Happy ONE YEAR HOMECOMING! We  are celebrating a year now since Pasquale came home from rehab and his covid adventure.  Over the last year I have  wanted to write updates along the  way but life has a way of taking  over and running  at a fast pace,  especially  when it was going so slow  for so long. 

So I am  here today  to give you  one last update...a positive update on Pasquale's incredible recovery.  He truly is a miracle man and each day we are reminded  how special life is but also how special our ohana has been around us. We would not be telling you this incredible recovery  story if it wasn't for everyone of you who truly held  us up during  this journey from the initial days of him being intubated and sent off to Portland to the recovery team at rehab and to those who rallied here at home to encourage and lift him up.  This story is almost as much your story as it is ours. So thank you. 

Those early days back home were crazy tiring, and I learned an even greater appreciation for nursing and anyone taking care of a loved one at home. Care giving is not easy and I applaud the many who at this moment are caring for a family member of their own. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think about those who weren't as fortunate as we have been and have lost loved ones, or at this moment are struggling while their loved ones are slowly being pulled away from them due to illness.

Pasquale is one of the lucky ones and we discovered along the way  that he doesn't remember much of the early days in ICU or much of his hospital stay except for brief moments when he just wanted to go home. In a way it's a blessing for I was thinking once he recovered physically he would then need to tackle the mental side of recovery. 

His physical recovery graduated quickly thanks to a strong team that kept him on task (you know who you are) and created goals from climbing the stairs to sleep in his own bed again, to mushroom hunting in the woods, to getting back to work at the job site and to reaching the all time high of hitting the ski slopes again. And that he did last week. 

Just a week after he came home, he was back in the kitchen (his favorite place) slicing up vegetables and creating a meal for us from his walker. About a week after that he finally did his first walk up the stairs one step at a time all while dragging along his oxygen apparatus. Our house became a jungle gym of exercise bands, portable bicycles, ramps, walkers and lots of motivational signs. Constant reminders that 'You Can Do It!' and other simple reminders to BREATH! Sounds so simple but breathing was his biggest challenge after having machines doing it for him for three months and as he ramped up his exercises, proper breathing was even more crucial. 

Simple daily things like shaving, standing to cook, dressing himself all became part of his physical therapy  work which he did with determination each and every day. About a month after coming home he graduated to walking around the house with a cane and was learning to walk behind his walker on uneven ground outside in the garden. 

On March 19th we took out first outing to Divots Restaurant and sat outside soaking up the sun enjoying a festive lunch. All sounds so simple, but graduating from the feeding tube to real food was a slow process with lots of trials of foods, textures, and consistency all while working with a speech therapist to learn swallowing techniques  and more. 

On March 23rd, Pasquale had his first grocery shopping experience, cruising the isles in the motorized cart oxygen in tow, looking for items to cook with. Again one of his passions is shopping daily and this brought back to him a bit of freedom despite me hovering over him. I think I even disappeared to other isles to let him be on his own while keeping a close eye on his shenanigans which often turned in to social moments visiting with the clerks throughout the store happy to see him back.  

That same day he made his first 'on foot' tour of the Union Building job site to see the crew and all that they had accomplished since his abrupt leave.  It was celebrated with tears of joy for all and he was so grateful for the team that kept the project running and moving forward for so many months. 

Days followed with little steps forward from short walks and lunches at the waterfront, to friends taking him for little drive outings and finally on March 30th, he hopped in his work truck and went for a drive on his own. I was hesitant but he was eager to find his independence without my helicoptering around him. Like our children, you have to let go a little and let them fly. 

During all of this rehab and mini adventures to independence, I was juggling the two work projects and found respite working on the Willow Ponds job site digging in the dirt and planting trees.  The hard work was tiring but at the same time gave me a recharge to keep motivating Pasquale forward while giving him a chance to be home on his own. At every moment he was looking for his independence from daily care, from the feeding tube and from oxygen tanks while slowly finding some resemblance of normal. 

