Wednesday November 26 post lunch entry

Already after today's activities I had a good lunch

The picture below shows my staffed mushroom and my  chicken drums baked with Russel roasted potatoes. The rosemary comes from the CNS garden. I leaned a spot where I can get it so I am collecting a bit whenever I am cooking.

At lunch I talked to our two sons at home. Chicco our eldest is 9 years old while Lapo our youngest is 5 and one half.

They are both at home enjoying their school recess.

Chicco is in IV grade while Lapo is in Kindergarten.

I have talked to Simona my wife who is working hard and getting ready for the short Thanksgiving break.

Out of frustration I have pulled apart the little note that I had  made a few months ago. It contained some personal information that Sarah my Case Manager had transmitted to me at the time. I left it on Sarah desk so today Sarah came by to wish me a good day and a good vacation.

She showed me her smile and  appreciation and we snapped the following picture together.

Well perhaps the effect of the sentence that I have heard at the radio is making its effect.

This is the sentence: The squeaky wheels get the grease. I personally don't like to  compared myself to a squeaky wheels but perhaps once there is no grease available it is a fact that any wheel gets squeaky.

As Sarah says: what is done is done.. you have to move on and as such in observance of  the respect and gratitude for Sarah and CNS I am moving on.

For Thanksgiving Holiday I will be going home. I will be home until Sunday when  I will come back on time for church.

At home Simona mentioned that I will be helping our eldest son with his homework. He has several artistic drawing to do, Simona mentioned that I am the only one in the family that has an artistic inclination. She is right I like a lot working with art and drawing.

I am going to gladly help my son.

I will be bringing to both of them some simple gift that I have been receiving at the clinic from Amy's daughters.

I am going to have a very good Thanksgiving time with my family.

God Bless you Sarah for all your patience with me and your heart.

I am sure you will be having a blessed Thanksgiving day with your Husband and your sons Elisha, Ian and Mason. 

Sincerely..

Thank you Sarah and CNS..

Giuseppe

Wednesday November 26 2014

As this is Education, and my Education consists in recalling the salient events of yesterday here is the list.

Yesterday I left the clinic and went to do some sport as I had no Personal Shopping to do.

First I had my dinner. Chicken drums,  a salad with spinach, avocado, carrot, tostadas from Simona my wife. I drank also  lemon tea.

I am always having my dinner before going to the gym.

It was a Tuesday and I went to the 24 fitness gym to do bootcamp. As I am not allowed yet to go by myself Robert drove me and did my coverage while over there.

The local instructor was Johnny. I did my best at bootcamp and I have enjoyed every single exercise.

At the gym I met Debby, Kashi her dad and her mom.

Here is Melissa at my left hand side, smiling with me.

She mentioned that for the Thanksgiving weekend she is going to S.Diego to visit her parents.

I politely asked her to bring me back some sand.. she politely answered that she will try her best provided that she remembers it...

 Finally after bootcamp it was Zumba time and I stayed to dance Zumba with Mike.. in life everybody has its own Zumba to do..I dance Zumba at the gym, Simona has its own Zumba by keeping our household in good shape.

Before leaving I snapped a picture of Kaia as well, she is a nice person as well.

Finally I greeted Frank the Manager and went back to the apartment.

Robert was quick to bring me home and as it was that cold we did not stop along the way..

I went home get a soothing shower, grabbed a banana snack and went to bed.

Today I woke up early as usual and got ready for my day of therapy.

I started doing CR with Erica and got a bit frustrated and explained her my feeling.

She mentioned that she understands it and that she is on my side.

In talking about Erica she mentioned that her daughter is sleeping fine however her husband Jessie is snoring during the night.

Erica is always positive and very strong during the day.. That is a good quality of being resilience that I appreciate very much.

At the clinic I had yoga with Amy.

She has two daughters: Olivia 4 and Madison  11.

Yesterday I brought them a thanksgiving card  and today I have received a drawing from Olivia, a bracelet and a phone older from Madison. 

You see we exchange this little gifts in sign of appreciation and affection for each others. I would do the same with my sons.

Speaking of our sons, Simona my wife mentioned that for Thanksgiving vacation she has a surprise. I am leaving tomorrow  for four days. At home I am going to help our eldest son doing his art work. Simona mentioned that he has some drawing to do and I am gladly going to help him with it.

Enjoy the reading..

It is lunch time.

