This post is for Dr. Holtzman

Yesterday I was able to call in for Dad's first care conference. Dr. Hsu started by telling Dad that "treating you, Marty, is like treating five patients together." We all knew Dad always went above and beyond and gave 110% in everything he does.

The purpose of the conference was for everyone involved to report on their particular view and work together to develop a plan for Dad's treatment. We heard from Dr. Hsu, PT, OT, nursing, family services, the case manager, the psychologist,...(now I know how it feels to make an acceptance speech and worry about forgetting someone!) In short, things are pretty much the same as I explained on February 1, although everyone believes Dad has made some great progress since arriving at Craig. The skin sore is still the biggest limitation, but Dad has been able to be up in the power chair about two hours twice a day. He was off the ventilator for eight continuous hours on Monday and the goal, obviously, is to work up to all day. Again, the entire team was very optimistic that Dad would be able to get off the vent.

The best part of the hour long meeting for me...after about seven weeks, I was able to hear Dad talk. Braydon spoke with him last week and I have to agree with what he said. He said Zayde sounded like Mufasa! (btw, Andrew, remember when we used to say "Mufasa" and you would reply, "oooh, it makes me shiver! Say it again!")

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peEkaiRNZoM&feature=related

Dr. Hsu concluded the meeting by saying, "One of the best ways to observe Dad's improvement is simply to "look at the face of his wife." Thanks to one of their new friends at Craig, now everyone can see Dad's improvement. Also, click on the link to see a youtube video of Mom and Dad's re-committment ceremony from Feb. 4.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxQxhZJK9JU

I'll end this post with a quote from Rabbi Harold Kushner, taken from his book When Bad Things Happen to Good People.

"If we think of life as a kind of Olympic games, some of life's crises are sprints.

They require maximum emotional concentration for a short time. Then they

are over, and life returns to normal. But other crises are distance events. They

ask us to maintain our concentration over a much longer period of time, and that

can be a lot harder." (p. 139)