Ellyn

We had a wonderful time celebrating our wedding anniversary together on Saturday. We had thought about going away somewhere, but then had what I think was a better idea, and a bit of a surprise for Rob. Rob had not been upstairs at our house since everything happened last summer (15 months!). Our biggest challenge [...]

We have been busy with many things. Rob’s father Ger has visited and we made a very good start to painting the house. We have also had the help of our neighbour Bert, and slowly we are making progress, despite a lot of rain that delays things. We also celebrated Ger’s birthday together, had a [...]

Rob received a new brace today to help give him support in walking to cross a new bridge. He took some first steps, and we are very hopeful that with a lot of practice, he will get there. Click here to see the video. Many thanks to Dr. Sheepstra, Rob’s rehab doctor (on left) and [...]

It’s hard to believe that it has been a year now. Today is the day that Rob had his first surgery and our world tipped over in strange and unusual ways. Overall, although difficult, we are both enjoying life more than ever before. A message from Rob: It’s not all been positive. Sometimes I feel [...]

We have had a lot of fun doing many small things recently. The pictures below (from bottom to top) are of a nice visit we had with Ger (Rob’s Dad) in Eindhoven in May when they went to a Philip Glass concert. As you can see, Jansen also came along and we all had a [...]

We had a wonderful time at Rob’s Welcome Home Party. Although it was delayed, it could not have been more fun. We are so happy that so many friends could join in, and it really was a memorable afternoon. We would like to thank all of you who came, and also for all of the [...]

After a few difficult weeks, we wanted to let you know that we are doing well and celebrating life. Rob’s family is also doing well, and although everyone is sad, there is also hope in the future. Rob has been able to stand for a short amount of time unassisted. Here is a short video [...]

Het feest zaterdag, 20 februari is afgelast wegens familieomstandigheden. Tonny, de moeder van Robert is streng ziek. The party Saturday, 20 February is canceled because of family circumstances. Robert’s mother Tonny is severely ill.

Na 7 lange maanden hebben wij beslist dat een feestje is om te vieren Rob’s terugkeer naar gezondheid, vrienden en familie. Rob’s Welkom Thuis feest zal zijn op zaterdag, 20 februari om 16:00 aan café-pension ‘t Ankertje in Andijk. Wij zijn heel gelukkig dat onze vrienden Big Al en Pim en hun band Heap of [...]

First of all, we want to wish all of you a very happy new year! We can’t say how much all of your love and support has helped these last 6 months, but please know that they have. One of these days we will be writing you all personally, but until then, please know how [...]

Rob has decided, with my full support, that another lap at Heliomare is the best solution. We were already happier in the last week with the amount of proactive rehabilitation he has been receiving, and were even happier today with the meetings we had about plans for action. The new plan is to focus on [...]

The title of this blog is what Rob said would be a good title for the posting this week. I think being “clueless” is what happens after 23 weeks in a medical environment, but overall he is doing great, so no worries. As you can see, Rob is doing really well being home again. We [...]

Rob is out of quarantine (isolation) at Heliomare. Yipee!!! He is thrilled and eager to move forward with his full therapy now. Much of his therapy had been limited while in quarantine most of October, and he can finally do what he went there to do – rehabilitation. And … Rob was also able to [...]

We had an unbelievable happy weekend. Rob was finally able to come home for a long weekend. To say that this was a special moment would be a huge understatement. It was absolutely fantastic! Everything was arranged rather quickly and we had a delay because Rob had a bad reaction to antibiotics — the reason [...]

I just talked to Rob on the telephone and he told me that he was able to stand today for a short amount of time. He needed to be assisted and hold on tight, but this is a very big step in his recovery. He has a lot of work to do on building up [...]

We had an amazing weekend. After being told that Rob was in quarantine, they decided it was okay for me to take him over to the hotel to celebrate my birthday. I quickly arranged a little party for us, and our friend Albert came over too. We had a wonderful time. We joked and laughed [...]

Stay focused. Be “hoo” you are. Trust in a wise friend. Live off the land. Glide through dark times. Be observant. Life’s a hoot!

We had a nice celebration the night before Rob left the hospital. He finally got that beer he has been yearning for (an alcohol free Palm) and really enjoyed it. Rob had a lot of well wishes from all the staff and everyone remarked on how fast he is progressing now that he is building [...]

Rob is doing great. Every day he is improving, and he is able to enjoy some of life’s simple pleasures. Rob’s parents Ger and Tonny came up from the south of Holland for a visit today. It was a tiring trip for them, but I think they all loved to see each other. Rob received [...]

The last 2 weeks Rob has been improving really well. He had a few small set backs with infections, but he came out of them quickly. Now he is really building up his strength and very eager to get out of the hospital. We have been very busy working on his rehabilitation plan. I have [...]

Rob has been doing pretty well since they put him on the heavier antibiotics. He seems to have shaken the worst of the staph and strep infections. Still, this week he has been having intermittent chills and fever’s of unknown origin (yes, there is a name for that — FUO). I am relieved that they [...]

Rob is really improving now. He is still fighting a low grade lung infection, but they seem to be controlling it well. He is able to sit in a chair for a while and is being slowly weaned from the ventilator. They still have him on a few med’s, but overall, he seems to be [...]

It’s been a tremendously difficult 6 weeks. Robert was admitted to the hospital on 12 June, and everything has been a roller-coaster since then. He has been fighting very hard and showing an unbelievable amount of strength.  I hope you all keep him in your thoughts… Rob had gone to work at a theatre festival [...]