Spoke To Chie on the phone!!!!! She seems to be doing ok. She has moved to her new rehab facility. She says it is small but she gets more therapy hours than she did at Kansai Rehab, so she is happy about that.
Chie said she felt a little alone because she was so far away from her friends and family now and that they could not visit as much. She vowed to stay strong and work hard on getting better while she remains there!!! She has been practicing her walker more and more to strengthen up her legs.
She wanted to say hello to everyone back in Dallas and say that she really misses you all and wants to come home and see you when she finishes up. Im sure she would love to get a card or visit from anyone right now, so if you are interested in helping boost her spirits please send them to the address in the previous post.
I only got to speak ot her briefly so didnt get all the details yet. I will post her updates just as soon as I get them.
Thanks.
D

Chie Update 7-2009 Kansai Rehab

! ! ! Recovery Still in Progress ! ! !

I just received word that Chie is doing well and continuing to make progress everyday at Kansai Rehab near her house in Toyonaka!

I had three reports from friends who had all been to see Chie recently. Thank you so much for visiting Chie. I know it makes her so happy and good to have someone visit her. It gets a little lonely at the hospital or rehab without friends and loved ones around. It also helps me and everyone else feel better to hear that she is doing ok.

She has been at Kansai rehab for almost two months now. She is beginning to use her walker now with confidence. She is happy to not be stuck in that chair all the time. She will finish up at Kansai rehab in about two weeks and she will then move to another rehab in Akashi. She said she can stay at that rehab a long time, but she feels like, until February, March, or April will be long enough for her. Then she will be ready for me to come and get her. She misses all her friends here in America and wants to come home and see them, and of course, UDon!!!. Udon misses Chie soooooo Muuuuucccchhhh too!!!!!!

GOOD TIME FOR A CARD OF ENCOURAGEMENT!!!!

I know this is a really hard time for Chie right now. She does not have me around to take her out to do things anymore and Im sure she gets lonely without many visitors coming to see her. We do thank all of you who have been to see her so much, so I was thinking now might be a really good time to send her a card to help encourage her and let her know her friends are thinking about her. You can send any letters or cards to her parents address in Japan and I am sure they will take them to her.

Please send cards to :

Shirafuji Chie

560-0025

Osaka, Toyonaka-shi

Tachibana-cho 3-15-18

Japan

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT

HIGHLIGHTS FROM JAPAN

Highlights from Japan

We got all packed and ready to go. Chie got to go shopping at Macy's to buy new clothes for the big trip!!!! We did the laundry and got our suitcases packed!! Finally, we were set! The flight went really well. We didnt have any problems at all. The people from American and JAL were great meeting us at our transfer and getting chie on and off the plane. We also would like to thank Nana from IACE travel for hooking us up with such a great flight.

When we made it back to Japan, we were greeted by her father and brother. It was great to see them again. It has been 4 years since Chie has been home to see her family and we thank you all for helping make it possible. Chie's mother looked pretty laying in her bed, but our hearts broke to see her in such condition. She is suffering from Parkinson's and can no longer move or speak. They say she can uderstand what is being said so we were happy for her to hear her daughter's voice, know that she was home, and loves her mother.

It wasnt long before Chie settled into her old home. It was kind of hard to maneuver around but Chie managed pretty well. She loved having her old favorite foods. It wasnt long until things were almost back to normal. Chie's father picking at every detail, Chie doing the same until she finally said, "I gotta get out of here. He's driving me crazy!!" It was of course in a loving way and I explained that, thats why they call them parents and not homies!

Despite being asked not to go outside, I tried to take Chie out for walks and to the park or store. We tried to do a lot in the little time we had. I have included the pictures for everyone. We went to Banpaku koen for hanami and to see the tulips. We spent a day on Maishima Sports Island at the Nagisa music festival. Chie had a ball there!! It was an all day techno / drum and bass festival. She even got and danced for a little while!!!! We went with old friends Joe and Kyle and Maki. We stayed all day and had a lot of fun as I am sure you can tell by the smile on Chie's face! We went to kobe to see old coworkers and our friend's bar ragtime. She went to Awaji shima with Momoyo and Kazu and saw the Akashi Ohashi. It was a lot of fun for her I believe.

