Dear Cl & Cy

I should have written you much sooner of course, but since we touched down in Oslo after an uneventful trip where A got up and did exercises every hour for the duration of the trip, every moment has been filled with chores, reunions or fatigue and sleep -- deep sleep with dreams about strokes and helplessness. On Sunday we were met at the airport by As paretns, the girls with our dog, and my father. They took us home where brand new hand rails had been installed, made us food, and left, leaving us with two very happy girls and a restless dog who took off twice resulting in phone-calls and me -- punch drunk from the jet lag -- having to drive and fetch her. For a few hours the girls went to see a friend, and I ordered sushi which I also somehow picked up driving, and after sushi and a bottle of champagne to celebrate our arrival, we watched a movie with the girls and collapsed. On Monday we did very little. Thanks to the blog -- we had asked people not to call -- the house was silent. The girls had a sleep-over at a friends house. We had one or two close friends -- I can´t really recall -- one of them a doctor at Ullevål Sykehus (the university hospital where A was later admitted) visiting, and we had Indian food.
Tuesday I woke early, wrote my speach, and As mother came to our house and dressed the girls and A for the funeral while I was rehearsing my speach. The funeral was beatiful -- and completely in my grandmother´s spirit with beatiful music and very sombre but nice talks by my father and a professor from the Univ. of Oslo. Afterwards we had a gathering with about 70 people -- close family and friends.
I drove A to Ullevål for a 10 am admission on Wednesday. She got a single room, and was met by a very nice nurse who administered the MRSA test which was done within a few hours. She had a few visitors that day, but I have tried to be fairly restrictive. I went home and hung out with the girls, tidying up the house and taking care of chores, and in the evening the three of us went to our summerhouse south of Oslo. The weather was wonderful, and Thursday we spent swimming and eating and just sleeping. We all needed that, and S told me that As stroke also had some good consequences -- like them getting to know me better!
On Friday we slept until ten, spent time on the beach, and in the afternoon I went to Ullevål and picked up a very impatient A who wanted to get out of there for the weekend. We drove to the farm, where As parents had prepared a dinner -- taco/tortilla, red wine and homegrown rasberries and vanilla ice cream. After dinner we drove over to our summer house where A´s father had installed handrails. We had a cup of tea, I helped A climbing the narrow stairs to the second floor bedroom, and helped administer medicines and ointment. We slept for about ten hours, and as I write this mail -- interrupted by A who asked me give her medicine, and help her walk down-stairs, she is now sitting in a chair talking to Sidsel, waiting for me to put the rolls in the oven, make tea, make the table and make eggs and bacon. I have already started training the girls to clean up after meals, and today I intend to have them vacum the summer house which desperately needs a little cleaning. After chores we will just hang out all day, same tomorrow, just the four of us, maybe visited by A´s sister and parents. Right now we are dying to see our friends but at the same time, we realize that we need time by ourselves, just to absorb everything, to establish new routines and get used to this very different situation.
I don´t think we have seen too much progress this last week. This comes as no surprise, given six days without proper training. According to A, the case at the Norwegian hospital is good -- the nurses are much nicer, they don´t have assistant to the same extent as we saw at ARI, and she is receiving substantially less training -- only three hours per day -- but all training is one on one, whereas at ARI a trainer might have two patients at the same time.
We already miss you all, and I will write more soon.A  gives her best -- she still feels helpless and tired, and regrets that she is unable to write to you yet.
In hindsight, it is clear to us that your hospitality and care for us while in NJ made a huge difference. I can´t even think how much worse this experience would have been, had it not been for you. Give our best to the kids.
Best regards,
C.