I think the release when the chick finally gets her throat slit would actually lower Mike's blood pressure.

C/O Mike Bodak
Lake Forest Nursing Center
25652 Old Trabuco Road
Lake Forest
CA 92630.

?

I was hatched in late July.

Update from Geoff

(sorry I somehow missed these, so you get a double shot of Mike Madness)

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Monday Visit:
Went pretty well, it was later in the day and he was very tired, he was up in the wheelchair in the hall, when he saw me he decided to stand up, which caused his fall alarm to sound and the staff to come a runnin. I guess he doesn’t like to remember not to stand up or get out of bed with assistance and has become quite a handful for the staff to keep an eye on. He is getting more therapy than before and that is a good thing. He has been weaned off the med for narcolepsy, but is still having the regurgitation issue. The nurses believe it is due to a high state of anxiety and agitation that he is experiencing, the stress he is under must be enormous, hopefully he will settle down and the meds can help once adjusted to the right levels.

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He got moved from a room with a noisy and deliberately irritating roommate and now has a quieter room with a view out the window, we saw a beautiful sunset together. (No we did not hold hands.) Brought him some clothes and personal effects so he can have a more familiar feel and personal items for his surroundings. He does have a tv in his room but it is a wall mount without easy access to hook up stuff to it, gonna work on that, if you bring stuff for him to watch – bring long cables. Realistically he needs a tall table or a shelf under it, have talked to the facility but it hasn’t come through yet.

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Had a brief chat with his Mom and his Brother and tried to call some others that were not able to answer and he didn’t want to leave messages.

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Tuesday Visit:

Brought some of the now famous Pizza Port for him– he slammed 3 pieces with double toppings before I could blink. Dietician came in and was pleased and frustrated at the same time, I got a talking to!

Here’s why: Last facility Mike could eat whatever he wanted and was given, this facility is more stringent and disciplined. Mike has Stage II Diabetes and is actually being monitored and treated for the condition. So if you do want to bring him food and “treats” – PLEASE check with the nurses as they are having a very hard time getting his blood sugar under control because of visitors sneaking him stuff. He doesn’t know what he can or cannot have and we all need to follow the rules for his care.

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Having said that: He is eating less than 50% of what the facility is giving him to eat. He needs to be encouraged to finish eating (which is hard when you want to get sick) and the staff doesn’t have time to push him. He is back on liquid supplement feeding at night for 6-700 calories and is being carefully monitored as I mentioned above. Unlike the other facility despite numerous complaints by us he lost 15 LBS in 3 weeks he was there, so far he has lost 4 LBS but it is being monitored more closely. This is the biggest physical challenge he faces, unfortunately at this stage of his recovery, I am unsure what the long term plan is for him.

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I brought him his iPad and left it with him. We discussed the possibility of damage but he promised he would be careful so we’ll give it a shot and see. He has been deemed capable of making his own decisions medically and personally, but I am dubious, but it is not my decision so I will try to support Mike’s choices to the best of my ability. Also returned to him the Grainger iPhone, but it is locked currently, he is going to try and figure it out. He didn’t want to call anyone today.

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The previous facility also lost his glasses, it would be beneficial for him to be able to see better obviously, I asked him to read some of the cards that were sent, but he couldn’t - so we are working on trying to get him an eye exam and a new prescription. Anyone know an optometrist that does house calls? (J/K)

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Mike’s brother Greg arrives in about an hour 0930 PST and will be staying at a hotel less than a mile from where Mike is. We have brought Mikes car out of storage (THANK YOU MIKE SILLS) for his visit so Greg will have transportation while he is in town.

Greg will be here for 6 days.

**

Saw some posts online about items being brought in for him, Mike is in a public facility, he has a roommate and the content of media that he is going to watch should be suitable, he is not in a private room, please consider this when bringing in things for him to watch, as it could be disturbing to other patients and staff in the facility.

**

Reminder there will be a fundraiser benefit for Mike at a Private Pinball Club on March 5th at Noon – No one REVP’s from this group, which is fine but I would ask if you might attend plmk so I can notify the host.

