Sorry that our updates have not been as frequent lately. We know you all love hearing about how Rob is doing and we certainly love getting messages. Rob is feeling a little better this week as far as his blood pressure is concerned. He’s still a little ‘beat up’ on his ankles and elbows but nothing too concerning. We are happy to report that Rob’s hospital bed is now in our bedroom (previously it was in the den b/c of the narrow doorway). After 6 months of sleeping apart, we are now sleeping side by side with a metal safety bar in between us. We both feel much better about the new arrangement as one can imagine. Marley now bounces back and forth between the beds. On another positive note, Rob has started a Bonsai tree collection and has collected 3 trees so far. He just ordered a very elaborate desk so that he can set up his laptop and work amongst the trees. Rob hasn’t returned to work quite yet because he is still very tired during the day and generally takes about a 3 hour nap after returning from therapy. We just started with our county’s Para transit service so hopefully they will be able to take Rob to and from therapy at least 2x per week. He took his first trip on Friday and it was a bit traumatic b/c they strapped his wheelchair onto the bus like they were transporting cargo across the world. I imagine we will both get used to the process but it’s those unexpected things that really get you. Anyways.....

So thankfully we did not get as much snow as predicted-only 12 inches or so. The man who plows our driveway is now plowing the ramp/walkway and THANK GOD for that. Yesterday, I (this is Mandy speaking) came down with the flu and literally could not get out of bed. Poor Rob was a bit neglected and only ate cereal all day :( My mom traveled up through the snow to get here just in time to help him get into bed otherwise he might have slept in his wheelchair (just kidding). Rob is slowing adjusting to life at home. To be honest, it has been a very difficult week, in some ways the hardest week since his injury. Rob’s elbows and wrists are bruised and bleeding from transferring on and off his wheelchair, his blood pressure has been out of control and his spirit is broken. He has been attending outpatient therapy 5x each week which has been exhausting for both of us. All is not lost though because Rob is happy to be home and reunited with the animals. Marley has started behaving (sort of) again believe it or not. We are thinking about training her to help Rob around the house but we are wondering if her height might be a problem. We’ll see. Take care everyone.