It’s rainy tonight. The first time we have heard the rain since moving to our new place. Shows how late the rains have come this year. We sit, me at the kitchen table and Juanjo at his desk, listening to the slap-slap of the drops agains our floor-to-cieling windowpanes. Hearing the wet sound of car tires kicking up the puddles in the street below. We are thinking urgently of our friend Alberto tonight. One of Juanjo’s dearest friends. He’s in the hospital, getting steroid treatments to help regain his normal functions after losing some of his balance and speech abilities, and getting double vision.
We are all so worried about you, Alberto, hoping that you will have full recovery, that you will improve quickly, that this is just a short term illness and not the long term ailment that it could be. Not wanting to overwhelm you with our calls, but wanting to pick up the phone every half an hour to check in and see how you are doing. We all understand that this is going to be slow. But we hope that it goes as quickly as possible, we hope you see progress, that you don’t have to suffer, that you don’t get frustrated, that this is not the beginning of something that will impact your life even more. We’re thinking of you tonight, hoping for your quick recovery, esperando que estes tranquilo, y que sepas que te queremos!
Quick update: Alberto is responding well to the treatment and has regained some clarity of speech. He’s surrounded most of the day by friends, shows great spirit and all of the sharp humor we have come to expect from him.
The long road to recovery has started and we hope you will all be there to support him as he gets better every day, little by little. Mario has warned us already: it’s going to be a long process! So don’t expect things to turn around in just a few days. Be patient, we all need to be!
Just talked to Alberto. He’s definitely making improvements! His speech is getting better every day. The “s” sound is definitely coming back and his diction is much better than just a few hours ago.
He feels more secure walking around with the help of the walker, and his balance is improving. Tests continue to take place and results keep coming in with encouraging news: the MRI shows the same affected area as the earlier ones, simply a bit more pronounced spots this time around.
Good news all over, so keep him in your thoughts … all the positive energy is working to his advantage. That, and the treatment, of course!
Stay strong, Alberto!
Alberto is recovering so well it is amazing! Today he continued to show improved speech (he is a bit hoarse from taking with his throath so much) and balance has improved even more.
He is eating like a king (lomo, chorizo, manchego … ¡que no falte de ná!) and being visited by the most unexpected of friends (Pablo and Esperanza were there most of today all the way from Spain!)
No side effects on his steroids treatment, which will go for the full 7 days after which they migh consider some physical rehab or not, depending on his condition at the time. Let’s hope Deportivo can win tomorrow and he will be even happier at the end of this most positive of weeks.
Today Alberto was finally discharged from Stanford Hospital and took his first steps back in the “Real World”, as he later put it in the evening. The walker that was supposed to help him pace back to normal steps is no longer needed, the eye patch that nursed his vision back into convergence gone, good spirits and deep emotions riding his heart and soul …
Alberto has come out of what will hopefully be the darkest of times he has to live through, and in emotional and tear-ridden words he reminded a few of us tonight just how special it is when people gather in magical ways to make things better, to make people feel better.
One thing that we forgot to tell him tonight is just how special he is, and how naturally it comes to help special people. Let’s not forget that just yet: Alberto is truly a special person.
What’s the update? It’s so alarming to learn that Alberto was not well in December. Has he recovered? Is there news? Let him know he’s in my thoughts.
No news tends to be good news, and so is the case here.
After my post on the 6th everything has gone as expected: he was able to fly back home to spend Christmas surrounded by family and friends (something we weren’t sure would be possible.) No final word on diagnosis, but all symptoms seem to have receded completely.
He extended his stay in Spain a little but not much, enough to make sure he had time to rest and recharge. Now he’s back at Stanford finishing his thesis write-up, playing soccer and fully recovered. A big scare, that is what it comes down to. Really big scare.
Thanks for dropping a line here asking about him, Heather. I’ll make sure he knows.