Success!

Nearing the end of winter, with the leap forward into daylight savings time, I am seeing light at the end of the tunnel. It has been a long, cold winter, yet in all, I consider it a success.

My goals for the season were

• To get Armando discharged from the nursing facility and settled into a new home that would suit his needs over the long haul.
• To get qualified and hired as his caregiver.
• To get him qualified for a power wheel chair and get it delivered.
• To at least maintain the status quo of our health without either of us getting sick or injured.

Just days away from the first day of spring and his birthday, all these goals have either been met, or are coming very near to completion. Most especially, I am very grateful that we have made it through the worst of the weather without any serious illness or injury to set us back.

We are now ready to move into the warmth and the light with renewed energy and vigor to continue this healing journey.

Casa Del Milagro

November 1st, 2012 was Armando's discharge date from the nursing facility he had been living in since July. The generous help of family and friends made it possible for him to own his own home in the form of this sweet 39 foot park model travel trailer.  It is parked at a site where he has lived for years, where he is surrounded by familiar, caring community.

Here he can direct his own life, rather than have it dictated by the staff of a care facility. He can make his own schedule, choose his own food, and design his own therapy. He can make any modifications useful to accommodate his needs.

In essence - here the conditions are ripe to manifest his healing miracle. Thus Bodhi, his son, dubbed it "Casa del Milagro" - "The Miracle House".

It's been quite a while since last I posted to this blog. The reasons are multifold.

We have been very busy, simply managing the day to day tasks involved in Armando's care and continued healing. However more significant is that through the course of his recovery, we have run across numerous challenges in the form of people and organizations of limited vision who have been less than helpful in supporting his progress. I have wanted to focus on the positive aspects of Armando's recovery and the people who are supporting it.

Unfortunately, so much of my time has been consumed by overcoming the obstacles that are placed in our path either inadvertently or deliberately by people who would limit us through their own fears or need to control the circumstances, I haven't known how to write about these experiences without making matters worse. Instead, I opted to take a prolonged hiatus from blogging until I had more clarity about how to proceed with documenting our journey without triggering unnecessary backlash.

I feel like I have reached the clarity I need to continue, and am feeling good about getting back to regularly blogging about the amazing life's journey that commenced last July with the onset of Armando's stroke.

Rhythm

These images are from Armando's journal. Written a few days ago, they show the exercises he is doing to build the 'rhythm' in his left hand. Just like the percussive beat of music, there is a pace and a pulse to calligraphy.

The scribe at work

Lifetimes have been spent by Armando engaged in this work of letter copying. I have a memory from another century of him dressed in a long brown velvet robe and four cornered hat, decorated with gold braid, standing at a candlelit podium in a dank European basement full of musty books, writing, writing, writing for hours, days, months, years, decades on end. I was a small creature in a dark corner on the floor, looking up, watching him. He was kind to me. I was his only friend and companion in that dim existence.

In 1999,  when we traveled to Tibet, we stood in another dank, musty room full of books where a bald headed monk dressed in crimson sat in the light of a lone beam streaming into the darkness, writing, writing, writing - copying book after book after book for lifetimes. Armando and I both immediately felt a recognition of the state, and a strange sense of comfort and being very much at home.

Today, sitting with him as the light streams in the window and he works to regain his relationship with letters and to train his left hand to do what he once did with his right, once again he sits writing, writing, writing with a passion and dedication known to few.

Old habits are hard to break.

The Armando Special

From the day following his stroke, Armando has been drinking 12 ounces per day of raw juice specially formulated to reduce the swelling of his brain and provide his nerve tissues with the salts and micro-nutrients they need to heal and function optimally.

Thanks to the many people who helped us by either making it fresh or picking it up from the Co-op juice bar (where it is known as the 'Armando Special' - it's in 'the book').

Armando is thriving, healing rapidly. People are constantly stopping him in the halls, telling him how great he is progressing and asking about what we are doing. This juice is a large part of why he is progressing so rapidly.

For those of you who have asked, here's the formula:

Celery, cucumber, cilantro, parsley, garlic and ginger to equal 12 ounces, drink as fresh as possible.

Conversations with Armando

Armando just got conversational! For the first time since his stroke, yesterday he was able to express himself in sequences of full sentences that were entirely understandable. (So far, speaking with him has been limited to asking questions that can be answered 'yes', 'no', 'ok', or 'maybe', and short, sometimes incomplete sentences.) Not once did we have to revert to the '20' questions mode of communication. There are still times when he reaches a block in making himsenf understood, but when we reach these points we have agreed to just let it be instead of fighting it. We focus on appreciating the understanding that has been acheived, and recognize after rest, more understanding will come on the morrow.