Thursday, May 10, 2007

Thank you for the overwhelming generosity . . .


We had Jacob's party today. He was pleased. Stoic, but pleased. For the first time, he was willing to make eye contact with the members of the medical staff who joined us for lunch.

The most surprising development was when he decided to stand up and walk around the room so he could sit in Mommy's lap. It was a complete surprise to us and to the physical therapist (who was sitting next to him). They don't do unsupported walking in PT yet, because his balance is still iffy due to the brain swelling.

His blood pressure was very good today. If he stays controlled after dialysis tomorrow, we're a sure bet to get transferred - somewhere. There's a waiting list for pediatric ICU rooms, but they can't move us out yet because the rest of the pediatric wing is also completely full.

Occupational therapy is working with him on the neuro issues, which are improving a little bit each day. We'll be in dialysis tomorrow, so we'll be tied up continuously (mostly) from 9:00 a.m. through 5:15 p.m.

One sad note - little Destiny is back in the ICU again.

Thank you all for the incredible gifts today. We're overwhelmed. Among the many gifts included:

A Pokemon basket, including the new Pokemon Diamond video game, from the Orensteins;
Every Yu Gi Oh DVD ever released (17 DVDs, in English) from Noel and Dita;
Rare Shel Silverstein books from Stan and Ronnie;
Color by numbers art pencil set and books from Gowie;
An indoor remote control helicopter (very cool!) from the Jockers family;
A three year preschool retrospective poster with candy attachments from Miss Vilma and Miss Marla and Miss Elena and the other teachers at Temple Sinai of North Dade School;
Cookies from Miss Jenny and Miss Helen;
Card games and Legos from Miss Mila and Miss Helen;
SpongeBob and Puffles artwork, a Cranium game and a SpongeBob book from the Dillworths;
Dinosaur stickers from Miss Beverly;
A candy extravaganza basket from Mary and Carl;
A gift book, individually drawn get well cards and a talking Pikachu from Mrs. Holsing, Mrs. V and the kindergarten class;
Individually drawn get well cards from the Covington, Georgia Presbyterian School;
A toy basket from Sunny the nutritionist;
A toy car and candy from the hospital volunteer staff;
Yu Gi Oh tapes from the rehab department;
A cool storybook (in which the main characters look just like Jake) from the Rabbi and Rebbetzen;
Homemade get well cards and Gushers from the Bergers;
Spiderman toys and Yu Gi Oh cards from Will, Ivan and Jen at Somer & Associates;
A Marvel Heroes Pog game from the Child Life staff;
A home made treasure box from the Battistas;
A 2007 shorts shirt and a Pokemon cards set from Lily and Ivan;
A muscial Shrek card from the "girls" at the Conine Clubhouse; and
Cool DVDs from the Trinz family (as well as dinner last night);

and tons of other stuff that has come in over the past 42 days. We received so many things that if I failed to list something here I'll make sure to include it tomorrow. It may be included in some sort of obscure code that nobody understands, but it will be included. Mom got him a "few" things too. It's a good thing we bought the large SUV.

3 comments:

CLG said...

... and Mom and Dad sprung for a South Beach condo...
Happy birthday to Jake; and congratulations to Mom and Dad! Now you have the other celebration(s) to look forward to.

Unknown said...

We wanted to wish Jacob a very HEALTHY and HAPPY birthday. Glad to hear he is feeling better each day. We have confidence that he will play with each and every one of his new toys...I bet Larry is just as excited as he is.

May the Force be with You!

Love,
Emily, Kevin and Sharon

Unknown said...

Happy Birthday Jake!!

We wanted to be original and say something super-cool, but we can't think of anything so we'll just say that we hope Jake continues to improve, and that Larry's humor doesn't wane in the near future.

Much love...
Lori and Jack