We had another action packed weekend. On Friday, we traveled to Carlise, PA in order to ‘get inked’ as they say in the tattoo world. Photos have been added to the gallery. Rob did very well during the tattooing even though he was spasming throughout the hour it took. Luckily, he didn’t feel that much pain because his sensation below the chest is compromised due to the injury. Rob designed the tattoo which is an Ambigram. It is AMAZING how well it turned out considering he does not have the full use of his hand and can hardly write his own name. On Saturday, we headed to my mom’s for a BBQ and Rob was able to get into their hot tub. He LOVED IT and said it was the first time since August 05 he felt “normal and unbroken”. He needed to be lifted in and out of the tub by two people and there was the added element of having to keep his left wrist out of the water but overall it was great. On Sunday, Rob was able to go to a movie with my brother Braden (another first since the accident). They tried to go to a Mexican restaurant after the show but couldn’t because there were stairs and no ramp. Disappointing! It’s unbelievable how many places we can no longer go to because of accessibility issues. Anyways, we are back in Jersey now and Rob jumped right back into therapy today. While working with the personal trainer, it was discovered the Rob was able to use his right leg to prevent his trainer from pushing his knee to his chest using his right quad. They guessed that would equate to about a 150 pound leg press in the gym. So that’s it for now. Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend and that you all are enjoying the scorching weather.

We had a VERY busy but VERY fun weekend. On Friday, we made a spontaneous trip to Cheshire House (which is a long term care facility) to visit two of our friends, Christina and Al who were hospitalized at Kessler during the same time period as Rob. Christina was injured in a diving accident at the C4 level in June 2005 and was at Kessler until October 2005. Al (Rob’s roommate) was injured in a bicycle accident at the C5 level just a few days before Rob’s accident and was at Kessler until 2 days before Rob’s discharge. Both are doing well, though anxious to find more permanent housing arrangements. It was wonderful to see them and to see the progress they have made. Being at the Cheshire facility reminded us how extraordinarily lucky we are to have a home that is able to accommodate Rob’s needs and one that allows us to live under the same roof.

On Saturday, we went to Wayne and El’s wedding in NYC on Saturday (then went to Central Park to watch the pigs fly). It was our 1st trip to NYC since Rob’s accident. Besides Walter (Rob’s boss) slamming Rob’s head into the side of the car during a transfer and Walter lifting the wheelchair into our Escape and directly onto my birthday cake ….it was a success. Walter...we love you and Rob says he’ll return to coding as soon as he gets the vision in his left eye back! Thank you to Anna for the cake…I was able to eat a few bites even though it was smashed

On Sunday, Rob had another great session with his personal trainer, Eric. We have witnessed amazing results from these sessions thus far. For example, after his session on Thursday, Rob was able to go from resting on his feet in a kneeling position to actually kneeling. He as also able to lift his right leg as if to march while he was in a seated position (previously he could only extend his leg as if to kick a ball). After yesterday’s session, Rob regained the ability to cross his right leg over his left one WITHOUT using his hands. We are thrilled with the results and CANNOT WAIT to go to Project walk. FYI: Photos from our weekend have been posted.