Chie went to be examined by the doctors and she received her disability card from the government. She was accepted into Kansai Rehabilitation and will work there for two months. Afterwards, she will be going to Akashi to a rehab for continued therapy. I am not sure how long she will stay there. We told her that she had graduated past me and was to continue working on her own. I believe she must stay in japan to further progress. Now , she can focus on building her mind without translating. She had begun to plateau here, plus we had exhausted all of our resources. We had no more therapy left, no more money, and nobody to watch after her in the day time. I had to take medical leave from work in february as everything became too much for me to handle. I guess it all caught up to me, the strain and stress of the last 3 years. Now Chie is in a safe place with her family and friends. I on the other hand am pouring tears, missing Chie, alone and wondering if I can put this life back together.

I am hoping the family will keep me up to date on Chie's progress and I can in turn report it back to you. We love you all and thank you for making her recovery such a miracle.

D

Iterashaimase

Back in japan after a long time away. Chie is doing well here in Japana and happy to see her mother. Her mother cannot speak anymore and is bedridden with a feeding tube in place to eat, but she is alive and I am sure happy to hear Chies voice.
I cannot thank all of her supporters for helping to get her home to see her mother while she is still here with us. I could never have lived it down had we not made it in time for her to see her. Chie holds her mother in the highest regard and the one person she love and respects the most. It was on my mind constantly as we prepared for this trip and with all of your help we made it. I know to some it may not make sense but to others it does. In learning the Japanese culture as I am sure I have said before, they put their parents up there next to God and nothing else could explain it.
We are adjusting to the life here. Chie seems to be making the adjustment well, while I ,, well I am struggling. Its very small, is about all I can say. Spoiled, I guess I have been to bathrooms where more than One person can fit. My Japanese is rusty but managing to understand 20 percents and able to read the conversations anoth10 or 20, not that that maatters much to her father who speaks to me as if I was fluent and have lived here for 30 years. Instead of watchiing Yoshimoto Shinkigeki , I wake up every morning to *Shirafuji Shinkigeki* and can hardly stop smiling and laughing enough to communicate with anyone anyways.
There is not much for me to do here so I have just been spending days scouting out the trains and trainstops for handicap accessibility and bathrooms so that I can safely take Chie out for some site seeing or something in the near future. Its not so disabled friendly as the states but I am really impressed with some of the upgrades they have made towards that area. I should be able to get Chie out and about soon.
We did get to see some cherry blossoms before they went away and that was important for Chie and I both. JoJo is heree and helping me out. Good to see him and Yoshiko both and baby FIFI. Joe has one more on the way coming this august so I am hoping to steal him away for a vacation before he has his feet planted for the next 18 years. We are planning our proposal to the dear sweet , kiind , understanding , great , terrific , besst, ichiban Yoshiko at the moment. I hope she says YES!!! Iwill let everyone know
Yoshiko Danjo!!!!! Pleasse contact Mikio for us , we saw a very bad picture of Daisuke holding his shoulder and it not make us very happy. We hope he is ok and send our love to him and you all ,
We will try to keep this updated as much as possible for everyone, sorry no pictures,, I havent found my camera yet. Ithink it is somewhere in one of my bags , Ill findi t soon though , so keep checking back,
lots of love
DAVE

Benefit Concert Pictures!!

It was such a beautiful night , we thank all of you so much for all you help and support.

THANK YOU

FOR A

WONDERFUL NIGHT

We have finallly learned how to put the video on here and so Chie wanted to tell everyone thank you for such a wonderful evening. It took many takes for her to get this down. She was so overwhelmed that she could not put into words her feelings.

Thank you all,