godspeed

To the entire Porreca clan,and I stress "entire" because there was a steady stream of well-wishers.And especially to my latest hero Al,

I wish you well. I wish you continued healing. It was my pleasure to share this part of your journey. For whatever reasons you had to take this harsh road of illness, from what I have seen and experienced, you and your wonderful family have handled this with extreme patience, dignity and love. And for that you are a lucky man.
Lee-you are the best. Thanks for the "almost better than sex" pralines.

I'll be checking your progress.
Fondly,
Beth Reeves,Rehab Manager
Lourdes Specialty Hospital

Movin' On!

Dad is moving today! This means he is stable enough to handle more therapy. Very good news. He will also be able to be seen by his original doctors and we are very pleased about that as well.

He will be back in Marlton at the rehab facility located next to Virtua, where he was in the beginning. Here is a link so you can see what it's all about and get directions and visiting hours.

http://www.marltonrehab.com/

Please pray for a smooth transition, a restful weekend for him and that he hits the ground running on Monday! More likely it will be sitting, but a sit's as good as a stand at this point :)

Go, Dad!

Much love, Michelle

Thanks Maureen for the Iced Tea Song?!

I think it was Maureen, although all of our cousins sang that song in the car - that was one long song so thanks for sparing us all of the chorus'! And thanks for the love. Dad is so touched by everyone's care and concern and he loved the song!

Unfortunately, dad only gets iced tea in his dreams but it's a good for us to sing :) Maybe if we sing it loud enough we can get the attention of the iced tea gods...Hello, he's down here waiting.

He did get some pudding today. Again, we were more excited than he was. Apparently, it was nasty tasting and stuck to his dry throat. It's a start.

He was in good spirits, which we all needed today. He has been a little down in the dumps, with good reason. He's back though, and as usual made us smile and was interested in all our silly stories.

Hang in there, dad. Every day gets you closer to home. Love you, Michelle

Here's a tune we all know (with different words of course)

Saw some Ice Tea, Saw some Ice Tea, Saw some Ice tea just now...Just now I saw some Ice tea, saw some Ice tea just now.

You know how the rest of the song goes...

the end goes like this..

It was yummy, it was yummy, it was yummy just now...Just now it was yummy, it was yummy, just now.

I know I shook things up a bit (the peanut / Ice tea ) But that's part of my charm as well you know.

We all learned this song from you and so it goes!

One step at a time takes you a very long way in the end....love you...

The good news...

is that Dad is making progress with the swallowing. However, not yet ready to be let loose on the liquids. Tomorrow, Shana, the therapist will give him some pudding or applesauce under very safe conditions. As you can imagine, even dad is scared that the liquids will go down the wrong "pipe" so we are happy that they are waiting until there is no danger. Iced tea is over-rated anyway. Love is better...and we love him very, very much!

The doctors are pleased with his progress. He's not as pleased as they are.
He's just mad he missed the engagement party. I don't blame him - it was a lot of
fun and a very happy occassion! We are so happy to welcome Amy into our family. She's is sweet, funny, beautiful and so "just right" for Andy. And we like her family just as much! Good job, Andy! I think there are many more fun parties in our future - and Dad will be at all of them. When we get a little down in the dumps, we remember that we are very, very grateful for the better days that are ahead.

Cheers!

Swallow Test Today

Sometime this morning...look for the good news later. :)

Iced tea, iced tea, iced tea, iced tea, iced tea......

Stand by your bed.....

.....and tell the world about it! You have to sing that to get the reference. Or maybe you just have to be me. I'll never know.

Anyway, he did it. Stood by his bed, 2 days in a row and he wanted me to tell you about it! First day was 10 seconds with support, obviously) and today 30 seconds. This is so good. It takes a lot out of him but he needs to do that twice a day starting Monday.

Surprise, everyone loves him there. They said he is pleasant, funny, a hard worker, and patient. They don't know about his road rage.

Jeff is in town for Andy and Amy's engagement party (yay!) and Dad was thrilled to see him. Dad is sad to miss the party but he'll be there in spirit...and we'll Photoshop him into the pictures. He will if we don't :)

Swallow test next week? We'll see. He is doing a great job with his exercises and just needs more body strength in general to ensure he'll pass.

Please continue to pray for his patience, good spirits, and strength to keep this up.
Unfortunately, he knows just how long Beeeeeebeeeeeeetown Road is.

Wishing you some summer fun this weekend.
Aloha!