July 29, 2005

Visitation HealthSouth Reading Rehab Hospital

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As we pulled up to the Reading Rehabilitation Hospital, Bill became extremely excited.  "At long last,"  he exclaimed, "I can finally get the reading help that my third grade classroom teacher thinks I need."  When we explained that this was the Reading not reading rehab hospital he became very confused and very upset.  "Darned if I am ever going to get my elementary school GED."  Tough luck Bill.  A Kentucky education is a terrible thing to waste. 

We are joined in the assembly area by Sergeant Nicholas Bolognese and bicycle patrolman Scott Bechtel.  We were honored to have Scott ride in with us.

Bill is seen nursing a swollen knee suffered in a frisbee fall prior to the ride.  We never realized that frisbee was a contact sport. 

The AAA riders complete the hill climb to the entrance to HealthSouth.  Unfortunately, our arrival coincided with a Code Blue at the hospital so that we had to go to plan B.  First Luke put his bike in front of Jim.  Jim mistook this intrusion as Joe doing his kamikaze thing, over-reacted and took the fall.  Bill narrowly missed adding his bike to the pile.  Joe as usual was oblivious to anything happening at his six o'clock position and continues on.

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Finally, sorted out, back on our bikes, the boys finally make it to the podium in some semblance of order. 

Welcomed by a crowd of enthusiastic supporters, the group of riders and local amputees stand in recognition of all those who are in the rehabilitation process.

To prepare Bill for his next television interview, Joe wipes the sweat from Bill's brow and reaches down to eliminate the lump in the back of Bill's riding shorts.

Bill takes "the pose" after his primping in front of the mirror and shows a little bit of leg to the television audience.

Here Ruckus (Luke) practices Bill's pose.  Hands on his hips, leg thrust forward, Luke hopes to be the media magnet of the future.

Kim welcomes AAA, Don, the President of the local support group, Terry, our HealthSouth guardian angel, and Beth, our fledgling Amputees Across America rider for 2006.

Bill continues to wow the audience with his Kentucky twang, while Joe zeroes in with his concealed water pistol and Luke admires his Harley Davidson sneakers.

Here the boys schmooz Beth and can tell that her zany zest for insanity makes her the perfect candidate for the 2006 ride.

Bill takes his stance and grimaces as ice cold water strikes the back of his leg.  Like a trooper, Bill continues his spiel without missing a beat as Joe puts on his angelic look of complete innocence.

Luke shows great courage in turning his back on Joe, Bill, and Jim. Joe is seen uncovering his water pistol while Bill shows an evil look and Jim an eager smile of anticipation. True to form, as Luke begins speaking a stream of ice cold water strikes him from behind and some hairs are removed from the back of his legs.  His aggravation training of 2004 kicks in and Luke delivers his talk with professional calm and stoic demeanor.  The three stupidos can only grin with pride at his performance. 

Here Luke plans his revenge on his three nemeses.

Joe as usual is blameless and is sucking up to Luke in hopes of evading retribution.   

Here is the cherry tree that was planted last year during our visit.  Don did most of the digging and the planted tree was adorned with a plaque.  Shown on the right, the AAA riders pose in front of the tree and hope the tree will continue to carry our message.  As part of his training, Luke will do his first snipe hunt in front of the tree this evening. 

We meet Stephen down at the back forty of the hospital.  We were inspired by his courage and dedication and we know that the road he has traveled was not an easy one.  Our hats are off to him.  Keep the faith Stephen and Get Er Done.

As part of the festivities, a school of massage donated their time to give all comers a massage.  Bill was seen pushing an old lady out of line and tipped over a wheel chair to be first in line.

This is a picture of Bill as he completes astronaut training.  He was NASA's pick as the price of monkeys for space travel have become exorbitant due to congressional fiscal constraints.  Bill's last remarks to the press before liftoff were, "Hey guys... watch this!"  His training as a rider for AAA really paid off when he performed three u turns in space after three dumped gyros  disoriented everyone onboard the space craft.  As his space craft continues on its way to the vicinity of the moon, or in a general direction towards the sun, Bill was heard to exclaim, "Everyone has to be somewhere.  You are only lost if you don't know where you are, where you are going, or how to get there."  Good luck Bill.  Joe just smiles.

Garry, the founder of Amped Riders, an organization created for amputees and people with related disabilities that encourage them to be active in skateboarding, surfing, and snowboarding.  After watching their demonstrations, we will stick to something safe like bicycling or skydiving.

Here Chris does an aerial thingy.  After six years of practice, Chris makes the impossible look easy. 

 We spend the rest of the afternoon visiting patients in PT and in their rooms.  We are impressed by their courage and determination and by the caring displayed by the PT and PTAs.  We can't help but be impressed seeing how the staff relates to their patients.  If this kind of care could be bottled and exported to other facilities and countries, it would be a better world.  Our thanks to Tammy, the CEO, Bonny, the DMO, and Terry and Kim for all of the effort in putting together the vendor activities, the picnic and the generous financial support shown by the HealthSouth staff and patients.  We enjoyed ourselves immensely in talking with patients and we wish all well.

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