeck Aerodrome. We arrived just in time for the show, which was an
incredibly cheesy melodrama, but outside with planes. Characters with names
like Percy Goodfellow and Trudy Truelove. The day was beautiful, the planes
were cool and it was so corny it was fun. Afterward we stopped at an apple
stand and I gave them a car tour of Bard. We did get out to explore
Blithewood garden at Bard and to enjoy the flowers and incredible view of
the Hudson.
Afterward we ate in Tivoli and then said good-bye to BK and Gibby who were
off to Boston. My Mom and I headed back to Bard to visit Emilie. We had a
hard time finding her room but luckily ran into one of her roommates. We
discovered she was working the phoneathon (calling alums for money) across
campus. We drove over and surprised her there, and she took off working the
pledge phones in order to visit with us. We went to Rhinecliff to get
dessert at Marco Polo's and then dropped Emilie off at her dorm (which is a
killer suite with cool roommates).
Monday I don't have any outpatient therapy so my Mom and I will probably lay
in bed all day and watch bad television. Or perhaps read. HEY, has anyone
read The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy? If so, I'd like to hear what
you thought of it since I started it and am having trouble getting through
it.
(TF) Daniel pretty much covered it, except to say how great it was to see
all the nurses at SICU. Everyone was so nice, we got some great hugs, a
chance to catch up a bit on how everyone is doing, and congratulated Giovanna
on passing her boards...(she is a terrific PCA who looks just like Heidi,
only cuter.)
BK, Gibby and I also filled Daniel in on our own academic exploits while at
Utah State. I'm pretty sure he was in awe of our study habits and hopefully
appreciated our college tales. None of us may have been on academic
scholarship but we certainly had a good time.
The drive home went smoothly once we maneuvered the dark, winding country
roads and got onto the Thruway. We're ready to fall into bed and sleep 'til
noon (actually I just checked and Daniel is already asleep)...we may have
pushed our limits but we certainly enjoyed ourselves. We hope your weekend
was as wonderful as ours, take care and love to all. Toni and Daniel
Monday, October 7th, 2002
(TF) We woke up this morning to overcast, windy skies. A perfect day to
sleep late and stay under the covers. When we did venture out to the kitchen
for breakfast/lunch, Jerry had made a fire in the fireplace and it was very
cozy. One of the volunteers was ill so while Daniel read by the fire, Jerry,
another volunteer and I filled in. It was pretty much like the Three
Stooges...I found I am much better at cleaning up than cooking, but we had a
good time. I also was able to do laundry at the same time (although I found
out it clothes come so much cleaner when you remember to put in the
soap).
Jerry remarked that it is okay for the Angels to win their FIRST championship
since the Yankees have won TWENTY-SIX titles. We are also hoping for an
Angels, Cardinals World Series. Probably, it would be more accurate to say I
am, since Daniel asked if the Angels and Cardinals were both baseball teams.
(Obviously he scored a 1 on his AP Baseball exam.)
Daniel has been coughing on and off for the past week and developed a sore
throat this morning. Without a primary care doctor here we ended up at
Albany Med Urgent Care for three hours this afternoon. Everyone kept
apologizing for having us wait but we explained that having been on both ends
of the scale we were just fine having other people needing help more than we
did. Apparently there is a virus going around that Daniel may have, but
since his lungs sounded good, his throat and tonsils looked okay, his
temperature was normal, and his blood pressure was fine he is just supposed
to rest and take plenty of liquids. We did explain we are erring on the side
of caution these days and after a brief history they agreed it was wise.
We stopped by the local pharmacy for cough syrup and also found Daniel a pair
of gloves...he has the coldest hands in town. Tonight I made him wear them
inside because his hands were freezing when I gave him a high five for
drinking his Boost.
Dinner and an early bedtime for Daniel (he was out by 9:00) completed our
day. Tomorrow we go back to Sunnyview for PT and hopefully a weight check so
I can see if our efforts to bulk him up have been successful. Thanks for all
your support and fun messages...all our love, Toni and Daniel
Tuesday, October 8th, 2002
(DF) Today I woke up with very sore quadriceps. Sitting down made me yelp
like a tortured puppy, but soon my muscles relaxed and I was able to get over
to outpatient physical therapy. There, I clocked in 5 minutes on the
elliptical machine (new record) and 2.5 minutes on the recumbent
bike.
