I went to sleep early, around 9:30 pm. I was exhausted from a hard PT session yesterday with the two therapists: Zaya and Tori.

• First, I had to walk (with my walker) for six minutes straight.
• Then, I had to walk a fixed distance (~60 ft there and back) as fast as I could
• Then they had me transfer from the chair to the floor, via an intermediary level
• Slide over and bump up and down some steps
• Transfer back to the chair

It was a lot, but I managed it, except for the transfer which they had to help me with.

Today, being Saturday, I see I have no OT or PT sessions scheduled, which should give me time to recuperate. Tomorrow, Sunday, I have a single OT session scheduled. It all starts up again on Monday.

Martha and Charles visited yesterday. They brought me a large bag of Liquorice Allsorts, and a bag of Jelly Babies. We talked about Charles and my experiences being brought up British. Charles came over in 1968 as a small child so doesn’t have many memories of England. His father was an engineer and came over as part the “Brain Drain,” as the exodus of technical talent to the US was referred to at the time. However, since others from his father’s company came over at the same time, Charles found himself as part of a British ex-patriate community. I was Charles’s reference for his gaining his British passport recently, and he’s thinking of visiting in the next few months. I asked them if they’d heard of the upcoming by-election in Clacton, where Nigel Farage (boo, hiss!) is running as the Reform party candidate. The Lib Dems, Tories, and Labor are not competing, but a whole slew of joke third party candidates have paid their £500 deposit to be entered on the ballot; amongst them Count Binface. He probably won’t win, unfortunately, but such is the backlash against Farage that he’ll probably get more than 5% of the vote¹ and his deposit back.

Maureen got here at 11 am, by which time I’d already gotten up, been to the bathroom, got dressed, and in my wheelchair. We went outside and she pushed me around the outside of Mayor Menino Park, jutting out into the channel that connects the Mystic River with the inner harbor. It was already in the upper 80s and sunny, and I wished I had my hat and sunglasses! It was good to be outside, the first time since May when I attempted a bumpy ride in the backyard to the greenhouse and back. I would love an all-terrain wheelchair, but they’re vey expensive and not covered by Medicare. And anyway, since the end goal is that I be able to walk under my own steam, it’s not worth it. Back inside, we took a tour of the facility, looked at the swimming pool through locked doors, and visited the gym, stocked with all the toys that a therapist could wish for, and more..

Back in my room, I ate lunch and got back into bed. After Maureen left, I realized how tired I was and fell asleep for a bit less than an hour. Google showed me that I immediately fell into a deep sleep for 20 minutes.

1. Binface received 26.9% of the vote while Farage won 63.3%. Binface had his highest share yet with 9,455 votes, having lost to no fewer than three prime ministers, and one who later became prime minister, in previous attempts. ↩︎