South Bay Spinal Center

So, we went down to visit Needlenoggin last night, and went through the whole process of loading the kids in the car and heading down to San Jose. We got there around eight o'clock in the evening, and (thankfully) had no trouble at all signing Rorysaurus (and Little Monkey) in as visitors. In fact, the nurses were thrilled to see Rorysaurus, as most of them had heard some version of the story before.

So, we got into the room, and plunked her down on the bed next to Needlenoggin. We got this picture (which aside from the AWESOME Batman cape, is a lot like all our other recent hospital photos):


Special thanks for that Batman cape are due, as our upstairs housemates sewed it for her as a birthday gift. I'll have to get a good picture of her with the reverse side out...too cool).

Then, the nurses had to do nursing stuff, and we headed out to the day-room to wait. Imagine our surprise when we were greeted at the door by Needlenoggin himself, ready to take us on a tour of the place.


(Note that Little Monkey is actually on my back, but cannot be seen)

So, Rory got up on Needlenoggin's lap, and we tooled around.





Oh yeah, he's awesome. So, he showed us the gym, talked about the very cool support group they'd had on Monday, and drove us around the outside of the place back to our car. It was lovely at the center, and we got to see our first helicopter landing as a Medi-vac came into the helipad there. We've got a bunch of logistical issues (like the fact that they want to split his rehab (due to the broken arm) and so want him to come home 2 weeks before I have a place for him to go), but the visit was fantastic.

He said he's lost some of the sensation he'd gained back at the other hospital, and that his right side it totally and completely numb. The left side remains the same except for some sever pain from a pinched nerve in his hip. We'll have a better prognosis on the broken wrist in a few days. He has a new neck-brace-collar-thing, which works better but is apparently much less comfortable.

He is, however, up for hours at a time now (4 to 5) and went out to a restaurant for dinner with some of his new buddies (they had ribs at a local BBQ joint).

He can even do tricks!



Anyway, everyone kissed him goodbye:



And he made (at my insistence) a cheesy "Hi, Mom" video.



So, there you have it. I've got to reschedule Rorysaurus for her next PTSD appointment (still whining and bed-wetting, but she's finally eating again) and make a bunch of phone calls (most of which I can also do from bed next week).