(TF) While Daniel was doing his PT I managed to while away my time on the
treadmill by reading MIDWIFE, a new book I've started. It did take me a few
minutes to find a treadmill to use since someone was on "mine" (the one by
the TV that looks out on the trees), and I couldn't figure out how to make a
couple of others work without having to walk on an incline...no thank you,
I'm a level walker. Since we are both in the same gym I got a chance to
catch a glimpse of him doing his workout. It makes me smile to see his
buffalo hat bobbing in the air as he pedals his heart out.
(DF) After Sunnyview my Mom and I decided to find Lake George for an
afternoon visit. Unfortunately, when we finished the hour+ trek to Lake
George, we arrived at a Lake George that was shut down for the season. The
only thing open was McDonald's and my Mom has waay too much pride to stop
there. So instead we stopped at Friendly's. My Mom got a super huge burger
and I had a somewhat decent chicken wrap.
(TF) In defense of our field trip for today...the drive was beautiful, with
scarlet and gold leaves lining the highway. Lake George seemed like a nice,
picturesque place but it really was pretty much shut down for the season.
AND...the burger I ordered normally is super huge but I asked them to give me
the SMALLER one. And Daniel ate waay more french fries than I did.
(DF) Then we came home and called Betsy and my mom's college roommate, BK,
who visited this past weekend. Afterward my Mom prepared some dinner for me.
Now I'm going to hop into my pajamas and relax, hopefully while watching bad,
bad television.
(TF) We caught Betsy during lunch in her classroom, where she was giving some
students a quiz, and got to catch up on her weekend. She will be moving to
our back house (think large room) some time in October to help defray her
expenses. It will allow her to finish graduate school without taking out
loans. She has transferred to Point Loma and will be finishing at the campus
in Arcadia, so it works out well. Besides, this way we get to see her more
often, even if it's just a quick hug and kiss.
I also tried to reach Dr. Perez-Tamayo, the cardiologist, to see when
Daniel's surgery for the aortic tear will be scheduled. No word yet but his
nurse will try and give us a date within the next couple of days. Coming
home is becoming more of a reality with each passing day...yes!
I'm already in my pajamas (considered waiting for the sun to set but just
couldn't hold off) so I'll join Daniel in our room soon. He may think we're
going to watch more bad TV but I'm going to lobby for THE GOOD EARTH, which
Emilie R. gave to us on tape. I remember reading it in my youth and liking
it very much. I think it would be a good book to introduce to Daniel.
We have a frost warning for tonight. Today was another crisp, clear,
brilliant fall day...wish we could ship you all some foliage and cool
weather. It really is energizing. Take care, stay healthy, and thank you
for thinking of us. Love, Toni and Daniel
Wednesday, October 9th, 2002
(DF) The day started rushed. Running late for our scheduled departure time
made my Mom and I a little crabby. Fortunately, I arrived at Sunnyview just
in time for physical therapy with my therapist, Suzanne. Today we focused
mostly on balance issues. I stood on one foot at a time for 10 very slow
seconds, without wearing my leg brace. Then we tossed a medicine ball back
and forth, at times while I stood on a sheet of foam that made balance much
trickier. Unfortunately, I have a tendency to stand on the outside of my
left foot so that is something I will have to work on.
(TF) I did my usual treadmill and reading routine while Daniel was occupied
with PT. Last night I broke down and read the ending to Midwives, and now
I'm going back and finishing the rest of the book. Quite frankly, it just
was too much for me to wait to find out what the verdict in the trial was
going to be. (Sort of like finding out the results for the Olympics before
watching the competition...once I know I can relax and enjoy the
outcome.)
(An aside)...MH, Daniel thought this whole time that when you were talking
about pitchers and batters you were referring to restaurant stuff, not
baseball. With your connection to Green Street and all it was a natural
mistake...
(DF) Afterward we went to Starbucks and stopped at a Stewart's Store to pick
up some milk and a NY Lottery ticket (this jackpot: $27M). Lunch was fine,
and once we cleaned up my Mom and I listened to The Good Earth on CD
(birthday gift from Emilie Richardson).
(TF) The Good Earth is as captivating as I remember. There is also something
very soothing about listening to it on CD. Luckily my middle-age memory
helps me to sense that the story is familiar, without really remembering much
about the novel, so it is almost brand new.
