Day 28

What Lao-tzu neglected to mention in his pithy proverb is that the second step in the journey of a thousand miles looks much the same as the first, and by the third the resonant footfall has regained the squeak of a rubber sneaker on well-worn linoleum.

Burt was back at it today, going hard. He had his early session of physical therapy this morning followed by work with the speech therapist, who is teaching Burt to project and has given him several exercises that will help him regain control of facial muscles as well as his swallow. He is still waiting for it to return from Capistrano.

By 11:30 he returned to bed for a little rest before it all started again. In the interim, his occupational therapist, Mike, hooked him up to an electronic stimulating device the sends electric impulses through his left hand to fire the muscles. Mike left it on for about twenty minutes as Burt tried to concentrate on opening and closing his hand as the machine fired. It is always about new pathways.

By 1:00, it was time for round 2. Randy, Burt’s benevolent drill instructor came to collect him for his second time through the obstacle course. It is a pretty indescribable thing to watch an eighty year-old grandmother with a hip replacement climb a twenty-foot wall by rope under live fire.

Randy had Burt working on arm exercises and showing him how to stretch it himself. Randy referred to Burt’s arm as it, Burt said “it’s my arm.” Randy asked, “are you from New York? Are you a Yankee fan? It’s an it.” They berated each other good-naturedly for a while and had everyone around in stitches. They have made plans for a trip to the city for proper pastrami as soon as Burt’s up to it.

Next came Pati, Burt’s physical therapist, who had him up standing again, stepping again, stretching again. Even though Burt can’t see the improvements, they can. He was standing straighter, stronger, and more balanced. Bonnie, his therapist from the day before, watched for a bit, remarking that he wasn’t wavering, as he had the day before. Sometimes, you just have to trust the pros.

After the therapy was finished and a brief trip into the sunshine, Burt returned to bed and was asleep before his g-tube hit the pillow. He woke up three hours later unsure if it was morning or night and ready for a few more hours. He said a sleepy farewell to Connie and David and snored back off to ready himself for another big day tomorrow.