Bill: Weds. March 5: off to the Bay Area!

Today is Eight Months.

Bill and Ayn are fans of Grateful Dead music. This past week they set off to Terrapin Crossroads, a venue in the Bay Area for Deadheads! 

Here they are, preparing to go through TSA screening.  The agents were very nice.  Bill had called TSA the day before their flight, and got direct calls back from PDX and SFO within 20 minutes. An agent met us at the airline counter for the escort back. (The airline agent, however, was a bit of a ditz, but nothing fatal.)  As I watched from afar, I saw that the couldn't stack their electronics in one of those slide-through bins.  SO: one bin for a Mac Air, another bin for the other Mac Air, one bin for the two iPads, one bin for cell phones and one pair of shoes.  By the time they were ready to go to the hand screening area, I believe their were four or five agents to push him, carry his cane, and carry all the bins and carry-ons.

Bill posted various pics on Facebook, so if you're connected to him, these are just repeats.

The view from their first class, first row seat (you are looking at the flight attendant's jump seats).

First class appetizer

To get from the airport to their hotel, they had three buses. Two good drivers, one jerk. I guess that happens, but I have to believe humanity is better than that, and they just got a bad draw.
 
  Front row seats for the shows

 
 

Bill: week ending Feb. 28: two therapies, short shopping, long walk

Yes, Bill had PT and OT this past week. 

OT continues to work a lot on hand and shoulder stretches, as well as overall alignment.

PT was asked by Bill and Ayn to specifically work on getting into and out of the airplane seat. Next week is their trip to the Bay area.  Lucky them, they are flying first class so there is more room. The team worked through a mock setup of how tight the area might be, where Ayn should stand, and some other tips. 

After therapies, there was a short trip to Whole Foods. Oh, we also went by the post office, thinking we might try for the passport  again, but realized Bill's wallet (with both their ID's) was back at the apartment. Oh, well, another time when we can get there right at 9:00.

Speaking of the apartment, once we were back, Bill wanted to go outside and take a longer walk. It went well, even with a bit of wind chill, and he covered about 60 feet. The last part was even a little uphill. 

One final good note of progress: over the prior week, Ayn has been able to change her position for helping him stand from a chair. She had been at his front/side, stabilizing the left knee and helping with a p-u-l-l.  He doesn't need the knee help now, so she can stand behind and give ever-so-slight of a push when needed. Much easier and safer for her back and shoulder.  She's pretty small, and Bill's fairly big, so we have all worried about her getting injured. 

So as always, Hooray Bill!

Bill: Fri. Feb 21: gotta love DMV

As a retired government employee, I fully sympathize with the workers who are harangued with the stereotype "bureaucrat."  BUT why does a trip to DMV always reinforce the thought?  Ayn was finally able to go get her name updated -- oh, a different bureaucratic story about getting a copy of her out-of-state birth certificate. One and one-half hours. We pulled number 65 at 9:18. They were on number 36.  I was rather concerned 20 minutes later when they had advanced by just four customers. We left the office at 10:45.

Off to the post office to apply for passports. We had to give up on waiting there so I could get back home for hubby's appointment. Blah. Next week.

But the good news about covering DMV is that Bill and Ayn shouldn't have any travel security issues when they fly in two weeks!  Ayn's new last name (go, Jackson!) will match between her ID and the ticket.

Observation on Bill's progress: his standing from a chair, and his transfer in/out of the car are much stronger and smoother each time I see him.

Bill: week ending Valentine's Day, Fri. Feb 14: yes, he had therapies

Yes, Bill had therapies on Thursday, back-to-back-to-back. I noticed improvement in his left leg for standing, and for getting in and out of the car.

Perhaps we can get Bill to post on update on his speech therapy.  I (Julie) was busy 'playing' with the pharmacy refill. Skipping the play-by-play,  let me just say it took the duration of  two hours of his therapies, four trips to the pharmacy window, and one trip upstairs to his doctor's office to get the med we tried to get LAST week. Luckily, he wasn't out yet.

Physical therapy was with a new therapist. She promises she has already had her children (last therapist is on maternity leave) and isn't having any surgeries (the prior-prior therapist). She had him standing and weight shifting to the left to build some more confidence in the left leg. Another standing exercise was alternate foot taps up to step platform.

