Massada and Ein Gedi

Last Thursday our cousins drove us to Massada and we took the cable car up the hill. Ilan spent over an hour roaming the ruins and was blown away by the view of the Dead Sea from Massada, as well the view of the neighboring hills.

We had lunch and travelled to Ein Gedi and went up to Nachal David (the 1st waterfall area). From the lookout platform Ilan looked down at the waterfall and at first did not want to walk down the rocky steps to the water but with a little coaxing he not only walked down the steps but also walked across the rocky-bottom pool to the waterfall -- he absolutely loved it and was really proud of himself, mostly because he realized that he had conquered his concern and fear of trying something new and fun.

We spent the night at Kibbutz Hatzerim near Beersheva and Ilan asked the next morning if he could go back to Ein Gedi again that day!!!

Needless to say, a few days later when Ilan returned to his therapies he was so relaxed that all of his therapists commented on his happy demeanor and intense concentration.

We will return to Los Angeles next week with a bag full of new exercises and challenges for Ilan that were provided by the therapists at Beit Loewenstein who have treated Ilan as one of their own!

We look forward to meeting you and hope that you will come visit Ilan so he can share pictures and videos of his trip with you; your kind effort could assist Ilan in climbing some new mountains and further conquering some of his fears and concerns.

Jerusalem

Ilan finally went to Jerusalem last Thursday!

Before he left for Israel Ilan made it clear that he wished to meet with the President of Israel! So we did our best and therefore first visited the outside of the President's residence. We then visited the Cotel where Ilan was overwhelmed with emotion as we approached; it began to drizzle as we got near the Cotel and then it poured as Ilan stood against the wall and made his wishes and prayers. It did not bother Ilan in the least that he was getting soaked - he behaved as if it was an expected event.

We then went to a beautiful new mall called "memeellah" (I think I got that right) where two of his friends (see picture above) made a special effort to visit with him there - Ilan was extremely excited to see them. Later we visited family and Ilan absolutely was in heaven as there were over 20 young children there that Ilan talked to and played with.

Ilan's therapies are moving along very well - his gains in all therapies are quite obvious thanks to the conscientious effort put forth by staff at Beit Loewenstein; they do not give up and continue to plan new therapies to offer Ilan potential improvement till his last day of therapy.

Just this morning I was speaking with Ilan about the activities we will be doing outside of therapies before we leave Israel (which include going to Massada and the Dead Sea later this week) and Ilan reminded me that I must not forget he wants to see his friend Tal before he leaves Israel!! This blew me away as it shows me how far along he has progressed in his memory recall capability that has been improved by the many games/puzzles that his occupational therapist has helped him persevere with!!!

The physical therapists are busy stretching his ankle muscles and Ilan has responded positively by improving his walking movements/gait!

We return to Los Angeles in about 2 weeks and hope to post at least one more blog before then.

Ilan's challenges will start all over once we return to Los Angeles as it will probably be difficult to find and keep up with the progress he has achieved in Israel.

Please call or write us if you know of a structured, social (study or work) program that could benefit Ilan in his quest to return to the funloving, motivated person and achieve all (and more) of the skills that he had before his accident. We would appreciate hearing from you

Our best wishes to everyone. See you in Los Angeles soon.