Shoulder Party!!

For months, I have been STUCK in getting my arm higher than 90 degrees when I lift it straight up.  Mira...  Los fotos!  La evidencia!

January

February

April

March

May

June

July

Claudio called it a "Punto Critico," and we worked on it continuously.  I lifted weights; I lifted my arm; I used the door pulley; I did all of my assigned exercises, but I wasn't making noticeable progress.  Even my sweet physical therapist in the US, Stacey, noted it.  Every few weeks when I see her, she measures my range of motion, and she notes, "Well... you are at 80 degrees, same as a month ago, but don't get discouraged, it takes 6 weeks to gain measurable muscle."  I didn't stress it; I just kept doing my exercises.

And then... two weeks ago...  I went to see the orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Adelman, to review my MRI and talk about future plans.  We discussed all the metal in my arm skewing the MRI results; the potential to remove the hardware in the future, orthoscopic surgery to clean out scar tissue and look around, but overall, waiting until the year marker to reassess the situation.  All the doctors and therapists have told me the same thing, I have one year to make the greatest gains.  After that... things slow down... dramatically.

I told him my goal is to get my arm to 165 degrees.  I don't need a full 180, although I will bust my butt to get it.  He asked me to show him my progress.  I jumped off the table, gave my arm a stretch, and raised it.  It went up, and Up AND UP to about 130 degrees.  My jaw dropped.  I couldn't believe it, so I did it again, and it happened again.  With amazement, I explained my shock to Dr. Adelman.  He smiled and said, "Well, I think you'll meet your goal!"

For the rest of the day, and the days since, I have been lifting my arm just for fun and just because I can.  It is awesome.  That first day was hilarious.  We had tickets to tour the Boeing airplane factory with hundreds of other people, and I kept lifting my arm and yelling at Adam and the kids, "Look LOOK!!"  They immediately looked to the sky in anticipation of a Dreamliner or 747 on the horizon, and I kept yelling, "NO!  Look at my arm!!"  We were cracking up, and the people around us could not figure out what was going on.  They were equally perplexed looking at the empty sky.  Ja-Ha!!

Just this morning, I reached up to the cabinet above the refrigerator and grabbed a cutting board for the first time.  I couldn't stop smiling.  I grabbed a cutting board with my left hand!!  Party on shoulder!!  Party on!

A beautiful salute from Claudio, Sonja and
their spectacular family after I shared a video of
my joy and success with them!
Los extrano!

Adam Speaks... to the Kids

Caleb Antonio

Did you like the food in Argentina?

Adam - the empanada KING!

I loved the food.  I want to eat empanadas right now.

What was your favorite drink?

The wine in Argentina was great.  Stopping at the store on my way home from work to pick out wine for dinner was one of my favorite parts of the day.

What Spanish did you learn?

Yo entiendo mucho pero no hablo mucho.  

How did you learn Spanish?

Listening to Latino pop music and studying online.

Super Scary!

Were you scared when Mom got hit by a car?  Why or Why not?

Of course I was scared! We didn’t have many details on her condition for a few days, and that was really scary.

Carmela Rose

Daddy and his mule for the week

What was your favorite work trip that you took the last year when we were in Argentina?

When we took 12 horses and mules riding up steep rugged mountain terrain to 4000 meters of elevation for a week to find two new species of lizards that we haven’t even named yet.  

Why was that your favorite?

I liked traveling on four feet instead of two.

What was your least favorite part of the trip?

Being away from the family for those two weeks was tough. It was also a lot of boring driving to get to the mountains. Two days squished in the back of a truck isn’t much fun.

We noticed you doing a lot of writing. Approximately how many papers did you write?  How many words are each paper?  What was your favorite?  Why?

I wrote four papers by myself, a lot more with collaborators. Each paper is about 7000 words.  I don’t really have a favorite, but some of them did take a lot more work than others. I guess that the easy ones were my favorite.

New Species!
What will his name be???

What was your favorite lizard that you caught?  Why?  Where was it?

We found a new species in La Rioja that is all black with a white stripe down its back, and it looks really cool.  Our hard work to travel up to the top of the mountains paid off.  Finding that new species was a nice reward for all of our effort.

Sofia Josette – SoJo

What did you think of the food in Argentina?

I thought the food was really good.  I especially liked the meat and the Italian influence in all the food.

How much Spanish did you learn?

I learned a whole lot of Spanish, but I am not good at speaking Spanish. I was more serious about learning Spanish before Mom’s accident, but afterwards I was not as into it.

The kids found this lizard!

What are you going to do for your next sabbatical in seven years?

For my next sabbatical, I want to live abroad for a whole year again. I would like to go somewhere warm and on the beach.  I also don’t want to visit any hospitals, so Anne is going to have to stay off the streets and run on the beach or something.

What was your experience while Mom was in the hospital?

Thinking back to it all seems like a big blur.  I remember very quickly forgetting all about taking care of myself and focusing instantly on Anne.

What was your favorite part of Argentina?

It was easy living.  I loved the good food, all of the great people, and all of the whales and penguins on the beach.