Angela's Blog

What a day! (Again)

I missed the early part of the morning today due to some work training that I couldn’t miss.  But I know that Ang had her work cut out for her.  OT to work on her arm and then stairs again with PT.  After that she had her first evaluation with the neuropsych folks.  We were not allowed to sit in on the evaluation with Ang, but when she told us about it she was very happy with her performance.

The big event for today was heading to the grocery store.  We went to the QFC on Pike and Broadway close to Harborview and right next to where Ang used to live while attending Seattle University.  We got to walk past some of her old haunts such as The “Vomit” Comet as Ang calls it, as well as Balet, Which Ang will let you know has the best noodle bowl in the city.

Ang walked about 500 ft. while doing her grocery shopping.  She was able to use the grocery cart like a walker.  Ang decided that she was going to make French dip sandwiches for her OT exercise.  She had a ten-dollar budget that she did not know about and she also didn’t know that she was only making food for herself.  I don’t think that my wife has ever made food for one person in her life.  Needless to say she bought a half-pound of roast beef and 10 slices of provolone.  I had to explain to the therapist that she is Italian and this is how Ang has always been.

Thank you Amgen folks for bringing the lab gadgets for Ang!  Today was the first day that she has really dug into the box for therapy.  It was awesome to watch her work with the tools.  She has been moving her left hand and arm more and the lab equipment was excellent motivation for her.  She really amazed everyone with how much she was able to do.

Lots of visitors tonight as well.  Ang had a great time catching up and entertaining a handful of co-workers.  It really is great to see my wife fall right back into line when her work friends are around.  I know that this will make her transition back to Amgen much easier for her further down the road.

Thanks so much to everyone for visiting today.  And thank you for the Thai food and the special something.  We appreciate your generosity so very much.

Also-  Just a heads up, but we will be transitioning away from the caringbridge site soon.  We are going to be heading over to blogspot since it has more functionality.  We have set up a fund for Ang and the new website will enable people to donate online if they wish.  The fund is set up through the Seattle Christian Foundation and will be used to address any long-term care needs or medical bills and items that our insurance will not cover.  I’m not sure when exactly we will be moving to the new site but it will likely be within the next week.  We will update the journal with the link to the new blog accordingly.

Josh