Sincerely

Giuseppe

Tuesday November 25

Already,
it is a beautiful day in Bakersfield, a bit cold as it is about  60 F.
Today I spoke with Erica my CR therapist and we discussed about a plan to move forward. Erica is always a nice person to talk to and I feel that after our conversation with have always a clean slate (This is Erica's encouraging favorite expression)
Speaking about Erica she mentioned that her daughter Sun is teething and she is waking up during the night to play with her. Sun is a few months old.

Moving forward I just had yoga with Amy, I like working with her and she is always making sure we do a lot of good exercises. Over time I came to know the whys of the movement we are doing in Yoga.
As usual I have brought a small letter to her two daughters: Madison is 11 and Olivia is 4 years old. Over time we have been exchanging little  present and drawings. It is good to think about them and to behave as I am doing with my kids.

Speaking about family our kids are in break from school for the whole week. I called yesterday at lunch and had a lengthy conversation with Chicco our eldest now 9 years old. I briefly said hi to Lapo our youngest son now 5.5 and he was busy eating lunch, so he quickly said hi to me  and went on to finish eating.
So our kids are well.

Yesterday I have received a surprise  gift from Simona my wife. She sent me a new water bottle.

This is my new water bottle... I must remember to keep it for as long as I can ..

I have just been paid my  CNS it is my biweekly salary for Grocery and Outing.
It is a good program and it allows to to be able to administer some money by myself.
I normally have no problem with the money for outing while I need to pay more attention with my expenditure for Grocery Shopping... I am learning to be frugal in my purchasing beside Simona my wife is helping me by giving me some extra cash.

Well yesterday I went to the 24 fitness gym and I had Yoga. The teacher is Erica who is pictured here below at my right hand side.

At the gym I met Naomi the former Manager over there. She is the lady at my right hand side.

Naomi is now a teacher.

At the gym I have snapped a picture with Melissa.. She knows me as she trust me 

After  Yoga I had the chance of starting doing cycle with Lolita and then the coverage was over. 

Alexis did my coverage at the gym yesterday and it was so fun to have around. She mentioned to me that I am a social butterfly as I am greeted everybody at the gym. 

After the gym I  invite Alexis to go back to the apartment as it was too cold to grab a couple of long neck.. She laughed at my good humor and at my proper use of the English language.

After a good shower and a snack I went to bed to start a new day.

Here is my good snack and my water bottle.

This morning I was sleeping too well so my wife did not wake me up.. however I smelled in the air her perfume.

Time for me to go to lunch
Enjoy the reading
Giuseppe

Monday November 24 weekend activities

On Friday after the clinic I went to the 24 fitness gym to dance Zumba with Honey. She  is the lady with a yellow shirt. Salvia is at my right hand side.

This is me with Salvia and Michelle - she is the lady wearing a blue T-shirt.

They are all polite to pose for a picture with me. They know it is for my personal use.

As it was a Happy Thanksgiving Zumba I had time for enjoying a bit of extra time.

After Zumba I came back home and get some rest.

On Saturday  I have been preparing a little happy thanksgiving note for our boys.

A little art for them.

And Also a letter for our eldest son Chicco who  is 9 years old, while Lapo our youngest is 5.5 I am writing to the both of them in English and block letter. Always telling them about my days and about my little adventure. I am telling them to be happy and that I am proud of their achievement in life and in sports.

Over the weekend I have cleaned the whole apartment as well. Washed the floor, run the hoover and now it is sparking clean.

I like to leave in a clean apartment as much as I can.

I went to do grocery shopping at Trader Joe's.

Greeted Jamie her pictured at my left hand side. Also gave her a letter for her daughter Delaney.

I greeted Meredith 

After grocery Shopping I went to see Food Chain. The movie for a special showing for  Kern County.

I was the only one in the whole theater, as I have liked the movie the public approval is 100%

This is Morgan at the movie theater.

On Sunday  I have been writing a lot to my family and then went to church at S. Francis. I greeted Amparo and Mark.

Today Erica mentioned that her daughter Sunn turned 1 year  and took her first step.

Simona and the boys are fine.

Sincerely

Giuseppe

Friday November 21 post lunch entry

Already, I called home and found Chicco our eldest son who was already at home together with Lapo our youngest. Chicco was at home as he had a collaboration day at school, and as such it is a shorter day.
He mentioned that together with his brother they had fish, corn and pasta for lunch.
This afternoon he is going to tennis practice with his tennis teacher Mike. He will go there together with a friend of his as Simona my wife is busy at her work at Caltech.
Lapo is going to stay at home playing. Lapo likes to play with his Lego set, as such Simona my wife makes sure that he has once in a while a new box that is suited to his level. Lapo is always aiming for a bit set and Simona is bringing him back to reality by offering him some reasonable alternative.

