And he's up and WALKING!!!

Good afternoon!

Well, another truly incredible day for Robert! His physical therapist came in around 10 with his walker -- and he is up and away!! He has been for several fairly long walks, and can now get himself up out of chair or bed, into the bathroom and back -- all without help! Additionally, the therapist said that the surgeon is very insistent that Robert walk on both legs -- NOW! That was SO good to hear! So, walker today, and the therapist will be back tomorrow with his crutches! They are, fortunately, not the under-the-arm kind, but rather the around the wrist kind. He continues to take oral medication for pain, but reports that he is pretty-much pain free, even when he walks! For this we are particularly thankful!

On the other side, I got a message that I was needed somewhere "above" in administration. Sat down with a gal whose English was not as good as my French -- but fortunately, right at that moment, another patient -- a gal from Belgium -- showed up at the door -- and she spoke fluent English!

Turns out that I needed to pay the $50 deductible to the hospital (which I did) and the insurance company had only authorized a certain amount of money for R's care, and if he is not released until Wednesday, he will be over that -- and how would we pay? Apparently they have had some problems in the past with American insurance. I explained to my new Belgian friend that this was supplemental special travel insurance, and that they would cover everything. At this, the administrator called the insurance company, and I spoke with them -- all is fine; they will be faxing an updated amount to the hospital today. These insurance folks are AMAZING!

I brought the computer up to the hospital -- short walk, but heavy computer! -- and Robert was able to get a couple hours of Caltech work done, which I have since transmitted to Caltech. Made SUCH a difference, having something to do! I'd love to rent some videos for him to watch on the computer, but not sure what if anything I could get that he'd understand!! We debated while packing if we should bring any videos, and decided against it ... bad decision! I did find that I could stream ESPN radio right into my room, and that helps a lot! Even listening to goofy commercials -- anything familiar -- works for me!

So -- that is the latest from the south of France as of this moment. Again, I'd like to thank everyone who has written and/or called -- it makes such an incredible difference!!

Lots of love,
m