An interesting start to the week!

5 year old Alex "signing autographs"

A most interesting Monday it was...the day began with an early morning phone call from a person looking for medical help from RCE. I had borrowed a phone from one of the coordinators at RCE, so received one of her calls while in my apt. The gentleman who chatted with me in Romanian before I could explain to him who I was, thankfully had his needs met later at the office..

Mary Ann arriving in Timisoara

Our 2010 Annual Report just came out and when Mary Ann (our Exec Director) arrived in Timisoara yesterday she brought along a few copies.  A 5 yo little boy with spina bifida named Alex is on the front cover. I arranged for him to hold an autograph session at the RCE office this morning.. he got quick a kick out of it!

Marti and 15 month old "Toni"

Today I also got to work with several kids alongside Paula, our wonderful PT in Romania. We worked with a little boy with cerebral palsy, one with muscular dystrophy, a little girl with hydrocephalus, and a new girl- Toni- who is 15 months old and had waited till I arrived in Romania to travel many hours from home to see me (no pressure!). Toni has several problems, the most of significant of those is left hemiparesis. She had been receiving physical therapy in her village, but she is significantly delayed and her mom has been trying to find the very best care for her.  Our goal is to have Toni standing and taking some steps on her own by the end of the month-- her mom was overjoyed to hear that this was even a remote possibility! We also hope to use some forced use strategies on her weak/left arm to get her to use it more. Toni has incredible potential and a wonderfully supportive family, so we're hopeful. She'll be in the area for the next 2-3 weeks just for the purpose of coming to us for therapy.

As the day came to a close, I learned of a woman nearby who had suffered a stroke that I will go and see soon..along with her son (who is the adoptive father of one of our Sunshine School kids) who ruptured his biceps tendon on the job. He had surgery, but it wasn't successful because apparently the surgeon was drinking as he was operating..  Lots of joy in the work over here, but at other times lots of sadness. But I'm glad for an opportunity to help them both out if I can.

Tuesday is "Marti" in Romanian and March is "Martie"..so you can imagine that I thought people were talking about me all day long, when they were really only saying the words Tuesday or March..till tomorrow..

PS  got a lead on a poor family that needs a goat-- so I should be able to make my purchase soon