Going back to my work today, I chatted with Don my counselor, Don looks to me as Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting.  Don is a very good person full of good idea and very positive in his approach to me. Don mentioned to me that he will be heading to visit is brother in Idaho close to Boise.
I remember that when I was working for Micron Technology in California I used to go to Boise Idaho to Micron's headquarter. A nice place,.. quite cold during winter time.

After Don I went to do my RT.. a good run at the clinic. I run smoothly and very happy to be able to run again. For me it is very important to stay active as it is part of my recovery and to stimulate my brain to get back to its original state. Right now I am very close to be a healthy patient and frankly it is going to take another few months. The next doctor appointment is for mid February.

today I have been told that Naveen a patient here at the clinic goes back to India where he is from.

His dad told me that it is a very long flight. So all the best to you Naveen.

For lunch I politely asked the staff to take this picture of me. I always do that and staff politely complies. As usual I allowed to take picture only of myself which precludes other patients or staff because of privacy rules. I understand it and I am policing my own pictures. Whenever they do not comply with the rules I delete from my phone... this is happening very rarely.

This is me before lunch...showing off my new jeans from Simona.

This is my wonderful lunch.. staffed  Portobella mushroom, chicken drums and Russel roasted potatoes.

Now let me go back to yesterday.

Before ending my day I wished a good night to Simona and to our kids.

Yesterday after therapy I went to the gym to dance the Zumba. Robert did my coverage at the 24 fitness gym. I danced Zumba with Mike and then I started doing cycle with Lolita and it was time to go. At the gym I met Jenna, she mentioned her boy is getting bigger and bigger. Also I met Tigi and her daughter Kashi. Also I met Crystal and so many other people of the community.

Before leaving Frank the manager mentioned he would be out today. 

As usual I snapped a picture with Melissa over there at my left hand side.

At the gym they know me very well and whenever there is somebody available to take a picture with me they comply patiently.

If they are too busy it is OK.

In a little bit I need to go.

Please allow me to wish to all of you a really good weekend.

I will see you back this Monday.

Sincerely

Giuseppe

Thursday Nov 20 2014

Buonanotte Famiglia! as they say in the TV series of Un Dottore in Famiglia. 

This is the way I ended my day yesterday.

I had a very good dinner before going to the gym:

Chicken drams, baked potatoes with the local rosemary. A staffed portobella mushroom and a healthy spinach salad.

Afterward I went to the 24 fitness gym. Alexis took me there and left me to do my classes

Over there it was Cycle day with Angie, there were a couple of bikes available so I did cycle.

Afterward I snapped a picture with Angie. She is the lady with the white bandana  next to me. I am the guy with the blue hat from Simona my wife. 

Angie mentioned that she was happy as her son made the selection for his school wrestling team.

Also we discover that her son and Kyle' son share the same day for their birthday, They are 15 years apart as Kyle's son was born a few days ago.

After cycle I started doing body pump with Sylvia and finally it was time to go as my coverage was over and for me was time to go back home and to get ready for the night.

Part of my therapy is in fact going to the gym as much as possible. It is important for my brain and for my body to get as much exercise as possible. My brain is self healing by doing exercise. Slowly but surely it is getting back to its original form.

Before going to the gym I booked for movie on Saturday and confirmed I am going to church on a Sunday rather than going to the gym. 

Although CNS would allow to go everyday to the gym it is up to me to configure my  schedule as I believe it fits best for me.

CNS understands and follows me in my Journey to get better.

I trust CNS, Sarah my Case Manager and everybody else, also all the therapists that know how to get along with me.

I used to get frustrated before but now I like CNS and I respect and value everybody's input.

Today I had a good breakfast. With my family in front of me and Sarah my wonderful Case Manager.

They are the people that are doing their bests for me.

At the clinic I have worked on my CR (PT for the mind) with Erica I am doing far better and I am also faster.

Second Therapy of my day was PT. Over there I met Sarah my wonderful Case Manager and I gave her stickers for Ian her youngest son. It is a gesture of kindness that  goes a long way.

During my PT I had a good run on the treadmill.

