Sent: Friday,
November 10, 2006 6:50 PM

Subject: Safe and
Sound in Belgium

Hi all….
Shirl and I arrived safe and sound on Wednesday
afternoon in Amsterdam at about 12:30 PM.  We were about
an hour early because of a strong westerly jet stream
which pushed us along nicely.  We got off the plane and
Shirl was booked for assistance so we were picked up at
the gate by a golf card and rushed through the terminal
to passport control and were out to pick up our baggage
in about 15 minutes.

 By sheer
coincidence Bruce and Wendy had got off a plane from
England and were on there way to the train ticket
machine, in the baggage claim area when we ran into
them.  They were going to stay in Amsterdam for a few
days and then come meet us in Brussels on Friday. 

We caught
the train at the airport, no problem.  There was some
confusion as to where and how we were to get 1st class
accommodation but with Shirl’s help we figured it out.
She suggested asking the ticket checker/conductor and he
pointed us in the right direction.  We moved our bags a
car forward and got to sit in the wider, more
comfortable seats for the duration of the trip.  We had
purchased 1st class tickets in advance but I wasn’t sure
of the protocol to find where the 1st and 2nd class
boundaries were.

 Arrived in
Brussels at about 5:15 PM and had to carry the bags down
the stairs into the main terminal area.  not much
handicap friendly stuff in this old station.  There was
an old elevator but we couldn’t figure out how it
worked, if it worked at all.  It was about a 5 minute
walk to our hotel and we got settled in just fine.
There was a very short period of potential “Sorry, we
have no reservation for Baker” but it was quickly sorted
out to all our relief.  Went for dinner and basically
crashed at about 8:00 PM. 

Had a
terrific buffet breakfast here in the hotel this
morning…  bacon, eggs, cereal, yogurts, all manner of
European delights including croissants to die for…
Canadian croissants will never be the same.  After
breakfast we walked to the Grand Place, and sang “O
Canada” on the way to some film school students working
on  project.  We are recorded for posterity on some
video tape somewhere…  you never know… may show up
on YouTube some day.  We took all kinds of pictures and
talked to some very nice people along the way.  One
business jet pilot from Seattle  and a couple from Los
Gatos Calif.  After the Place we walked to St. Michaels
Cathedral and spent a long time  looking at the art,
stained glass windows and all the features which
developed over it’s 800 year old history. by the way the
weather is beautiful…  sunny and a bit cloudy.   Thank
God… no rain…  He must have known we were going to
visit His house at St. Michael’s.  After that we walked
to the Parc Bruxelles and rested for awhile drinking our
Euro waters.  Made our way back to the hotel but stopped
for awhile in the Sheraton Hotel lobby to people watch.
Walked to the Drug Opera…  no kidding…  that’s the
name of the restaurant and hotel.. and had a wonderful
dinner and walked back to the hotel.   Shirl’s hip was
quite sore from all the walking and she laid down for
awhile and had a nap.  I signed up for some internet
time in the hotel…  they have a high speed LAN set up
with a local provider so I bought 24 hours access time
to catch up receive some Emails and send a few replies
but this one wasn’t ready to go.  So off to bed we go. 

Woke up
earlier on Friday the 10th than yesterday and had
another great breakfast.  Right after we finished eating
we got on the “Hop on/ Hop off” bus for a trip around
Brussels to see some of the sites.  The busses run every
half hour and you can get off, look around a bit and
then get back on the next bus to continue the tour.
Shirl and I rode around the entire route the first time
just to see all the sites.  After the first go ’round we
got off at the Central train Station and had some
refreshments.  We checked out the train schedules
because we thought we might take the Train on Saturday
to Bruges.  It’s a very old and historic city close to
the coast.  Checked out the fares and considered it was
maybe a bit expensive for the short time we could stay
so we’ll see about maybe checking something else out
tomorrow.  We got back on the “Hop on” and this time
hopped off at the Royal Military Museum.  Checked out
some old exhibits and a large display of aircraft and
after a while got back on the bus and got off at our
hotel.  Some pictures of our first day and of the bus
trip are attached. 

Had lunch
and did some shopping at a large, modern shopping mall
right across from our hotel.  We’re back now and I just
finished up this note to bring you all up to speed. 

I’ll send
this now and maybe will  be able to get one more note
off before we go to Ghent on Sunday. 

Love to you
all…  we’re thinking of all you and wish you could
share this great experience. 

