Since last time I posted ...
• Rowan really seems to recognise me now!
• He is eating and drinking. Just liquids and purees at this point, but it’s eating.
• He has dexterity in his hands. He can use a spoon. He also popped the top off his custard container, holds his teacup, unscrews the top off his water and juice bottles and screws them back on again. They told me he'd have to relearn all that stuff, but nope ... he just knows.
• He has reasonable core strength and is able to sit on the edge of his bed without support now, and physio is getting him to stand too.
• He appears to remember the music I play, and wiggles his feet or taps his fingers to the beat.
• He’s got his sense of humour.
• He talks! A lot!
• He is regaining long-term memories in bits and pieces.


And regarding cycling ... I told physio that we're into cycling so they found one of those under-desk pedal things and got him to do a bit of that. While he was doing that, they asked him what kind of cycling he does: mountain biking or road. "Road" he said.


There are still a number of challenges. He tires very quickly which they say is normal. He's still reconnecting past memories, vocabulary, etc. which is a bit of a bumpy road, and he's still in PTA because he has limited short-term memory.

But one step at a time ... and yesterday I told him that, and then asked him "How do you eat an elephant?" He surprised me by replying, "One bite at a time".

That's how we approach our long distance rides, and we say that to each other when the going gets challenging. In fact, the first time I came across that saying was when I was preparing for the Paris-Brest-Paris in 2003. I read the following article ... and I think he read it too.

"Eating an Elephant" by Ron Himschoot

So ... we're "eating an elephant" here.