I love running and I run as much as possible. Today Darlene the  person in charge for the schedule confirmed that I can run tomorrow as well here at the clinic. I knew she would have agreed with  my recommendation. It is good for me to run.

Today I am wearing my new beautiful jeans that Simona my wife sent me the other day.

It is a very nice gesture of kindness from her side. She actually sent me a second pair that I have not used yet.

The second jeans is black and you will see it soon on this blog.

Simona my wife is a wonderful person busy with our kids Chicco 9 and Lapo 5.5 and her very demanding job. She is a Professor of Atmospheric Science at Caltech.

Enjoy the reading as I am enjoying a lot here working with you.

Thank you Sarah, Simona and everybody else.

Sincerely

Giuseppe

Wednesday November 19

Already, I am better starting from the results of my doctor appointment this morning.
With Susanne my Nurse at CNS I  went to Dr. Nelson Madrilejo. He is in charge of my growth hormone treatment since my injury. Currently I am off my  shot of IGF1 -growth hormone- and I have been off for the past two months (since September 29th).

Dr. Madrilejo found me well and in good spirit. Everything with the insurance was ready to go for me.
While in his office, I was carefully checked: my pulse is normal and my weight is 186 lb fully dressed.
The Lab results was ready and my IGF1 is at 150, the average for a healthy person is 160. So right now I am a little below. Dr. Madrilejo mentioned that it is still OK.

The way my brain goes back in been stimulated in  producing the growth hormone is by doing a lot of exercise.

This is why I am going to the gym  everyday except on Saturday -movie time and on Sunday -church time.
This is why it is clearly part of my rehabilitation to have a certain time at the clinic afterward going back to the apartment, have an early dinner and later go to the gym where I  exercise for about one hour.

It is all good the next time Dr. Madrilejo would like to see me is in 3 months(February 18)
This morning I have received a package from my wife Simona.. it is a pair of Jeans. I have not fit it yet,,I am sure it will be OK since she sent me already another pair of Jeans a couple of days ago.

Yesterday evening I went to the 24 fitness gym to do bootcamp with Johnny.

It is all good more exercise for me. Stability and equilibrium is all good for me.

At the gym I met Debby as well she mentioned that she remembers me. Next time I see her I will be able to recall her name. 

I greeted the whole community of the gym.

I went with Alexis who provided coverage for me over there, as right now I am  allowed to go by myself.. it is all good this way. Actually it is a big effort by CNS to keep up with my schedule.

As usual at the gym I snapped a picture with  a person over there , and it was Melissa who  stood next to me at my left hand side. 

Part of my therapy is going to the gym..

Afterward we went back to the apartment to grab a warm and soothing shower.
It was too cold to stop along the way.. I even Invited Alexis for a stop to a nearby Starbucks and she politely declined. ( I is Ok because we both know I am just kidding)
This morning I  was on time for doing my Yoga session ( I was wearing Jeans since I went to the doctor). I then worked on my CR, it is PT for the mind as Sarah Gutierrez my awesome  Case Manager tells me. Finally I had a really yummy lunch. Chicken Tender in crumb bread with Spinach and avocado salad.

Going back to yesterday I wrote a letter to the boys. It is in English and Block letter. I wrote to my boys a lot. It is a gesture of kindness for them.

I cleaned the apartment very thoughtfully as I have found some hats around. I am very careful with all the food around and all the cleaning.

I like to leave in a clean house.

Beside James mentioned he does not like ants as they drink all his beer as well.

Well sincerely

Giuseppe

Tuesday November 18

Already, I am working hard from my office at the clinic.
It is a nice and bright place where I can work on my memory.
As such you are going to see a lot of pictures with the people in the community..
they know I am taking pictures for my own personal use, and everybody allows me to be in the frame.

Yesterday  it was Monday and when I came back to the apartment I have been cooking the following: chicken tenders breaded and dressed with some healthy spice, I have also been making cut potatoes with some rosemary from the CNS garden. It was all baked in the oven .. Obviously with the presence of Simona my wife.

After having dinner I have been going to the 24 fitness gym  to do Yoga.

At the entrance I was greeted by Melissa, the smiling lady at my right hand side.

I am holding the blue mat that Amy gave me last week. So now I have a Yoga mat on my own.

Erica is the lady with the green mat standing next to me ( I am always the one with the blue mat).

Erica was happy  to pose with me and she mentioned that she trusts me to use the pictures with her  wisely.

