{Karlton Bontrager}

Apologies for taking awhile to get this update out. I was away for a short trip from early Thursday morning until Friday evening.

Wednesday was an unremarkable day, as far as activites go. Karlton went through his usual routine of waking, showering, physio, and some occupational therapy. As he often does, Karlton fell asleep during the massage portion of his acupuncture appointment. I felt a little sorry for him when he was awakened by a needle being placed in between his toes! It was apparently one of the more painful needles to beging with, and I’m sure it seemed even worse by it being a wake-up call.

Paul was supposed to stop by around 5, but unfortunately, we missed him because of the acupuncture appointment running late. But he and Karlton made plans to have lunch on Thursday.

On Thursday, Karlton had an appointment to receive his new leg brace. He said that it is much better than the previous one (the new one was made from a mold of his leg).

He had lunch with Paul and Jamie as planned, and in the afternoon, Becci took him to Aidan’s place and then to a sauna. Karlton said he’d never sweated so much in his life! He had a good time on both of those outings, and I’m glad that he had visitors while I was away.

In the meantime, I was on Stewart Island. It was a quick trip, and it was a rainy day, but it was great. Although I had to get up at 4am for the drive to catch the morning ferry, I managed to stay alert for a quick bus tour of the island as well as a 4 hour walking tour of nearby Ulva Island (which is a bird and plant sanctuary). I left on the Friday morning ferry and drove back to Dunedin along the Southern Scenic Route, stopping at a few attractions along the way.

Karlton again had visitors on Friday. His friend Erin from California stopped by in the afternoon. In the evening, he went out to dinner with Tsukasa. When I returned from my trip, he was still out. It wasn’t until after 11 that Karlton was ready to have me stop by. He was in good spirits; I helped him get ready for bed and left the hospital around 1am.