Waarschuwing: Alstublieft bezoek Rob nu niet. Hij is terug in quarantaine. Hij heeft nog steeds een probleem met een bacteriën. Hij wordt heel teleurgesteld. Het goed nieuws is dat zij zullen toestaan dat hem meer te drinken en te eten. Ik hoop dat zal maken die quarantaine gemakkelijker voor hem. Ik zal de Bezoekers pagina actualiseren wanneer het veilig is hem opnieuw te bezoeken (geactualiseerde 19 oktober).
Warning: Please do not visit Rob now. He is back again in quarantine. He still has a problem with a bacteria. He is very disappointed. The good news is that they will allow him to drink and eat more. I hope that will make quarantine a little easier for him. I will update the Visitors page when it is safe to visit him again (updated 19 October).
We had another wonderful weekend, despite some bumps in the road.
It was a bit of a rough day on Saturday, because they told Rob he was in quarantine again. We don’t completely understand it, because he has not really been very sick. It was a real downer for Rob, because quarantine really limits his therapy. He really wants to get moving with everything he can, and if he is limited to his room he can’t participate in everything. It’s also really hard on him socially — he is stuck with only me all the time.
We should hear more about it on Monday, and hopefully this was just a mistake. Overall, we understand their concern, because they are worried about a possible stomach flu going around at Heliomare, but Rob really isn’t showing much in the way of symptoms, and is getting stronger every day.
Luckily, again we were able to get out and about outside of Heliomare, as the quarantine is primarily for the workers and other patients. After the shock of the quarantine on Saturday, Rob did a great job of putting it to the side, and we really enjoyed the day on Sunday. We got lucky again with some nice weather, and were able to have some fun being out in the sun and hanging out at what is fast becoming our favourite restaurant — the Sonnevanck.
When we returned back to Heliomare we had a nice visit from Albert and Pim. It was great to see Rob having a few good laughs with the guys. It’s bock beer season, and was the first sip of real beer that Rob has had in 4 months. He really enjoyed it, but took it real slow and only had a few sips.
It’s just a shame that we had to cancel other visitors this weekend, because yet again we were not clear about what the situation was. It’s getting quite frustrating that some of these obstacles are proving harder to overcome and make sense of than the actual situation Rob is dealing with. Rob was out and about for 5+ hours today, and definitely is getting stronger every day.
We are also having some frustrations because they are still severely limiting what Rob can drink and eat. Rob has tried to be patient with the situation, but it is totally clear to both of us that he is ready and able to eat and drink. We hope the situation will change in the coming days, as the over cautiousness is in our view, becoming more dangerous than the risks. He has been far too long on a tube fed diet, and struggles with both nose and stomach problems because of it, not to mention a tube stuck in his nose 24/7!
For some reason, which has not yet been explained well enough to us to accept, they will not do the testing required to give evidence that he can not drink and eat, and are prolonging a very uncomfortable situation far too long. We’ve tried to deal with it diplomatically, but if something does not change soon, we are definitely going to need to do something about it. We have been reluctant to do more, when the overall care has been very good, but we just don’t get it anymore, and hope things change quickly!
Despite the frustrations, Rob is really doing really well, and has managed to be up-beat and positive. From my perspective, that is so important, and I hope I can help him to stay that way. With a situation like this, attitude is everything. Rob certainly is showing what he is made of to deal with all of the things that have happened, and also the many additional stresses that have come his way. He really is inspiring to me, and I am so proud of him every day. He is going to overcome this, that I am completely sure of.
I hope I don’t piss anyone off at Heliomare if they read this, but really, enough is enough. The guy has been through hell and back, and really just needs to get a break so he can get back on his feet! At the risk of really pissing people off, I sometimes wonder if it is not just easier to be over cautious than to take the extra effort that is needed to make sure he is safely drinking and eating. He has had 4 months of the medical system deciding his fate, and some of the problems were caused by it. It’s time to find real solutions!
As ever, Jansen is having fun and is really helping Rob with his recovery. A few good face licks from Jansen and Rob can shrug off all the rest. He is doing really good with walking next to us with the wheelchair now, which is a real improvement on the past when we went one way, and he the other. We are all getting the hang of things better and settling into a good routine. As you can see, the restaurant we like is also very dog friendly. Now if I can just figure out how to smuggle 4 cats, 3 rabbits and 3 chickens in to visit, we’ll be all set.
Jansen did a good job of pissing off some highly strung fishermen that seemed to think they owned the beach. It’s like they wanted to blame his presence on them not catching any fish – jerks! I was really happy when he pee’d on one of the lines afterwards (tee, hee, I didn’t even try to stop him).