At the gym I was greeted by Frank the current Manager.

I went to the gym with Diego Rivera .. Diego is is first name but Rivera is not his really  second name.. it is an expedient for me to remember Diego's name.

After Yoga with Erica there was cycle with Lolita but my coverage was over and so we came back to the apartment.

As it was a cold evening we did not stop to the local Starbucks for my evening Cappuccino and we went back straight to the apartment.

After a hot shower and a bit of a snack I went to bed,

This morning I wake up early for work as usual and I was up an running.

I had a good breakfast thinking about my family and thanking Sarah my Case Manager at CNS.

I took the bus on time -before hand as Paul left me the Trash to trow I had no problem to help him out.

I greeted Jarron, James and Brad at the maintenance department.

As I have ants in my apartment I made sure they knew were they are located and before leaving I have prepared the cupboard that needs attention.

At the clinic I did my CR work with Zeina. CR is PT for the mind.

The next time I am in CR Zeina mentioned that I should do  Logical Thinking Level 4 instead of the current Deduce level 10

I have written down her advice in my memory book and then marked in green color marker.

I did my best in CR.

Afterward I had Yoga with Amy, she is really a good teacher and many movement we do here at the clinic are very similar to the ones I am doing at the 24 fitness gym.

I have brought for her two daughters a letter and stickers. Madison is 11 and Olivia is 4. Over time I have been exchanging  simple drawings and letters with them as a gesture of kindness. Amy and her daughters like it and I personally think it is a very nice behavior of being considerate of her family.

Tomorrow I will not be in Yoga as I have a very important Medical Appointment. I am going to see Dr Nelson Madrilejo  my endocrinologist. He is in charge of my treatment with the growth hormone.

I am going over there with Suzanne my nurse. I leave from the apartment at 8:30 am

I have been off the growth hormone for a couple of months now  as the last test showed that my brain has started to recover after 3 years. This is basically a follow up to make sure it is all right.

I am doing my bests.. and this is the key.

Looking upward and  getting stronger and better everyday.

Sincerely

Giuseppe

Monday November 17 2014

This morning I had a wonderful breakfast together with my daughter: she has always been there with me, I just had to find her out.  Everybody is telling me that she looks like Simona.. this is not a coincidence.

Afterward I started my day by helping the maintenance guys, Brad, Jarron and James were all glad to see me over there.  They gave a few tips to handle the hoover and to make sure I did not burn by using it.

 I have been helping to clean the parking lot.

They were kind enough to snap this picture of me.

I would like to post the following sentence from Socrates:

"It is better to conform to the competitive landscape rather than to differentiate oneself"

Once you read Socrates you will understand this approach.

Also this is another principle that I like to put on my thinking: it is an act of freedom principle  adopted by the Roman empire. Forgive me for showing off my culture but hey.. I am a very cultivated person. So here is the sentence:

Cuius regio eius religio... this means if you want to dominate you are better to give some slack somewhere.

Let me then go back to my activities of the weekend.
As it was Sunday I went to church. I met Coral and her family. I brought for her kids stickers.. she has appreciated my gesture of kindness. I greeted Amparo and Mark as well.
Mark drove us to S. Francis church. It is always a nice church and a nice moment of the day to go to church.

I have also starting preparing for Thanksgiving by making some drawing.

I have been preparing a drawing for Ian, Sarah youngest son. Also I have been taking to her for Ian some stickers that I collect whenever I go to Trader  Joe's

This is another drawing that I have been preparing for my family.

On Saturday  evening I went to the movie theater. I saw a nice movie by Pixar and Disney: Big Hero 6. A nice movie away from everybody and away from the other guys ..

As usual I met Morgan at the movie theater and she allowed to snap a picture of her smiling at me. So here is Morgan.

Going backward to the afternoon I went to do grocery shopping a Trader Joe's
Grocery Shopping is a lot of fun.

I greeted everybody over there. Jamie here picture at my right hand side gave me a picture made by her daughter Delaney. She is always very graceful with me. This is in response of my happy birthday card I gave to her a couple of week ago.

I have also snapped a picture of Meredith.

And a picture of Lisa, her grandson is growing well.

As usual I have brought a light in their store,,. and they have brought me a big smile.

I did get stickers for Ian and as I brought the reusable bags I had a stickers for Simona.
It is all good.. all regular

Jamie is always looking after me and she makes sure I have a wonderful experience over there.
It is time to go.
Sincerely
Giuseppe