Shirl and
John

John & Shirl outside lace shop

Arch at Royal Military Museum

Atomium at Worlds Fair Site

Dedication in St. Michaels’s Cathedral

Detail of Top of Arch

St. Michaels Cathedral

At Last – A Cat in Belgium

Well, Hello everybody… Third time lucky and
here we go with Email numeral trois… I saved
up a bit so it’s a bit of a long one. Sorry to
those with short attention spans, Baker One and
Brother 2.

The morning of Monday, November
13 dawned rainy and very windy, a good morning
to stay inside. This is the morning that Shirl
will have all her diagnostic tests performed
before her surgery tomorrow. To start it off we
went to breakfast and it looks like the
breakfasts are almost as good as the lunches
here at the Villa. There is an assortment of
cereals, yogurts, fresh fruit on the side and
you can even soft boil yourself an egg if you’re
so inclined. At your table setting there are
cold fresh sliced deli meats and cheese if you
like, with a selection of breads, jams and
croissants. Eric, the Master of all things at
the Villa to eat, offers fresh squeezed orange
juice, tea and coffee. The service and kind
attention paid to each of us, both patients and
caregivers (moi) by the staff is unsurpassed in
my experience. We were having a great time after
breakfast, sitting and talking to our new Hippie
friends when Eric’s kind wife advised Shirl that
“The Doctor vill see you now”…. We had been
summoned and were on our way down stairs …
pronto…

We went in to the diagnostic
area waiting room and in a short time Dr. Koen
DeSmet introduced himself and his assistant who
would be taking Shirl’s X-rays and performing
her blood test. He let us know that the
Cardiologist had to attend an emergency at the
hospital and that Shirl’s ECG would be done at
the hospital on Tuesday after she was checked
into the hospital. After her blood test and
X-rays were done we went into Dr. Koen’s office
( by now we are on a first name basis with “Coone”,
his is a dutch name with the funny dutch
pronunciations we are all so fond of ) where he
described the procedure to both of us and
answered all our questions with a willingness
and clarity that was refreshing. He comes across
as a consummate gentleman that cares profoundly
about his patients and his work. He wants to
perform the best procedure possible which is in
the best interest of his patients. He explained
that Shirl would be picked up at 7:00 am the
following morning, be checked in to the
hospital. From there they would perform her ECG
and then off to the operating theatre at about
10:30.

………holy crap… my Laptop
screen just went blank… It came back after I
rebooted but I’m not sure what happened…. If
you don’t get any more Emails after this it’s
because my laptop died… We’re both still here
so don’t worry… Just a head’s up in case
technology fails us…

After our consultation with Dr.
K we spent some time in our room until lunch…
Ahhh … lunch…. Once again a highlight of the
day… Fresh pea soup followed by a huge pork
chop with cauliflower and cabbage accompanied
with boiled potatoes. Wonderful once again,
topped off with a deliciously rich pastry treat.

After lunch we walked to the
local supermarket and got a few supplies.

I’ll interject with a bit of the
language situation here. When in Brussels
everybody basically spoke french and english.
Here, just 30 K north it’s completely flemish (a
dutch derivative) and a bit of english. All the
signage is in flemish, and my flem is not as
good as my marginal french, so reading menus and
bus routes is a joke.

Even so, with my flemish route
map in hand Shirl and I ventured onto the tram
for a trip to downtown Gent. We transferred once
and ended up in the heart of the old town at
rush hour. We only had a little while to look
around but we did get to go into St. Bravo’s
Cathedral. It was old, way old, and cold… No
central heat available in the 13^th
century and I guess they haven’t got into retro
mode lately. This cathedral is the home of a
famous work of religious art “The Adoration of
the Mystic Lamb”. The art is kept in a special
area of the church cordoned off, with a special
entrance. Unfortunately, the lamb goes to sleep
about 3:00 PM and we were at the door at 4:00
PM. We didn’t get to appreciate the painting but
we did get to look around the inside of this
great old cathedral. It’s the first one we’ve
been in so far that specifically forbids picture
taking inside.. Sorry … no picture… no
picture… But, we did take a picture of the
downtown Mc’Donald’s housed in a god knows how
old building.

