Adrian’s Brain Injury Blog

Hows the summer weather treating you all?? bet you’re all jealous of me in the -6 degrees temperatures here in Beijing! it was a shock to the system leaving the toasty Aussie summer to arrive in a very fresh Beijing climate!

Bates and I arrived around 10.30pm on Monday night. The first thing we did when we arrived here was get completely ripped off by our taxi driver taking us to our hostel! I cant reveal exactly how much our 40min cab ride cost us because we boxed it but lets just say we learnt fast! After arriving at the hostel we spent some time trying to communicate with the reception lady that we were meant to be staying there and for how long. this would be the first of our many challenging conversations trying to break through that language barrier.

We were so anxious to see the Blaz’s that we woke up nice and early the next day and went out to find them! when finally arriving at the right hospital (after going to the wrong one first) we stumbled across the building they are staying in and Nate was out the fornt. it was soooo good to see him! He showed us where there room was and we knocked and walked in to suprise Di and Adrian who both didnt know we were coming. They were both thrilled to see us and Di started organising things to do on our short visit straight away!

The first night they took us to the Quan Ju De Roast Duck Restaurant which is the restaurant that invented the peaking duck. they keep a record of every duck they have sold since they opened many years ago. we got our certificate of the ducks we ordered. our number was 15 million, so many hundred thousand something. Hehe.
Last night we went to a kung fu show which was one of the best things i have ever been to! the performers were doing amazing things like breaking wood and steal on their heads, doing flips on their heads and all this other unbelievable stuff! Was so good.
Di and i went to the markets yesterday and i tried my bargining skills. I wasnt very good but Di showed me a thing or two! Bates and Nate are checking out the same markets today.
We have already done so much and have lots of other stuff planned including the great wall this weekend.

Lastly the most important update, the reason we are here… Adrian is looking and doing amazingly! We are blown away by some of the things he is doing. He is making beautiful eye contact and is tracking so much more. He is doing lots in physio including standing which has become so much stronger since the last time we saw him in December. His arms are far more relaxed and he is moving them well. and he is eating better as well. We are just so thrilled to see these small but significant improvements and you can tell he has been working his butt off but you wouldnt expect any less from Adrian.
The staff here at the hospital are so welcoming and friendly! they were very excited to see Adrians friends come and we feel very welcome here. we have a little crew going out on Friday night including some physios, OT and other ppl from the hospital. should be a fun night.

Well summing up, we have been having a great time, Di and the boys have been spoiling the hell out of us and all is good. I hope you are all well. See you when we return!

Love Sarah.