Day 19

March 15, 2012

Marcie is now blogspot Queen after this post.  Her posts will be short and less frequent (weekly), she tells me.

Andrew is a busy guy.  He is getting lots of support in his new surroundings.  He is making progress every day.  When you are 18 and you have experienced life on basic hospital food, it is a big day when you are told that you can eat a 'general diet'...well, it wasn't fondue and not even bacon, but the first thing was a McDonald's milkshake and french fries.  He is eating everything in sight after losing some of that rowing muscle.  Mobility is improving and we have gone from laying in a hospital bed to becoming ever more mobile, being back on Facebook (if only as an observer...no replies just yet but that will come), a phone call or two to some of his friends, visits from grandparents, aunts and cousins, and of course lots of hospital work to get him going.  He has come a long way in two and a half weeks and we are amazed and blessed.  If you are 18 years old, one could argue that your life is pretty good when it involves a few of your friends, McDonald's, and Facebook.  Andrew will start to take a few phone calls with approval from Marcie (and she would like to be called the "Great Wall of China"), because there has to be tremendous order in Andrew's life as he recovers and she will control visits from family and friends, phone calls and other outside interactions; all key to keeping Andrew on the path to a great recovery.

Steve has returned to work and can't wait for the phone calls to Andrew in the morning and evening as Andrew recovers his energy and tells him about the day's events.  Friends have kept Steve well-fed and so thanks for that.  His next project will be to help create a way for desperate families to navigate the Vancouver International Airport in times of severe emotional distress when trying to reach loved-ones in far away places when a missed plane connection may mean enduring the possibility of loss of the chance to see a critically ill or dying family member...it was by a stroke of luck that we made it to see Andrew quickly on the horrible day two and a half weeks ago; thanks again go out to two people who broke rules to help after pleading our cases.  There is no such fast track process in our international airport to move a desperate family through the ticketting, screening and customs process...that is something that Steve is going to work hard to change so that no family ever has to go through the dreaded uncertainty of not spending precious moments with a loved family member in times like this.  Stay tuned.