After the church tour Shirl was
getting a bit tired so we headed back to the
Villa and found ourselves a nearby small Greek
Restaurant for dinner. The other patients had
suggested we have a nice dinner away from the
Villa for Shirl’s pre-op dinner because after
her operation it would be awhile before we would
be able to go out. We ended up at Zorba’s Greek
Restaurant, with a menu in hand which we hand
know idea how to read. It was all dutch to me.
The waiter spoke pretty good english and
described what was available and in spite of not
being able to read the faire we had a pretty
good dinner. After our scampi and lamb it was
back home to the Villa to have an early night
and get ready for Shirl’s trip to the hospital.

We got up a 5:30 am on Tuesday
the 14^th. Had to get up early to pack
for Shirl’s stay at the hospital and meet the
cab which would pick us up at 7:00 am. We were
down in the lobby by 6:50 am ready and willing
to hit the road running. When the cab hadn’t
arrived by 7:00 I took a look outside the door
and low and behold there were headlights shining
through the drizzly rain from outside the gates.
I forgot, we are in a haven of tranquility in
which we are kept safe from Brussel Sprouts,
lurking around after dark, by an encircling art
deco brick and wrought iron fence and secure
hydraulically controlled iron gates across the
single lane driveway. I remember now that Hugo
advised me I would need my key to open the gate
if I came home after 10:00 PM. I infer
therefore, that we are behind bars from 10:00 pm
to 7:00 am. Not a bad jail by the way. I keyed
in the cab and we were whisked to the entrance
of Jan Palfjin Hospital. Kind of like the BCAA
where you check in at the front desk and get a
number for service. We got our number and then
took a short walk to admission. Another short
wait, some paper work completed by a very
friendly clerk lady who amazingly spoke very
passable english. All the paper work filled out
and a simple swipe of the AMEX and we were on
our way. After this is over we’re hoping we’ll
have enough airmiles for an flatscreen TV. The
way it’s been going so far, AMEX wise, we’ll be
able to trade in our miles for an IMAX theatre.
At this point in our lives money is not the
issue. Enjoying life to the fullest in the best
of health possible is all that matters. So far
we are enjoying the whole experience and Shirl
has such confidence in “Dr. K and Krew” that she
has no trepidation or fear.

The admission lady told us to go
up to the 2^nd floor and we headed up
the elevator and approached the first two nurses
we saw. Again we started with the universal Gent
greeting… “Do you speak english”… once
again…. success. The nurses greeted us with
great enthusiasm. They were expecting Shirl and
knew she was one of Dr. De Smet’s patients. They
asked us how we liked staying at the Villa and
said they hadn’t seen it yet, since it’s been
opened, but had heard lots about it. We told
them we would show them pictures when we got the
chance.

Now the wait begins…. We met
the young girl staying with Shirl in her double
room and once again, she spoke excellent
english. Turns out she was born in Gent and
worked for Proctor and Gamble and had done her
internship in the states. After a little while
the Cardiologist showed up and did Shirl’s ECG
which she passed with flying colors. While Shirl
was getting tested I had looked for a coffee
shop or machine because I hadn’t had anything to
eat, I guess in sympathy. There were no machines
and the snack bar didn’t open until 9:30 so I
was out of luck. When the Cardo was finished and
I went back into Shirl’s room the nice young
lady room mate offered me her coffee from
breakfast. She said she didn’t drink coffee and
I was welcome to have it. Needless to say I
thanked her much and now was back on track with
a bit of a caffeine buzz happening.

The next thing on the agenda
were crutch lessons by Jean-Paul the
physio-therapist. He taught Shirl the correct
method for using her crutches and getting in and
out of bed after her operation. Once again a
very pleasant , friendly and helpful born in
Gent. We talked a bit afterwards and discovered
he is also a registered acupuncturist and that
he teaches as well as practices. Very busy young
man. He said it is better to learn how to use
the crutches properly before the operation
because it is easier to maneuver then, than try
something new on a sore hip.

By this time it’s getting to be
about 10:00 am. Shirl has a great view of the
church steeples of Gent in the distance. It’s a
very comforting scene. The two nurses we met
this morning have showed up and it’s time for
Shirl to get ready to go to the big show. I left
her in trusted and capable hands and started
heading to the Bus Stop. It wasn’t raining so I
decided I’d walk back to the Villa. At least
until I got tired anyway. Well, Gent is like
Vancouver. Was raining, stopped raining, I left
hospital, started raining a bit after I was hot
on the trail, rained slowed a bit, rain then
started to piss down buckets. I made it as far
as the main train/bus/tram station and bailed on
the walking. A short tram ride later I’m back in
my room typing away at the laptop, which by the
way, seem’s to be working just fine now Thank
You. Time for Villa lunch…. Gotta go….