Daniel took a nap while I read some e-mails, checked out the AUSD counseling
website to see some familiar faces and places...(I do miss the people, I do
miss the interviews for recommendation letters, I don't miss actually writing
the letters). I also sorted through some of the paper "stuff" we have
accumulated over the past months. I have about fifteen phone numbers, on
random scraps of paper, odd envelopes, etc. that I am certain are important,
but unfortunately most have no names attached. (Some things in life remain
the same no matter on which coast I reside).
(DF) My Mom cooked dinner (turkey burgers) on the Fisher House's George
Foreman Grill. Although I didn't see it being cooked, my Mom said it worked
well and cleaned up easily. I think the grill looks like a clam
puppet.
(TF) What Daniel was too polite to mention was that we didn't have any
catsup, the burgers were pretty dry but he was a good sport anyway. Luckily,
spinach souffle from Stouffer's saved the meal.
(DF) For the rest of tonight, I'm going to work on scholarship essays and
perhaps listen to more of The Good Earth with my Mom. And I'm going to look
forward to a physical therapy free Thursday. *star* Daniel *heart* Love,
Toni
Thursday, October 10th, 2002
Today my mom and I listened to 6 chapters of The Good Earth. Unfortunately
we both fell asleep during chapter 7 so we'll have to relisten to the story
of the third birth.
We got a call from Dr. Perez-Tamayo's office today to set up the date for my
aortic transsection. I could either choose Oct 29th or Nov 5th. I opted for
the 29th but then received a call only ten minutes later from his office
again. Since the doctor wants to have another thoracic surgeon attend my
surgery, I have to wait for the two of them to get together and work out a
date that fits both of their schedules.
This evening my mom and I went to the Spectrum (a cool old theater) to see
Moonlight Mile with Susan Sarandon, Dustin Hoffman, and Holly Hunter. The
movie was really goodand well acted, but sort of a downer. It deals with a
family and fiance grieving a dead girl. But it's good, I promise! And it
has an awesome soundtrack with lots of glam rock icons like Bowie, Bolan, and
Gary Glitter.
Then we watched Will & Grace which was funny as usual.
Well, goodnight and I hope everyone is doing well when they read this.
~Daniel
Friday, October 11th, 2002
Hello to everyone. Daniel is already asleep for the night so I will try and
do a quick update (oh sure, you all say). One of the college dorm houses
across the street from Fisher House is having a party with a live band
(notice I didn't say a "good" band). From my perspective it sounds like four
friends who just found out they all brought instruments from home and they
decided to get together and see how they sound...(wait, I take that back, the
drum solo tells me the drummer bought his drums this afternoon).
We started this morning with PT at Sunnyview. Daniel sat on a large ball and
played catch with his therapist, using a medicine ball. This is to develop
balance and upper body strength. He followed this with six minutes on the
elliptical (sp?) bike before he became winded. Apparently he used to be able
to do 45 minutes on the bike at Bard...so he is improving gradually. He
suggested I try the bike instead of the treadmill, since it is more of a
workout (my point exactly for sticking with the treadmill...does he not know
me?).
Waiting outside our door when we returned was a package from the O'Dell
family. Such fun to open, and Daniel was especially delighted because it was
food. Also takes the pressure off of me to decide what and how to cook.
Tomorrow night we shall feast on turkey with a special basting sauce. Thank
you, thank you.
Cathy and Len Hundshamer, celebrating their 25th anniversary with a New
England trip, stopped by to visit and take us to lunch. I know they traveled
quite a ways off their beaten path to see us, which made their visit extra
special. They even brought us a paper jack'o lantern with a light to make
our room festive...(I'm thinking it would be cool in the car some evening
too). Anyway, this is also good because Daniel asked me the other day if I
was going to buy a pumpkin and carve it for him...(hello, maybe the brain
damage is specific to remembering who his mother is).
I read more of my book, Daniel woke up, we finished our lunch sandwiches for
dinner, we put on our pajamas and that about covers our day. It has been
raining, but a nice gentle rain all day and we're hoping for sunshine
tomorrow. Take care, have a good weekend, rest, relax and spend time with
those you love...boy, is it worth it. Love to all, Toni