the team

After an emotional evening yesterday, I woke determined to face the day.  I have a serious amount of work to do at my office and very little time to organize for my leave of absence.  The attorneys at the firm are very supportive of my efforts to care for James and sympathize with my current difficulty.

I plan to inform my landlord in a more formal manner of the New York State Fair Housing Law that includes protection for tenants with disabilities that face discrimination. I do not think my landlord understands that his refusal to make reasonable changes to accommodate James's disability is discrimination. My hope is that an explanation in a letter provided by an attorney from my firm will open his eyes to the practicality of my request and the generosity of my offer.  I did not ask for anything from my landlord beyond his approval. 

I shared my dilemma with the Mt. Sinai team and they immediately jumped into action. I love them!  One of the physical therapists said, "Let's take James to the stairs right now and see if he can do them with one rail."  She supported him lightly on his back as he walked up and down the stairs using one rail. He did it!  Now that they understand the situation, they plan on working on this particular technique every day.  They will wait for me to arrive, later in the day, so that I may learn the position to support James as he tackles the stairs with only one rail.

We have only a handful of days now in rehab but the team says they will pack as much as they can in that period.

James took another swallow test and passed to eat solid foods--albeit, mashed!  He is still aspirating clear liquids so no water just yet.  James said he wanted beer and coffee today. He will have his first meal tonight--I think it involves mashed potatoes and hamburger!  He needs to keep the feeding tube though because he will not receive enough nutrition in his mashed food.  I think it will assist his throat recovery to swallow purposely more often and now that he has real food for his tube nutrition, I am confident that he will continue to move forward.

I reviewed with the occupational therapist the equipment that will come home with James.  We think a wheel chair would be practical on a rental basis.  James told me that he wants to attend Imogen's graduation and the best means to have him travel in our neighborhood will be in a wheelchair. He is able to walk but it will be nice to have the chair as a back-up in the event he becomes tired and does not want to walk back to the house.  James may experience a feeling of being overstimulated and the chair will be a good getaway vehicle, when needed.

My insurance also covers one of those walkers with breaks and a bench to rest on!  I love those!  That will be cool to have as well for walks to the park.

I feel so much better after visiting the hospital. It felt so dark and hopeless yesterday--I was so disappointed by the lack of empathy in my landlord's response.  I feel restored by the support of the Mt. Sinai team--they are really fantastic and dedicated to the healing process--not just James's body but his soul.

My landlord's soul could use some drastic rehabilitation!