Greetings everybody from an increasingly autumnal New York City. The weather is still warm and sunny but the trees appear to know something if their falling leaves are any indicator. Brooklynites are sweeping them into little piles each day as we walk up to the subway en route to see Beverley. So the leaves are 'leaving' and so are we.
Our job here is done as someone famous probably said, and we are homeward-bound on 1 Oct (Matthew and John's birthday incidentally, but that's not the reason we're fleeing the scene). Following our 30 days trekking uptown each day to the hospital, we've shopped, cooked, cleaned, cheered, dog walked and attended a total of six weekly hospital check-up appointments. All things considered Beverley (and Tom) are on their way to something like a normal life again (whatever the hell that is!).
Beverley is still somewhat housebound but the fact that she is fed up with her incarceration is a good sign to us that she'll soon be out of here. She has her bouts of nauseau still, but less frequently we all agree, and she walks out around the block with us to put strength back in those leg muscles on a more regular basis. Cooking gourmet meals for Tom may not be on her agenda quite yet but we'll stock the fridge before we leave, promise.
The medics up at Sloan are happy with Beverley's rate of progress, so we are too. We said goodbye to them all yesterday with very mixed feelings and more than a touch of regret. They are all incredible in their skill, expertise and empathy, so God bless them all, we say.
We will be in Philadelphia from next Wednesday catching up with the family there, so this is our last weekend in New York. We'll close by thanking all of you out there for your unfailing support for Beverley (and Tom) and plead with you to please keep in touch. She needs all of you and is grateful for any and all contact you make.
