Support networks

Today Francine ("Frankie") Nadeau, occupational therapist in the speech language pathology section of the Rehabilitation Centre/ALS Clinic came to our apartment with a mechanic/technician (Rob?) to fit a bracket on Wendy's wheelchair, so the Dynavox can sit there all the time, or as long as she wants it to anyway, instead of having its heavy weight perched on a cushion on her lap while one of us stands there to hold the weight off her. This is a great step forward and she has been making good use of the machine since this bracket was fitted. We are profoundly grateful to Frankie and Rob for coming here rather than asking us to go out to the ALS Clinic. The personal care and attention to details that everyone is providing for Wendy is heart warming. All members of the professional team who care for her are cheerfully compassionate and competent; they lift my spirits as well as hers. I can't find adequate words to express my gratitude for all that everyone is doing to make her remaining time with us as comfortable as humanly possible. Words of comfort and support arrive almost daily also from distant places, some frequent and with photos of new additions to the family, like Dodie Ziemer's and brother Peter's, others like Stephanie Blackden's email today from Scotland, with interesting news updates. And of course Rebecca and Richard visit us, and David phones or Skypes, almost every day from Kingston or Toronto, friends and neighbors drop in just about every day, as do our visiting nurse, usually Jodi or Mark on her days off. Our living room is like a garden too, with all the flowers we receive. These multiple supporting networks are a tremendous comfort to both of us during this difficult journey that Wendy is embarked upon. We never feel alone. It is very comforting that Wendy, who all her life has done so much for so many other people, has so many tangible tokens of other people's concern for her. I suppose it's a demonstration of the truth of something I said and wrote not long ago: we humans are hard-wired to care for each other.