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Patient Page This page is available to you for information on Gil Loescher's progress. We will try to keep it updated. If you would like to leave a message by signing the 'guestbook' that would be nice.
Journal
Sunday, December 19, 2004 5.00pm It's Ann writing. Hello from Boars Hill. We are winding up to Christmas but will keep it all simple and easy. At the beginning of December I spent a few evenings putting lights up on a couple of conifers outdoors and under the porch roof so we look pretty festive here. The tree is up but not decorated because we will wait to do that till our helpers (Claire, Maggie and Joel) arrive next week.
I have taken to eating breakfast in sunspecks. You might think I am in Benidorm or the Bahamas but, no, it is still Boars Hill. Gil now has one of those SAD lights to help him deal with the winter blues and he sits at the breakfast table bathed in bright light. I find it too bright. His friend and physiotherapist recommended it and she is remarkably cheerful since she started using hers at work. I am afraid if her mood continues to soar we will have to tie her down. (I give some credit for Gil's improved mood to the chocolate spread he has on his toast in the morning.)
I am at Gil's desk in the big bedroom and the sky has just gone dark after a slow and brilliant sunset. The long winter nights may be a little hard to take but the way the day disappears is usually pretty spectacular. I am not much bothered by the shortened days and in fact rather like them. I sometimes get up in the dark to spook around the house and have a cup of tea while watching the day slide into place. In the late afternoon I might stay in the garden until I can barely see my hand in front of my face. It is all part of the excitement of this time of year.
Gil continues his remarkable drive to mobility. His walking has improved greatly and he is still looking forward to the possibility of C-legs. He will borrow a pair to try early in the new year and until then he works for at least an hour a day on his Mauch knees, perfecting his techinque by walking on the deck or at the prosthetics centre. He no longer needs a minder trailing along behind him but one of us lingers nearby while giving him the feeling that he is walking independently. He is full of purpose. Upon sitting to rest he is very pleased when he can congratulate himself on a good walk.
Gil has earned gold stars for a couple of falls on his legs. He goes down on hands and knees just as he should and suffers little damage. He did, however, not see three concrete steps in the dark one night and he just rolled himself in his wheelchair over the top one. He was airborne and landed heavily on the ends of his legs and his hands. He suffered what is probably the biggest bruise I have ever seen. It ran from the tip of his right leg to out-of-sight and is taking weeks to disappear completely. There is still a thick pad of haematoma at the point of impact but, remarkably, none of this has interfered with the walking.
Gil's right hand is performing very well and he manages to do just about everything with it. He still has the option of more surgery in the future if he wants it. He is not inclined to go into hospital and undergo anything like that just now. There may be a problem that will require surgery, however. Gil has a hernia where the Landstuhl doctors did exploratory surgery just after he arrived there August 2003. The hernia gives him no discomfort at all but it is rather large. We hope he will be offered a choice about how to deal with it.
Gil has been very keen to drive again and to that end he has been practicing with the hand controls that have been fitted to our car. He has done all the book work and passed his theory test so now he is doing lots of driving to prepare for the rigorous practical driving test which he is due to take in early February. (Watch this space.) Part of the theory test was to identify hazards in simulated driving situations on a computer screen. He did very well in that part of the test and now feels it is his duty to ride shotgun when I am driving, warning me of 'hazard' and 'hazard developing'. This is not very helpful, actually, but it does give me a little insight into what a nuisance I must be as a backseat driver.
We recently have been getting out and about quite a bit. One of the perks of being disabled is the Blue Badge which allows special parking in some places. We have been ushered to parking spaces at the steps of the Royal Albert Hall and the Shakespeare theatres in Stratford! It really helps a lot. The function at the Royal Albert Hall was terrific. It was a UNHCR fundraiser for Darfur and the spirit of the evening was remarkably uplifting considering what it was in aid of. We took Maggie and Claire to Stratford to see Beauty and the Beast last wheek which was great fun and just yesterday Gil and I went to see a puppet show of Venus and Adonis--terrific!
Maggie's film about what happened to Gil and, subsequently, to all of us, has been shown in two places in the last month or so. 'Pulled From the Rubble' was invited to the Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival in November and Gil, Claire and I flew there to be with Maggie. Joel and his brother were also there as was Maggie's editor. And we met with some old friends and colleagues of Gil who live and work in Holland so we were a large and merry group. Then for International Human Rights Day on the 10th of December openDemocracy arranged a showing at the British Library to which about 200 people were invited. We cannot say we enjoy watching the film; it is, in fact, difficult for us to watch it. It takes us back through very hard times but we are glad Maggie made it and we find strength in the fact that other people who see it find it moving.
Claire's MA course is going well. Her reading list includes a number of things by people she knows--not least of whom is her own Papa. They have long conversations about what she is doing and I am sure they both get a great deal of out them. Gil's term ended at the beginning of December and he really enjoyed teaching again. It was a masters level course and the students were very keen. He worked hard during the week to be sure he was prepared for them on Friday and the class always ran at least half an hour overtime. Now he is cracking on with the book.
Maggie and Joel's wedding in our garden was wonderful and when it was over we took a breather from gardening. By the end of August, however, we had taken a fresh look round and decided to plant more trees so that has been the thrust of our efforts over the last few months. I look forward to seeing the new ones in leaf come spring.
I seem to be rattling on a bit but I have missed doing these entries. We were told at one point that the website page would be closed after one year. Now it seems that it will be kept open as long as people visit it so I am thinking I will put an entry on it once a month just to keep things ticking over. It would be great to hear from any or all of youw hen you feel like it; send us your news! (Caringbridge has proved as good as any medicine in all our recoveries over the last year and a half.)
Maggie and Joel will come across from Norwich for Christmas at Southside. Claire is here briefly, will go back to London to get readings for an essay and then will come home again. We will have friends join our party for Christmas Day and other friends for subsequent festivities--it promises to be a very long weekend, stretching from Christmas Eve right through the New Year celebrations. We childishly hope for snow (always) but will settle for a couple of bright days. We wish you all the best for coming year. Make peace.
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