If you want to contribute / donate without attending please contact me separately, have an account set up for him for incidentals.

In closing I would like to thank those of you that take time visit Mike, he lives in the moment and appreciates the time you spend with him.

g

Attorney Callout:

========================

With about 25% of Pinside being attorneys, Mike's brother Greg needs to buy a few hours of your time in the next few days, while he is in Cali.

POA stuff, nothing too specialized.

So if you are an attorney (or have one to recommend) PM me or Geoff and help a brother out.

Thanks!

Buy Mike's games!!!!!

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A few of you have asked what games are for sale.

I believe it's NBA Fastbreak and Riverboat Gambler.

The P3 with the swapable playfields is going to be huge!!!!!!

Latest update from Geoff:

=========================

Good Day to You All

A very successful event was hosted at Pinball Land by Ron and Angie – Whom we cannot thank enough.

There’s some great pictures of the event on Facebook.

Total proceeds raised were in excess of $4K

R.V. Donated $900

R.S. Donated $500

A.D. Donated $100

K.G. Donated $90

A couple of the winners of the tournament donated their winnings.

A big thanks to Planetary Pinball for their donation of items for the Silent Auctions.

I know other generous people brought and donated items, I wish I knew the details so I could thank all of you also.

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Mike is still at the Lake Forest Facility.

He is getting good therapy and care, his brother Greg is working hard to keep him there for as long as possible to ensure he gets the maximum benefit.

Mike’s speech is as clear as can be, no impediments whatsoever.

Short term memory is still iffy, he definitely needs to improve in this area in order to move down the road towards independence.

This makes for some very interesting conversations on a wide variety of topics, the human brain has become even more of an absolute marvel to me.

He mis-remembers that he is not allowed to get up and walk without assistance and has fallen a few times, the admonishments from the staff seem to amuse him.

The inability to keep food down still plagues Mike, he still gets supplements at night. This is very frustrating as no one seems to be able to resolve this issue.

Greg is also trying to work through this issue with the Doctors. He has a list of about 20 other things he is trying to do to help Mike out and along in his recovery

Mike has made a few friends at the facility and they greet him by name.

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I want to re-thank everyone that visits Mike and to all of you that showed your support at the event and to those of you that have reached out with support in other ways.

Hope everyone has a blessed week.

Geoff

I spoke with Mike this night.

His speech and laughter had no slur to it at all. Really amazing to hear.

He remembered his roommate moving out the day before, so that is a sign that his short term memory is creeping back.

He said he was sad he could not attend the pinball tournament, and said he will make it to the next one "for sure".

He enjoyed the pictures of everyone and could identify most of the players.

He finally got a pair of glasses with 2 arms on them, so he is glad about that too.

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I'm sad, no more Wolf-Mike

Some great people who came out to support Mike:

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Short, but classic phone call from Mike today:

Mike: Hey, it's Mike.
Vid: How do you feel today?
M: Listen, I'm getting the band back together and I've got THE name: "Cake Vomit" .
V: Hmmmmm........it's catchy.....
M: I know right???
V: Um......I take it you threw up cake today?
M: I did. I absolutely did.

I see what you did there...........lol

Mike escapes his captors for some Chinese food.

After 4 months of hospital food, all that MSG must taste delicious!

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Update from Todd

===========================

Mike had some visitors today including Jim and his son who he used to play World of Warcraft with.

Mike has been masticating daily.

Mike has gained 7 pounds in just 2 weeks.

Mike's G-tube feedings have been reduced to 400 calories daily, as he has been keeping more oral food down and throwing it up less.

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We are all friends here.

The baddest assed picture currently on Pinside:

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Mike had a few minutes to kill between medical appointments and played his first game of pinball !

Any alcohol is not going to play nice with his recovery.

Mike's brain needs every cell working at peak performance right now...and for the foreseeable future.

We see every tiny advance with Mike as an amazing miracle, but he is still in a fragile state.

So raise a toast to Mike!