Weekend in Yafo

Ilan went to Yafo, near Tel Aviv, this past Friday-Saturday where he spent time with family, in picture. He was blown away by the beautiful views from their place that was overlooking the harbor and also provided panoramic views of Tel Aviv. The house is surrounded by 3 churches and the sounds of bells were everywhere. Many, many tourists walked by the house.

On Saturday he went to 'Safari' in Ramat Gan, which is a 250 acre preserve with rhinocerus, antelopes, hippopotamus, deer, zebra, etc. running free and giraffe, elephants and lions in caged areas. He sat in the car and drove thru the preserve and later rented a golf cart to go thru other exhibits in the zoo. In the evening he ate falafel in old yafo.

Today Ilan was back for his therapies and he again performed very well.

Thank you again for reading Ilan's blog.

End of one week in Raanana, Israel

Ilan has spent one week in Raanana. The picture shown was taken on the grounds of the Beit Loewenstein Hospital, Raanana.

Ilan started assessments at Beit Loewenstein on Sunday 3/20 which continued through Monday. He receives speech, occupational and physical therapies daily; he will also begin individual and group (psychological) counseling and pool therapy starting next week. In addition, he will also take courses in ceramics and gardening.

The therapists, who are taking Ilan's improvement seriously during his stay with them, are very detailed in their dealings with Ilan and do not miss a single detail, asking very pointed questions that relate to Ilan's therapy. The exercises that they already have him doing are quite intense and advanced (very specific to Ilan's needs) and require Ilan's full concentration, which Ilan has eagerly provided. With Ilan's characteristic flair, he cheers on the other patients in the room on their accomplishments!

Ilan's days (Sun-Thurs) start very early with his first session beginning at 8:15am - he wakes at 7:00am which was impossible to do when he was in Los Angeles - and lasting till 1:30pm with a few breaks in between. Once he gets used to this routine, additional workout sessions will be added to his schedule. Currently, at the end of his daily therapy sessions, Ilan is quite tired and requires a nap.

The cousins that he stays with (2 bus stops from the hospital) are most kind and give him daily rides to and from the hospital. Ilan did get to take the bus one morning and he liked the experience.

Ilan will go tonight to a 2nd wedding this week in Zichron Yaakov and spend Friday and Saturday with other family in Yafo.

At Caesaria Beach in Israel

Hi from Israel!

Ilan is very excited being in Israel and is already over his jet lag as you can see in the pictures below he is already busy charming the girls.

This morning we went for a long walk to a nearby park and Ilan had a brief workout on the exercise equipment there.

In the afternoon we went to the beach and Ilan walked into the the cold water and splashed his cousins!

He starts his therapy tomorrow at Beit Loewenstein in Raanana and we hope to post many photographs/postings of his progress.

From Israel, Ilan and Dad wish Oliver Savage an 'easy' marathon tomorrow and thank him and all of you for your assistance for making possible this additional therapy in Israel.

Horsing Around

For several weeks we have researched starting Ilan on equine (horse) therapy but most of the ranches we found were in Chatsworth, Sunland, etc. which we felt would be too hot for Ilan. Last weekend we finally took Ilan to a small ranch in Malibu!

Ilan was super excited as soon as we told him we were going to the ranch. The morning we went, he woke up at 7:15am (very early for him) without a complaint and quickly got ready. When we got to the farm his eyes were wide in anticipation of meeting the assistant that would show him around.

They first went to the chicken coop where Ilan was first asked to climb up into the coop about 2 feet above the ground. He looked at the assistant in disbelief at this request, initially believing that it was beyond his current ability. With a little coaxing and help he managed to climb up. Inside the coop he petted the chickens and coaxed them to allow him to collect their eggs they were sitting on. The assistant then picked up a chicken and had him hold it for a while which he most willingly did and then a chicken was placed on his hat and he was told to help the chicken balance itself there. He did it very well.

Next he was lead to an enclosure where there was a baby deer and two el Pacas (a llama's cousin!). Ilan was given some feed and shown how to coax the animals to come close to him as they were not used to seeing someone using a walker. Ilan was quickly able to comfort the animals and make them feel at ease with him. They were literally eating from his hands in a matter of minutes!

Finally he was taken to the horse corral where one of the gentler mare's was brought to Ilan. We could see Ilan was in heaven as he moved forward and reached to pet the mare. He stroked her, hugged her, groomed her and allowed her to rub herself against him. He spent the most amount of time with the mare. When it was time to leave, he did not want to go till we promised him that we would come back again.

Later we asked him if he had a good time and he responded that it was much better than a good time!

Thanks again for cheking in on Ilan.

We wish everyone a Happy New Year, Well-over-the-Fast and you should receive the best writings for the coming year.

