The Sausage Making

I’m on a plane to Atlanta where I will spend the week learning how to be David’s care partner. I will have much more to report on with his continued progress later this week as we’ll be together during the day so this update is about what’s been happening on the home front as we prepare for some (more) really big stuff. 

First, let me remind everyone about the fundraiser event at Baby Cat in Kensington on Friday, May 29. In addition to the amazing beer - of which 10% of the proceeds will be donated to Team Sward - we will have silent auction items and many other things I’m only starting to learn about. We have a goal: to be the largest fundraiser ever at Baby Cat so come thirsty AND hungry as Baby Cat also has a food truck if you want to make a whole evening of it. Thanks to Regina & Jenna for all the planning that’s going into this. Full disclosure: David will not be back in time to attend this but I am flying back from Atlanta for this evening and I most definitely want to see all of you and celebrate David’s rehab progress. And every penny raised will help us get David back with our family, our neighborhood, the squad, at work, and to all the other things. 

Back to the sausage: Since February 8, I’ve been dividing everything into stages to better think about it and to process and handle all the things. The first period was the first week after David’s accident when he was in the ICU; the second was when he went into the first step down still at Shock Trauma. Next is where we are now: in-patient at Shepherd, with friends and family visiting David on the weekends and me trying to keep the USS Sward afloat back in Maryland. 

We’re getting ready for the next stage: discharge from in-patient at Shepherd into something called the Day Program. It is an intense, M-F, daily rehab program but where I will live with David on campus in an apartment and serve as his care partner. While he is at Day Program each day, I will work from the apartment. We’ll live together on our own for the first time since his accident (and frankly since Matthew was born when we became three instead of just two). I’m both excited and apprehensive. 

Over the last few weeks, there has been a flurry of planning around making sure everything is ready at Casa de Sward for my month away - hell, I thought vacation planning was hard!

We’ll have much of my family there again over this month and in an incredible gift, the mother of our matron of honor at our wedding and my college roommate, Ruth is also coming out two different times. I’m so thankful she and Rebecca’s late father Bob were present during Rebecca’s and my college years and in the many years since. Grateful doesn’t begin to cover my feelings for what Ruth is doing especially but really for the whole family as Rebecca was with the boys during my surgeries & has been the main grant writer, and Reb’s husband Jason was with David this weekend in Atlanta. 

During this month and Day Program, we’re confident Team Sward will continue to rally for Ruth, my dad, my brother & sister-in-law, with meals and other errands. The amazing Laura will be extending Meal Train through this time and while I am VERY, VERY excited to share that Matthew earned his (provisional) driver’s license yesterday, we will also need some driving for Colin that goes beyond what Matthew can do. Thank you all in advance.  

Our friend & neighbor Chuck spent a recent weekend with David. Chuck has his own fairly recent and significant spinal surgery and rehabilitation experience, and he and his wife Cathy have been so supportive and helpful to me these last few months. Chuck flew down to Atlanta to be with David over a weekend recently - and provided an amount of support, strength, experience, and encouragement to David in a way that David simply hasn’t been able to get from anyone else. Their conversations have also helped both David and me think more about and better plan for what happens when David comes back to Maryland later in June. 

Speaking of Maryland, we’ve been hopping: in the last few weeks, Matthew had a band trip to Nashville and his band concert (see picture), Colin has advanced another level in pickleball and is ready to play in adult tournaments, and we are moving forward with planning for the renovations on our house (planning, packing, and purging - oh my! ).

The organization for which I work and for whose support I am so grateful, UsAgainstAlzheimer’s, held a big reception and policy convening on Capitol Hill focused on advancing women’s brain health on May 22-23 (why ARE women 2/3 of all Alzheimer’s patients - and better yet, why are we as a nation not focusing research and public health efforts to

properly fix this???). These four amazing women - our core team (pictured here) - whose Herculean efforts after David’s accident meant this all could happen. I’m honored to work with them and the rest of my colleagues each day. 

Thanks for being on this journey with us and stay tuned this week for more updates from Atlanta. 

With gratitude,

Erika