I’m back….. from lunch…
Shrimp croquettes starter, lamb stew main course
and apple tort for dessert… It’s now about
3:00 Pm so I’m going to hang around a bit here
then head over to the hospital so I’ll be there
when Shirl comes around.

I arrived at the hospital about
4:30 but Shirl wasn’t back from recovery yet. I
waited patiently and she was eventually wheeled
back in to her room at about 5:30. She was a
little bit groggy but all in all seemed to be in
pretty good spirits. She said she had some major
pain in her hip just as she was waking up and it
was about 30 minutes or so before the got it
handled. By the time she was back with me she
had no pain and was on a morphine pump… YAY….
I spent the rest of the evening with her as she
would slowly drift in and out of sleep. Dr. Koen
stopped by shortly after she arrived and told us
her operation was very difficult because the
type of arthritis she had caused her bone to be
very dense, and I guess hard to work with. Never
the less, he said the operation was a complete
success and tomorrow she would be up on her legs
to start physio- therapy. The nurse allowed me
to stay after normal visitor hours if I promised
to be quiet. I was… And left Shirl resting at
8:45 PM our time.

In closing tonight just I want
to let you all know the operation was a complete
success, Shirl is resting comfortably, we are
both well and thank you for your thoughts an
prayers. I have attached a photo of Shirl’s
view.

Until next time… Love to
all…

John and Shirl

McDonalds Ghent

View From Shirl’s room

We’re on the road again….
This time it’s the road to recovery.On the morning of Wednesday
I took some more photos of the Villa. Yesterday, when
Shirl checked in to the hospital her nurses had said how
they had heard lot’s about the Villa but had never seen
it. I had told them I would bring some pictures in for
them today. I’ve attached a couple of photos I took
Wednesday morning showing the front entrance and
courtyard and the Art Deco front door. After breakfast I
loaded all the photos onto my laptop and, computer bag
over my shoulder ventured once again into tram land. It
turns out that November 15 is a national holiday in
Belgium, celebrating the history of the Belgian Royal
Family. As all the schools and most of the shops were
closed it wasn’t very busy and I actually got to sit
down for the 10 minute ride to the hospital. I could
transfer to a bus at the main train station and ride
directly to the door of the hospital if I wanted but
instead I now ride to the nearest tram stop and walk the
rest of the way. There’s always something new to see.

I arrived at the hospital
just as Shirl’s nurses were putting her back to bed
after she had been up on her feet. She looked a lot
better than the last time I saw her and was in good
spirits and no pain to speak of. Moving around is very
difficult and it will be a long process to get mobile
and strong. We talked a bit with her nursing team and
then I showed them the pictures of the Villa. They were
very excited to see the new facility they had heard so
much about.

Before lunch Shirl’s Jan
Palfijn physical therapist came in and helped her get to
the door of her room and back with a walker. She will
only use the walker for the some of the short time she
is in the hospital.

After going walkies,
Shirl got back in to bed and soon it was lunch time. It
turns out that the hospital lunch is pretty good…
Curried chicken and rice, soup and an official Belgian
Waffle in a cellophane bag for dessert. Check the happy
smiling face enjoying her first real meal after her
operation. Breakfast was limited to a few slices of
bread but lunch was more substantial and would turn out
to be THE meal of the day.

Once lunch was over a new
physio guy from Lithuania showed up and strapped Shirl
into the ropes and pulley from hell system to exercise
your weak and sore hip leg. A fabric support goes under
her knee which is clipped to a light rope run through a
pulley over Shirl’s head. She was instructed to pull on
the rope to lift her leg and flex her foot slightly, let
it down and rest for 6 seconds, then pull it up again.
She was supposed to do this in 10 lift repetitions for
30 minutes. 10 minutes later, “Screw this, I’m tired”
she says. Shortly later Lithuania returns and takes away
his bondage gear with a smile. We talked to him for
awhile as we have been doing with all the staff. He has
been to the states and has friends in Missouri and
Wisconsin and would like to return. He told us he has a
sweatshirt with Vancouver on it but he has never been
there.

