Apres-Israel: Florida "Vacation"

I needed to compose at least one more post in the month of August.  The reason August needed to have at least one more post, is that otherwise, it would not be much better than July, which (gasp) had only one--count 'em--one post.  My worst posting-month ever.  I think. 

They say (-no idea who 'they' are) that bloggers blog because they have no "real" lives, but rather, that they live vicariously through their blogs, in a "virtual" world.  When I first found out about my daughter's illness and became super-obsessed with her situation and her subsequent treatments and therapies, I suddenly had a "life." Terrible way to go, but be it as it may, there it was.  I suddenly found myself, in the "real," physical world, with a vengence.  There was no time and certainly not enough energy to put my thoughts down on paper, er, Word Document.  Surrounded by a daughter in a wheelchair who needed care and companionship, and two rambunctious toddlers running up and down the hallway, vocalizing (I'm being nice)as they ran, I couldn't even think clearly enough to formulate a coherent thought.

But it is the 31st of August, and a post is required, so here it is.  Since August the 17th I have been in Sunny Florida, visiting the almost-rest of my family.  I say 'almost' because I still have family in New York, which I will not see on this mega trip.  My other three grandkids are here, stateside, but the main reason we are here is my mother-in-law's 90th birthday, ad me'ah ve-esrim shana. I hope and pray that I am as mentally and physically active as my mom-in-law when (b'ezrat Hashem) I get to that age...she is incredible!

If it hadn't been for that special birthday, which included a week of parties: housing development neighbors, NCJW and Hadassah friends' parties, culminating in a kosher-catered family party at my sister-in-law's.  It was wonderful, but I would have continued my stay in Israel.  I did not want to leave my daughter alone in the hospital, and I could have stayed another month on my tourist visa.  But it is what it is, and I am glad that I got to see my three American grandchildren and my two daughters as well.

Tonight is our final night here, and all of us - except for Toodles, my middle daughter who left today to return to New York - are going out to dinner at a nice kosher fleishig restaurant.  That's one positive about South Florida--so many kosher facilities, including milchig and fleishig restaurants, not like where we live.  It's also a "little Israel" here, as most of the Jewish stores and restaurants are Israeli.  I've had more shakshuka here than in Israel!
Got to get ready, so will end here and now, on the 2nd day of Rosh Chodesh Elul: Chodesh Tov--next post, September!

(p.s., my youngest daughter is doing her therapies and practicing, through the pain, her desensitization techniques, between the actual therapy sessions.  She has also had five acupuncture treatments, to date. Slight improvement, but it was temporary.  More later...)

Israel Journal: Day the Very Last...

I am a jumble of mixed emotions right now.  Today is my last full day in Israel.  I am typing this from my daughter's laptop, sitting next to her on her wheelchair while she is in bed, after sleeping off two extra Percosets she received after almost falling off her wheelchair between it and her bed this morning.  It is so hard for me to grasp that I won't be seeing her for a very long time, let alone not seeing my two sons and their wives, and my little grandchildren. 

My oldest grandson, all of two years and nine months, realized in his little toddler way that his Savta was leaving.  I had spoken to him about that I'd be flying in an airplane far, far away (in a galaxy...), back to my home, and we would talk to and see each other on the computer's camera, the way we did before I came.  But then, he didn't really know who Savta was, as he had never seen me before.  Now, I had practically lived with them for two months, so he now knows who Savta is.  I hope.  His little sister, all of one year and nine months, probably will forget me--but hopefully, not my songs: I sang them to sleep many nights, and my son knows some of them--the Hebrew ones, at least.  But he doesn't know the Yiddish ones that my grandmother sang to me, which I now am singing to my grandchildren, and the beat goes on...
I am planning on (bli neder) recording me singing these songs and sending my son an MP3 file, so they can hear these songs every night, if they so choose.  The songs include Hebrew bedtime songs such as Numi Numi, Lailah Lailah, and Yiddish songs such as Rozhinkes mit Mandlen, and several others whose names I don't even remember.  Then I top them off (after singing with them the "Shma"  and "Hamal'ach Hago'el Oti of course) with some American songs.  One of their favorites is "Oh Shenandoah."

My daughter has her work cut out for her now.  She has to work through the intense pain to desensetize her legs and eventually, hopefully soon--"reset" her brain to realized that there is nothing wrong with her legs.  I wish I could be there, every day, to visit her and encourage her and see her through this.  But for now, I can't.

I know it's a little odd ending this trip with an American song--I should be ending with an Israeli one--but this spiritual resonates with my mood.  Sad.  Longing.  Hoping...

Israel Journal-Don't Even Know What Week This Is...

Actually, I am leaving in two weeks, so it's about week number 7 or so.  Got a lot accomplished, haven't traveled anywhere, including to visit relatives, but have traveled to various medical centers, pharmacies, clinics, by various interesting means, such as ambulances and wheelchair accessible vans.  Oh yes, and today I visited a Home for the Disabled in Gilo.  Some fun.
My update is that my daughter was finally given a medical board by the national insurance, and was granted 100% disability for six months, retroactive to the end of April, which means it ends in October.  Then, she will have to go before another medical board, but whereas the first one was an Orthopedic one, this next one will be a psychiatric and neurological one.  Also, she was accepted into full hospitalization at the Re'ut Medical Center in Tel-Aviv, where they have expert medical care for RSD/CRPS patients.  The treatments are very difficult: there is not much pain reduction (none of her medications have really reduced her pain, just made her groggy and 'drugged out'), but even with the pain, the patient has to do physical therapy and attempt to move the affected limb.  The purpose is to 'retrain the brain' which has been sending incorrect signals to the nerves in a continuous feedback-loop.  Theoretically, the brain is telling her that there is no limb, or the limb was severly hurt--and she is supposed to exercize that limb and 'show' the brain that the limb is there and normal, until the brain resets itself.  Some call this "Exposure Therapy," because the RSD sufferer exposes him or herself fully to the pain.  In addition to the physical therapy mentioned above, she should be getting simultaneous psychiatric help (this is like PTSD), hydrotherapy, art therapy and possibly occupational therapy. She is scheduled to be hospitalized early next week.

Meanwhile,while we're waiting for this, the system hasn't kicked in yet (did I say before somewhere that there was just a bit of bureaucracy in the system here?), and she is still not listed as have been given that status, which means there is no money in her bank account.  I had to go into town today to withdraw from my account in the States and deposit into hers, so the bank wouldn't cancel all her cards and freeze the account.  So far, we've had to pay out of pocket for everything: medications, travel by the aforementioned vans and ambulances (one ambulance ride cost me 700 shekels.  That's $199.82 at the current rate), and even some procedures because they were not initially covered by her HMO.

At any rate, it's 11:20 p.m. here and I am exhausted with aching feet.  I am blogging now because there is no other time to do so, either that--or I have no energy for it.  Forget about blogging about the current political situation in Israel or the United States--I am not following the news now and simply have no idea what is going on in the greater world.  I am too involved in my little world...

Please, continue to read this blog, and also my daughter's blog linked in my sidebar to the right.  Please spread RSD Awareness (see her Facebook page), and donate if you can.  All your support is much appreciated.

This is the next-to-last Shabbat I will be here, and the last Shabbat all of us--my daughter, two sons and their families--will be together, for a long while.  I just hope that her stay in the medical center will be the ticket to the road to recovery.

Shabbat Shalom, from Judea...