Ilan's Swim Successes

Ilan has been getting swim therapy for the past 2-3 months.The therapy does not involve teaching him to swim, rather to make the exercises that are difficult "on land" easier to perform.

Jarone and David have been filling in the gaps and pushing him to swim on his own. About 2 weeks ago we bought Ilan a nose-piece as he was having a very difficult time breathing while swimming and swallowing a lot of water. As soon as he put on the nosepiece, Ilan pushed his brothers aside and began to swim all by himself!

So today he topped that too. Of course he first put on his nose-piece, then began swimming across the pool underwater holding his breath till he made it to the other side of the pool, about 15-18m!! Well, he popped his head out of the water, after the first time he swam across the pool underwater, and began screeching in delight at this accomplishment.

After he quieted down we handed him a pretend microphone and asked him the old saying, "Ilan, you have just successfully completed swimming underwater across the entire length of the pool for the first time - when do you plan on going to Disneyland?"

He emphatically shook his head with an annoyed, yet smiling, face and looked at us like we had just fallen off the moon, then responded, " No ----- Israel!!!!".

Besides swimming, he is also walking more and more confidently without any assistance, pronouncing his words a lot better, getting some very challenging physical training by family, drinking a lot more water (rather than mango juice all the time!), guitar lessons volunteered by a very talented young man (Ilan's age!), went to the beach with the family for the 1st time in 3 years and got himself soaked by waves, and many other exciting accomplishments and events.

Hope the summer has been fun for you, and the rest of summer is even better. Thanks for reading - be well and best of luck in the upcoming academic year.

Honorary Milken Graduate

Mr. GQ at Milken graduation 2010!


Three months ago, Dean Rossoff approached the family and wanted to know if it was OK for Ilan to join his classmates at graduation. We were so excited yet worried how his classmates would feel. After being reassured that the class had suggested including him, we happily agreed to it.

Initially we did not know how Ilan would feel being wheeled into the auditorium. But at the time we said "hopefully he will walk by graduation"??? Little did we know how much Ilan would progress in 3 months!!

Ten days ago Ilan was awarded an honorary diploma from Milken Community High School. He was so excited to be with his classmates at the graduation that he did not stop smiling for over 4 hours! Ilan looked so handsome being all dressed up after so long. Everyone in his class was so good to him. After the entire class walked down the aisle to the stage, it was Ilan's turn. He proudly and confidently stepped forth into the auditorium. As he set foot int the auditorium, all the students on the stage and the entire community stood up and erupted with cheers and applause till Ilan took his place on the stage. To our great surprise, Ilan stood up with his class for the singing of the anthems. And an even bigger surprise was when he lipsynched the Hatikva along with everyone.

It was a pleasure to watch all the graduates get their diplomas and give Ilan a high five or hug him as they went back to their seats. Once again when it was Ilan's turn to walk and get his diploma there was thunderous applause as everyone stood to cheer him. We, his family, had goose bumps on our shoulders and arms and happy tears in our eyes at the love being showered on Ilan by the community.

It was a fabulous event. Thank you Milken class of 2010, faculty and administration, and the community for the tremendous support that was bestowed Ilan. It gave Ilan great pleasure being there and sharing it with everyone. We are positive that it will spur him to further achievements.

We wish everyone a very happy and fun-filled summer!

Basketball (and more)

Last week Ilan played both seated basketball and standing table tennis with his brothers and had a non-stop smile on his face for over an hour as he pushed his limits to achieve better control of coordination.

Ilan is now showing good signs of improvement in his walking. He is able to walk by himself about 40-50ft with very limited assistance - however, he is still lacking in confidence. He has not remedied his right leg problem which does not produce good movement unless he is reminded.

These past few weeks Ilan has received very deep, and sometimes painful, muscle and body massage therapy from a family friend. Initially Ilan moans and groans as his body is contorted and bent in a variety of positions; but shortly after, he gives a big smile of deep appreciation as he hears his back produce a few popping noises which result in great relief for him.

Ilan has also been working with an ankle specialist to improve the range of motion in his ankles with the same actions and results. As a result the demands on Ilan for extra exercising at home have multiplied.

We hope to enroll Ilan in early June at a specialty fitness gym where he will work on regular equipment and additionally receive electronic stimulation during the workout.

Also, we hope to enroll him is an electronic stimulation program offered at Cedars Sinai to enhance his swallowing (and possibly speech) abilities.

We thank all of his friends for their continued encouragement and support, whether it is in person or on Facebook/AIM/texting.

We congratulate Ilan's Milken classmates on graduation and wish them great success in the coming years.

Thank you for reading Ilan's blog - Enjoy this summer!!