After he left, Shirl had
a nap while I read, and I actually nodded off in my hard
backed chair for a little while. Shirl’s walker physio
came back at 4:00 for crutch lessons. Shirl carefully
walked, gingerly and a little shakily and made it
outside the door to her room but didn’t quite make it
back in crutch mode. She’s still very weak and the extra
effort took a lot out of her. She hitched a ride back to
bed in the wheelchair express just in time for 4 slices
of bread and 2 pieces of deli meat for dinner. They had
brought coffee for her but she wanted tea… So… I
whined to the nurse for tea for Shirl and I got the
coffee.

After dinner Shirl made
it to the bathroom with her walker all by herself to
brush her teeth. Quite an accomplishment after a hard
day learning to walk again on some very shaky gams.

By 7:30 PM she was quite
tired so I hit the tram trail again and left her to have
an early night’s rest. Thursday she’ll get picked up by
the Hugo Express and start her hard core rehabilitation
back at the Villa……

I lost the server
connection for internet access on Wednesday evening
after my last 24 hour period expired. I couldn’t resign
and it’s now 12:30 PM on Thursday, November 16. Internet
service is a LAN here at the Villa on which you buy high
speed service in 24 hours blocks for 15 Euro a block.
When my last block expired I got redirected from the
normal service provider home page and received an
“Internal Server Error”. I still get the error trying to
sign up for internet time so Lord know’s when you’re
going to get this installment of the continuing saga of
Shirl. Once again, just an advisory that if you don’t
hear from us for a few days it may be a LAN bug, not a
Laptop crash. Yikes, what ever happened to the
telegram….

I went to the hospital at
9:30 this morning, Thursday, and Shirl was just
finishing up a short walk on her crutches. Evelyn,
Shirl’s physiotherapist for this morning and this
afternoon at the Villa, hooked up her pulley system and
from 10:00 to 10:30 Shirl exercised her new metal
implant leg by raising it with aid of the pulley and by
stretching her leg muscles. After about 30 minutes of
this it was time for a short rest. Shirl then adventured
out into the hallway for some crutch time and by then it
was time to change into her street clothes and wait for
“Hugo All things Villa”. Hugo picked us up at 11:30 and
we got back to the Villa and settled about 12:00. Just
about time for lunch…

As we were sitting down
to lunch all Shirl’s fellow hip trippers greeted her
warmly and asked how she was doing. We were back in the
fold. We had just started to eat our first course of
“Winter Soup” when, no lie, Shirl’s brother Bruce, and
Wendy were shown to the dining room. Since we left them
in Brussels they had traveled to Paris and Bruges (west
of Gent) and today took the train from Bruges to visit
Shirl. They were set a place at a table beside us and we
had a very pleasant lunch and visit.

After lunch I walked them
over to the local tram stop and explained how to get to
the town center, and back to the train station for their
trip back to Gent. Meanwhile, Shirl was anticipating her
next big adventure while getting ready for her first
rehabilitation session in the pool.

I helped Shirl make it
down the 4 stairs from our floor to the pool level and
she started her first pool therapy session at 4:00 PM. I
went up to the dining room/lounge and read The Times
while Shirl was swimming and the cleaning staff were
freshening up our room. After an hour in the pool Shirl
made her way back up the 4 stairs to the room and then
ventured into the shower for her first post op hair
wash. While Shirl was toweling off, Gaetana, Dr. De
Smet’s wife and the Villa nurse, came in to check on
Shirl’s bandage and her condition in general. She
reviewed Shirl’s medication and while she was there Dr.
De Smet came in to talk also. After everything was taken
care of they left and we were on our own. Shirl is kind
of tired after a very busy day and we will have dinner
in our room tonight and take it easy.

That’s about it for
another two days in Shirl’s….

“Le Rétablissement de
Route”