Almost two months after coming home he finally had his feeding tube removed in Portland which was an adventure in itself. We laughed afterwards thinking we could have just done it on our own as the doc pretty much just ripped it out after an hour long wait. 

And then mid April snow arrived which kept him a little house bound to avoid falling and any injury to his delicate healing body. He took those days and focused on the rowing machine, stationary bike and indoor therapy. As soon as the snow was gone, he was back on the road to independence visiting the job site on a regular basis with tape measure in hand and some beer for the boys. He was ready to take on little tasks of work again often putting in lumber orders and working on details of the reconstruct all from his home office. 

In May outings increased from watching Mo Dixon play music and a little dancing at Hood Crest Winery to Lora finally taking him out on his first adventure searching for Morel mushrooms in a nearby orchard. As spring brought out the sunshine and new growth in the garden, he would take little walks around discovering the plants. Something he never really did in the past or appreciated but now found these little signs of new colorful beginnings inspiring and up lifting.  

Lora continued to motivate him with the bribe of searching for Porchini mushrooms in the forest and he did just that in early June finding a mother-load of beautiful mushrooms ready to cook up. This hunt for these special treats continued throughout the month keeping him on task to get stronger and able to walk on uneven ground without the support of the oxygen machine. And I got to enjoy the treats of their adventures. 

By mid summer Pasquale was back to projects at home repairing our front steps after removing his temporary ramp, to out harvesting from the garden. We enjoyed little bits of normal again with enjoying visiting guests to celebrating weddings and so much more while the past medical world slowly floated away in our minds. 

The amazing Hood River Outrigger canoe club let Pasquale join in a canoe paddle and that brought such light and energy to his being. I joined along and it was a challenging paddle but the team let Pasquale rest along the way while others like myself picked up the extra load. His goal this year is to paddle with the group before he tackles his own single OC. 

Last fall, some six months after coming home  he started the remodeled of our 26 year old greenhouse in our back yard and took it on with such enthusiasm. At one point I came home and found him alone, with ropes tied to nearby trees as he was jacking the entire house back down on to it's new sill plates. Again showing his independence which constantly seems to be his overall motivation. These all seem like little milestones but all of them together are huge in the grand scheme when we think back to the day when most doctors didn't think he would even be with us today. 

It hasn't all been sunshine and roses along the way. In September, Pasquale got covid once again which was treated with Plaxovid and he skated through it without a problem. It did heighten my anxieties to the max but we made it though. This winter after both of us had the flu, he experienced a little mental set back and I thought the PTSD of his medical journey had finally caught up with him. With a little motivation and a slow recovery back to working out after a couple months of a lingering cough, and some sunshine (it was pretty dark and dreary outside for a while) he found the strength to get back at it and find his happy place. I still deal with periods of worry as I awake at night to make sure he is still breathing, hover nearby as he took his first turns on the mountain and so on. His mind and his body is back to as strong as it was before covid and I am reminded that he doesn't need to me constantly be watching over him. He is a grown man after all!

We venture in to this new year looking forward to so many adventures together, from hopping on to an airplane for the first time again, to sailing on our boat, to celebrating our daughters wedding and so much more. All of these things coming to fruition thanks to so many of you who in the time of need stepped up to show your support in so many different ways. Some of you may not know you even played a part in his recovery but truly every word you shared with us made a difference and for that we are and always will be so grateful for all you have given us...the gift of life. 

Life is tenuous at times and we need to just take in this very moment and appreciate it. As tears slowly form down my cheeks with happiness I am still reminded that at this very moment others are suffering around the world and right here in our own community. I hope that my words can do the same as others have done for us and support you and give you strength in your trials you have in front of you. In the end, embrace your community, embrace those wanting to help, and know there is beauty in all of it even when it seems to be floating away from us.  

We thank you for giving Pasquale this second chance at life and wish you all a beautiful year ahead. 

Thankyou,

Jacquie