Never Enough Fun

Glenbeigh, where our cottage was located, was on the north end of another penninsula, called Iveragh Penninsula.  One of the most popular drives in Ireland is the 110-mile road around the penninsula, called the Ring of Kerry.  Although we ultimately drove the entire Ring, we decided it would be interesting to drive across the penninsula through the Killarney National Park to the town of Killarney.  The road through the park includes the Gap of Dunloe, a very scenic, but narrow road through some of Ireland’s mountains (2000-3000 ft.).  

Our trip through the mountains ended at the town of Killarney, where we visited Muckross House, a Tudor style mansion with 65 rooms, where Queen Victoria once stayed on a trip to Ireland in 1861.

Next day we decided to go further east and south to County Cork and the seaside town of Kinsale where we stayed at a B&B called the Old Bakery

However, we still had a portion of the Ring of Kerry to cover, and as part of that, we found the best ancient fort we had seen. It dates from 1000 B.C., and is constructed with rough stones without mortar. The walls are 13 ft. thick at the base.

After our night in Kinsale at the Old Bakery, it was time to head to Limerick (30 minutes from the Shannon airport) where we spent our last night within easy access to the airport. On the way, we passed through County Tipperary and town of Cashel, where we were able to view a medeival fortress and cathedral called the Rock of Cashel. It dates as far back as the year 360.

First, I’d have to say I (we)’ve been overwhelmed with the response from everyone.  I’ve been home from the hospital for 10 days, and things seem to be going pretty well.  I almost feel like me, although I continue to be surprised by by lack of strength.  Caregivers continue to remind me that I laid in a hospital for  at least a month, “so what do I expect, anyway?.”  I try to be patient, accept that, and just be grateful that things aren’t a whole lot worse.  For those of you who know me well, let me point out that the operative term here is “try.”

Thanks again for all your support, and here’s hoping that I can get back to being a more productive citizen all the way round.

- Larry (more grateful and hopefully more patient).

Just a quick — and probably my last — second-hand update. Larry has been home for a couple days now. In general, he’s happy to have visitors, but please call first to make sure; his headaches and fatigue can get really bad.

The in-home physical therapy doesn’t begin for another week, so in the meantime he’s been putting what energy he can muster towards climbing (and vacuuming) the stairs. Once the headaches subside enough that he can sit in his favorite red leather recliner, he’s got a whole lot of Wimbledon to catch up on…

Sorry for the lack of updates this week. Larry has made significant progress since the last entry. Geri had been giving us the reports each day, and I spent a few hours there on Thursday myself. It was a completely different experience than the last time I was there. We chatted about all kinds of things, and even laughed as I described to him the conversations we had previously.

Physically things are going better as well, thanks to the fact that he finally received a Cortisone injection which has relieved the intense pain in his legs. He’s frustrated at how quickly he tires during physical therapy, but we’re all grateful that he can do as much as he does.

Finally, extending a patient’s stay because they’re doing well might seem counter-intuitive, but he’s been responding to the inpatient therapies so well that they decided to keep him in the hospital an extra 5 days. Unless they change it again, he’ll come home on Wednesday July 23 and begin his home health care routine.

My family and I (Jed, Chelsey, and Zoe) will be heading back to Minneapolis tomorrow, but we’re relieved to see how many people in the church ward here have offered to help. Also, my brothers Travis and Ryan and their families live here in Utah Valley and I know they’ll continue to help however they can.

No major events to report since the last update. Larry continues to make gradual progress. He’s walking almost unassisted now, but continues to have pain in his legs. His speech is improving, and his massive bruises have (incredibly) all but disappeared.

He is still scheduled for release on the 18th; this coming Friday. We’re anxious to have him home, though it’s going to be a lot of work for both he and Geri. The hospital has had a full-time aide assigned to him during his entire stay, and we obviously won’t have that luxury here at home. We’ve opted for in-home rehab (rather than taking him to the hospital every day) via a small company that’s owned by some folks that Larry and Geri know, so we know he’ll be in good hands.

We’re hoping that his red recliner, hours of recorded Wimbledon, Twizzlers, cold Fresca, and the ability to check his email will help him jump back into his old self in no time!

As the Wood Family Reunion wound down this week, Larry received a lot of visits from his sons, daughters-in-law, and grandkids, in addition to the constant attention from Geri. His mental state overall has never quite returned to the clarity he had on Day 5; some days are better, some are worse.

Today, the pain in his legs seems to be bothering him a little less and he took a short walk with help (which he hasn’t done for a couple days). However, he had almost no sleep whatsoever last night, which has set him another step back with his memory and disorientation. Everyone is trying find the magic balance of pain medication, sleep, and physical therapy that will give both his mind and body the best chance to recover. The pain makes it hard for him to sleep, but pain medication makes it difficult to assess his mental progress. He needs the physical therapy to keep is body from withering away, but it doesn’t take much for him to be exhausted. Here’s hoping it’ll come together this week.

Chelsey, Zoe, and I attended Larry’s church ward today. We’re so grateful for the prayers and fasting offered by the ward members, and all of Larry’s friends and family. Thank you all.

Participated in a tour organized by Richard Holzapfel, professor of Ancient Scripture at BYU. Flew into Tel Aviv (only 10 hours from New York — not so fun, but survived), and stayed at the Sheraton on the shore of the Med

Next day we began our tour, which included Mt. Carmel and Capernaum.

From there we got to see the Jordan River (north end prior to it’s entering into the Sea of Galilee),

and the Sea of Galilee,

including a short boat ride.

Next, it was on to Nazereth, where Jesus grew up

Finally, we arrived at Jerusalem,

where we visited the Garden of Gethsemane

the temple mount, including the courtyard and several other parts of the temple grounds,

and the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies

While staying in Jerusalem, we also visted the dead sea,

and Masada, where I hiked up to it.

We saw many other things and visited many other places. In sum, it was an incredible experience.

The minute I laid eyes on it, I knew that Earl would want me to have it in the spirit of getting the most fun possible out of being old.

Went to Sayulita, Mexico (a few miles north of Puerto Vallarta) to spend a week with Jed and Chelsey at the end of their 2-month Work outside the country experience. Unfortunately, my back began giving me fits at the beginning of the trip, so I was only able to walk around (slowly and not too far), but couldn’t do fun things like surfing and snorkeling. They rented a nice villa within a block of the beach.

Jed and Chelsey were able to do some surfing, which made me envious, but . . .

We also went to church, although it was all in Spanish

after which we did a picnic lunch on the beach going back home.

We had a wonderful housekeeper who agreed to come and cook some really good fish tacos one nite.

We also met some interesting friends who lived in a tree just outside our villa.

On balance, it was a good trip, even if I was restricted in what I was able to do.

Don’t you hope you’ll look this happy on your 89th birthday (:-}.

Actually, she was quite alert, but didn’t eat much of the birthday dinner we brought.