Love to all … John and
Shirl

Hello one
and all….
Well it’s been two full days now since Shirl has
returned from the hospital and we are starting to get
into the regular swing of things. The days are all laid
out in advance and Shirl has a defined schedule of
activities.
We awoke on Friday to a beautiful blue skyed day. The
birds were singing and a noir et blanche chat was
staring in through our sliding glass door wondering who
her new neighbors were. Actually, I think she was on a
bird prowl and just a little curious.
Dr. DeSmet’s wife Gaetana came in around 10:30 to change
Shirl’s dressing and we spent some time with her
discussing family and the history of the Villa. She
described how she named the Villa after a building in
one of her favorite Italian movies. She and her brother
Hugo are of Italian descent and operate the Villa as a
separate entity to her husband Koen’s medical practice.
It has something to do with local laws that prohibit the
Doctor from owning the rehabilitative aspects I suspect,
but don’t know for sure.
After Gaetana left, Marc the Villa physio therapist
arrived and started Shirl’s first rehabilitation
activity with an apparently very satisfying leg massage.
Shirl quite enjoyed this part of the treatment. Next it
was on to the crutches for a few pointers on technique
and a walk about with some up and down stairs exercises.
Soon it was time for lunch once again… I know I keep
harping on the meals but hey, I’m not sick, I don’t have
any treatments to take and one of my favorite places to
park my carcass is at the lunch table…. Boiled spinach
in butter sauce with a boiled egg, grilled pork chop and
hash brown potatoes… Mmmmm…. During lunch we bid
farewell to Monique and Saswan from Indonesia. We also
met a new patient, Lucien. Lucien was born and raised in
Gent and had crashed and burned on his bicycle a few
days ago. He had fallen and broken his hip and shoulder
and in the hospital where he was taken immediately after
the accident they told him he would need major hip
surgery. At that point he said…. “Hold your chevals…
Take me to Jan Palfijn and get me Dr. DeSmet.” They were
able to contact Dr. D S and he was transferred ASAP.
Lucien was able to get in as the last surgery of the day
and Dr. De Smet operated on him at 9:30 that night. The
guy is unbelievable… The day before yesterday he
hosted 18 visiting physicians to observe his work in the
operating room. Check this out, if you are interested in
a little bit more info on the “The Koen Man”…

After lunch Shirl had a rest and then got ready for her
first pool session. I walked with her to the pool. It’s
about 10 feet by 20 feet and just under 5 feet deep,
located on the ground floor just down the hall from our
room. It’s as warm as a sauna in the room and the water
temperature is just right. While Shirl was doing her
exercises I wandered down to the local supermarket for
some important supplies not available in the Villa…
namely… Lays potato chips, Kit Kat chocolate bars and
a huit pack of Jupiler beers….
In the evening we had a light sandwich dinner, watched
some TV… I played a little on-line poker and then to
bed.
This morning, Saturday, November 18, went just about the
same as yesterday. After breakfast Marc did the massage
and crutch lesson thing. Shirl climbed up and down
stairs and went for a longish walk about the Villa.
Every day she is getting a little bit better and is
constantly improving in small but important increments.
Shirl sat down to the computer before lunch and caught
up on some of her tardy Email replies.
We met a new friend at lunch today. Ann from Oregon, she
recently had her operation and returned to the Villa
from the hospital this morning. There’s always somebody
leaving, and somebody arriving at the Villa. An ever
changing scenario. Speaking of scenarios, here’s a shot
of our westpahlian ham and cantelope with endive
appetizer. Sorry I don’t have a picture of the chicken
cordon bleu with boiled potatoes and apple sauce main
course. I have also attached a picture of Shirl on her
first foray out into the open spaces after lunch this
afternoon. I also have this way cool photo of the droit
haunche a’ Madame Baker avec le 20 cm incisione. I am
awaiting bids for a peek….
Shirl had her pool session at 4:30 this afternoon and I
took a short walk to the nearby church to check the
schedule. At lunch Shirl and Ann were mucho gung ho
about going to church, possibly tomorrow. I checked the
route and the schedule but after the pool, the girls had
kind of changed their minds. Sometimes the mind thinks
but the body reacts. Much as we would like to go, their
bodies are letting them know that it is best not to rush
too much. As Dr. DeSmet says “Always do less than what
you feel you are able to do.” It is wise advice.
We had chicken pasta for dinner tonight and celebrated
Shirl’s rapidly improving condition with a glass of wine
each. Although she is well warned ” Don’t drink and
crutch”. After dinner we have returned to our room for
relaxation and for me, possibly a Jupiler and Kit Kat
chaser.
Shirl is well on her way to recovery and we are pretty
much into a routine that will allow her to rapidly
progress and enable her to be her old self once again.
We will be forever grateful for Dr. DeSmet and his team
for helping her to reach this goal. The Email saga will
probably slow down a bit for now, but as soon as we
experience new and exciting adventures we will be sure
to keep you in the loop.
Thank You all once again for your kind thoughts
prayers..
We are well, and very well taken care of…
John and Shirl