She got here just before noon, exactly as planned. The next day or so she will be working with my various caseworkers to learn all the things she’s going to have to know to take care of me at home. She have to get up at 430 in the morning to catch an airplane and is exhausted, and so is napping on my bed right now. It’s great to have her here.

PAD

We have two fundraisers that are going at this point.

One is being spearheaded by Ariel.

From the Desk of Ariel L. David
First of all I just wanted to thank everyone for their support. You do not know what a big impact it has made both emotionally and physically. It is always wonderful to hear that someone has bought a book or left a nice message. It brings smiles and hope to my family. Second, as many of you know I’m planning to do an auction to try to raise money for the medical bills. I wanted to ask for donations of items and such for us to auction. If you have anything please email me at help4PAD (at) gmail (dot) com. We are planning an auction at the convention Farpoint Valentine’s weekend. Also once I have enough items I will be working with Glenn Hauman to set up an online auction as well.

The other is being spearheaded by JK Woodward who has been the Fallen Angel artist since it moved from DC to IDW

Here is the information that JK sent me.

Here’s all the info so far:
Peter David Art Auction In Development

Peter David Art Auction in Progress

And I’ll be announcing the auction which goes live on 2/13/13 my blog 
I’ll also be announcing any further developmeants and new artist there as well.

(Kath back)
So there you have it. Two new ways to help Peter.

Again the wider that we can put this out on the net, the better chances we have for success.

I can say that the scary bills from last month are showing up in the mail box and they are very scary. Again I would to thank Marvel Entertainment for all their support and the insurance that they provide us. If I needed proof that the healthcare system in America is not in great shape, I got it in spades in my mailbox this week.

God, what a fiasco that was.

Every so often, patients here are selected to go on an outing. As it so happens, an outing was arranged yesterday to go to a bowling alley. I really was not sure what to expect. As it turned out, I rolled a princely 87. That’s right. An 87. My problem, of course, was that my approach was for crap. There was a young man named Robert whose job it was to follow directly behind me and hold on to the back of my shirt to make sure that I didn’t fall. He certainly had his work cut out for him. It was one hëll of an adventure on every throw. They had the bumpers up, and all too often my ball skittered to the left, ricocheted off the bumper and skidded across the alley. Not one of my better outings, to put it mildly.

PAD

I am happy to report that the folks here at Brooks are so satisfied with my progress that they’re sending me home early. I was originally scheduled to leave on February 15, but I’ve been blowing through the program so quickly that they feel comfortable with sending me home a week early. The downside of this is that Kathleen suddenly has barely a week to prepare everything for my return. And since she’s in the midst of having major neck pains, it’s not going to be an easy endeavor for her. I have every confidence in her, however, that she’ll be able to do it.

PAD

Whoever it was that decided to attack my website with malware, very stylish and ill-timed. If I ever have the opportunity to return the favor, rest assured that I will not hesitate. Thank you again to Glenn for working several days straight to repair the damage to the site.

And while I’m thanking people, I should also toss out thanks to my father-in-law, Donald O Shea. He was the one who suggested the Dragon dictation program and sent me a copy to install to my computer. It’s been tremendously helpful.

Today is my quietest day. No classes on walking or grasping with my right hand. Sunday is usually a very peaceful day, and the high point should be watching bowling at noon. Looking forward to it.

Oh, and if you have not checked it out yet, swing by the Barnes and Noble website where my favorite book of mine, Tigerheart, is currently ranked number four on the e-book bestseller list.

PAD

My days have settled into a daily routine. In the morning I typically undergo some manner of psychological evaluation or speech therapy. At 10 o’clock I enter occupational therapy, which mostly has to do with bringing my right arm back to its previously more useful state. Next is a lecture about some aspect of what I have had to endure. That brings us to noon, when lunch is served. 1 o’clock kicks off physical therapy in which the team of therapists works on reviving my right leg. After that is either a detailed endeavor working on my right hand, or else swim therapy. Then I have off for the rest of the day.

So that’s my life, and will continue so until, at this point, February 15 when I finally get to go home.

Oh! I should also mention that I am not typing this with my fingers. I have been making extensive use of the Dragon dictation program. It has been extremely useful and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

PAD

On Tuesday I get an update on Peter from the rehabilitation center. So on Wednesday I plan to give a general update on Peter’s site so people can have an idea on how he is doing. Some of this is going to be taking information already given and putting it in one place for people who want to read it. I did a version of this last week so I am calling this the second update.

He is improving his ability to walk each day. He has walked both forwards and the much more difficult backwards. He is going a little further every day. Doesn’t mean he will be running marathons anytime soon but he can get from one point to another within say the house safely. He is working to get his right leg to cooperate with the signals that are coming from his brain. They are working with him and his gait so he is walking correctly and not listing to one side or the other nor throwing a leg out so that he will not injure either hips or his knee. I have seen video and it is a lot of work for him to be able to walk correctly but he can walk for short distances and I am cheering for every step.

They tested him on steps and say that he can navigate a few steps with some assistance for safety. That is a big step towards getting him home since all the entrances to our home have steps. He will continue to work on steps to make it safer for him when he gets home.

The arm is taking a little long to catch up with the leg. There were some complications that made it harder for him to work with the right arm. Nothing life threatening, just doggone inconvenient. He can move the fingers on his right hand and open and close the hand. The elbow seems to be bouncing back as well. He is working with Dragon Dictate to write and it is working rather well for him since typing is very difficult at this point in his rehab. He is writing and getting work done in a timely fashion, which is a big thing in my book.

The right eye still has the double vision. It is improving but it is a very slow process. They have come up with ways for him to deal with it. We will be addressing it when he gets home if they haven’t solved it there.

He has been cleared for aqua therapy, which he is very happy about. Gives him a chance to work out in the pool which he has always enjoyed doing. Each step is a step towards home.

He has been back online and has been reading your good wishes and thoughts. I have sent him the first batch of cards, which will be getting to him probably today since Monday was a no post day here in the US. He will be showing up from time to time both on twitter and here. But his focus is on his rehab and getting himself back home in a timely fashion.

Thank you again for getting the word out on the Internet. Every little bit helps believe me on that fact.

Short version is that he is getting better each day but he still has quite a long way to go.

Thank you everyone.

Kath