One week ago today, David was rushed from Movement Climbing Gym in Rockville up to Baltimore Shock Trauma after a freak accident. Since that one blink of an eye when everything went wrong, everything has somehow gone right. The medic made the correct decision based on their assessment to bypass local hospitals and take him straight to Shock Trauma; we got the right surgeon and surgical team; Shock Trauma’s team of ICU, trauma, neuro, and social work are the best of the best. For the last week, they have carried him in the hospital, while all of you have carried us through everything else. Please keep those positive comments for David coming - one of our favorite things to do together at Shock Trauma is to go through your caring and loving words. Yesterday, Jake and the boys came up to see David for the first time, and we had a mini Valentine’s Day party - complete with decorations thanks to Doug & Honey. That was a huge shot in the arm for David to see both boys (and Jake!) and an important step for our family to move forward together. (I also want to take a moment to share the paintings of my incredible niece Leila who is the artist for the two cat paintings in the pic 💕 - she is so talented.) We’re moving down! David was downgraded, and while it might *sound* bad, it is very good news. He moved down the hall from the ICU to the intermediate care level. Leaving the nurses that have supported us definitely feels like we’re being pushed out of the nest. But he’s ready for this next step; hopefully I am too. Other gratitudes - one friend did a ton of research on who some of the most experienced designers for accessible space design which will feed into the work of another friend who is an architect and came over today to measure the house to figure out how we can make our house into an accessible place for David and have a house that works for the entire family - and our village - to be together. Another friend picked up Colin today and made a huge batch of peanut butter cookies for David & the staff at Shock Trauma that I will deliver tomorrow (picture included!). Still more friends worked to put together a Meal Train for the coming weeks (which will be headed your way soon). And I know that a whole lot else is happening that I’m not aware of but I will share that I was asked to pass along that for those who signed up on the form, you will be contacted in the next day or two. Thank you in advance from David & me. Our current piles of shit - David is still having problems with the big cervical collar that he must wear for at least the next 4-5 weeks so the pins & screws in his spine help strengthen everything. No surprise, it is uncomfortable as all get out when he’s sitting & laying there so we finally got one of the docs to place an order so that someone will figure out how a collar can be made for him that doesn’t dig into his neck, back, and shoulders. The other challenge David has is with his sleep - he’s just not getting any because of a) the collar and b) the fact he is sleeping on his back and not on his side, which is causing interrupted sleep. His persistent self-advocacy, plus Doug, Honey, and me chiming in keep getting the team to try new things will hopefully result in this changing soon. Last night they prescribed trazodone to help knock him out. The result? I passed out - David did not. During the morning Gaggle with the doctors, I may have mentioned that it didn’t work on London (our dog) either when it was prescribed for her. I got a couple of laughs - and David got a different sleep med prescribed. Winning. Very excited to report that MelDad is coming out on Tuesday to be with us for the next week. Jake, who has been our backbone this week (pun kinda intended), is heading back to Wisconsin on Wednesday. We’re most grateful to Laura, the girls, and their village for making this possible. Thank you all - we have one week down, and a whole lot more to go - which I know we will get through together.