Going to work again

Three days of this past week David was working in his Hopkins lab and office (and the other days on his computer at home). He's driving himself (both the car and literally) but it's liberating! On the weekends, I finally decided it was time for us to do some work in the yard and I encouraged David to supervise/assist in the tree planting, grass trimming, and spraying our beautifully flowering fruit trees. It gives us all a mental boost to be outside with the birds, tulips and final daffodils in their full glory. We also managed to remove an entire garbage can of blooming dandelions from the lawn over the past two days. One of our rewards was fresh garden asparagus and rubarb for dinner.

The third week of May will be the next step of his recovery - the reduction of the bulk of the jaw transplant so David can close his lips for easier eating and speaking. I suppose this is considered a small "tidying up" compared to the March 2nd operation. Fortunately, this debulking will occur after a colleague comes from Dhaka, after his brother Bob visits from Oregon, and follows the next vaccine trial conducted by David's staff. We are not sure how much trauma that procedure by the Hopkins surgeon will be. I'm fairly sure that the stomach tube will be put to use again, however.