During the transition from PT to OT, they all talked about Bill and Ayn's planned trip to Northern California in early March. 

Sadly, I missed most of Occupational therapy, making appointments through March. And making the third of those four trips to the pharmacy window.

After therapy reward: Ayn and I went to the Apple store to get Bill's new Mac Air!  If you haven't seen them, they are very slick, very light.  I think said his older Mac Pro is six years old (that's about 120 in computer-life years, isn't it?).

Bill: Social Security usually good service but...

Bill was required by Long-Term Disability to also apply for Social Security Disability benefits.  Dealing with SS has been fairly easy: initial on-line application, papers sent, signed, turned in documents to be copied at the local SS office -- well, a bit of a wait there, and the security screening, but not a big deal.

Until

Yesterday. I called to update, as required, that there had been a new doctor and a new test. The message was to expect a 50 minute wait, but I could request a call back instead, and not lose my place in line. Good deal. The call was a little more than an hour later. FIRST the guy couldn't find Bill's case in the system. "Did you apply on-line or in an office?"  He asked this three times as I hear his keyboard tapping. Yes, applied Online, papers received, turned in, additional documents....  "Okay, my fault, I see it but... Can you hold?" 

Sure.

I park at the outlet stores, walk in, make my purchase, and he finally comes back on the line.

"The case is completely under the control of the local office now, so here is the number."  But he gives me a number that is disconnected.  So I got the number from my paperwork when I got home.  Silly me, trying to take care of administrative stuff during drive time.

Bill: Fri. Feb. 7: cancels; trips (as in travel, not falling)

Yes, Thursday therapies were canceled for the weather.  Bill and Ayn planned to do lots of work at home.

Trips: Earlier this week, Bill booked the four of us (he, Ayn, me, hubby) to take a cruise to Alaska! We made our first deposits yesterday. Now to look for the best trip insurance...  Our travel is end of August / early September.

[Hey, Brooke, we are carrying on Grandma's tradition of being gone for your birthday!]

Another travel plan: in just a month, Bill and Ayn are going to the Bay area. It will take a little planning (and maybe some practice), but it could be a great adventure for them!

TOMORROW is seven months.

215 days

5,160 hours (at 8:00 or 9:00 p.m.)

Bill: Weds. Feb. 5: not legal to drive

Bill had his long-awaited appointment with the neuro-ophthalmologist.  Bottom line: he is not legal to drive, and should not expect to get it back. 

His acuity is fine: that is, his vision using his old glasses is great at 20/20. The health of his eyes is good -- she didn't see any damage at the back of the eye which sometimes occurs with long-term high blood pressure. The problem is that his field of vision is gone on the left side.

Here's more of an explanation, a distinction.  He can see the same out of BOTH eyes. In our eyes, what we see to our left (not with the left eye, but with the left side of each eye) goes to the right side of the brain. The right side is where the stroke damage occurred. And she said that unlike the other left-side damage which may recover completely (his left leg, his left arm), the neuro-optic fibers don't grow back. 

Bill was very calm about it. So was Ayn. And me.  (Yes, if any individual had 'lost it,' we all would have.)  So this is a big change in plans.  They had been talking about two years from now, when his daughter graduates high school, they could buy a motor home.  He could still work from 'home,' they could travel to their music festivals, and continue to enjoy life. 

No, Ayn can't drive because of various sensory issues.

Here is his test result on each eye:

The test description: with a patch covering one eye, he is looking into a box at a center light. When he sees a white light flash somewhere in his field of vision (not moving his head to look for light), he taps a button. The picture above reports black dots for any flash he missed.

So, moving on. Tomorrow's therapies might have to be canceled for weather. Where I live, we have a chance of snow, a higher chance that it won't hit until noon. But it freaks out my husband, so he might get really stressed if I try to get to Portland and back to help with transport to the appointments. And the wind chill is going to be way too low, about 6 degrees, at 7:30 in the morning from them to wait for the streetcar.

Gotta go. Hubby wants to make sure we have enough toilet paper and paper towels (smile, but friends and family know I'm not kidding).