3rd August 2008

Dear all,

This is a personal message from Tommy …  

Like Willem from South Africa mentioned in his phone call last week: I have the chance to learn everything for the second time in this lifetime … I learned how to speak again, how to walk again, to shave myself, to brush my teeth, to drink and eat all by myself. Eventhough it is very hard at times I am very happy that I was given the chance to learn it all again and to still be here.

To give you an idea on how I spend my days now:

I get up at 7 am – take a shower all by myself - have breakfast and the first therapy which is neurology starts at 9 am. During those lessons we exercise my brain by having group discussions or by playing games like trivial pursuit. We also discuss the news and talk about interesting subjects.   

At 10 am Kine starts. There the purpose is to mobilise my muscles who have been in stress for a long time now. Tomorrow I will be botoxed again in order to decrease the stress in my upper leg.

From 11to 12 am I have 1 hour off where I read/listen to my audio book via my Daisy player. I already started listening to my first audio book The Alchemist and I receive weekly updated news on sports and worldtopics via cd-rom.

At noon lunch is served.

At 1 pm I have logo where they focus on my voice. The main goal is to strenghten my voice.   

From 2 to 3 pm I have an hour off.

At 3 pm there is another hour of kine on the agenda where we focus on walking and keeping the balance.

My day ends with one hour of Ergo. There I learn how to distinguish colours, how to brush my teeth, how to make my own sandwish, ….  The focus during this hour is to improve the ‘fine motorial functions’.

From 5 pm onwards I can welcome friends. Around 9pm I go to bed as I need to be fit for the next rehab day.

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To my dear Siemens colleagues & Junior’s group alumni from all over the world who have supported me by writing a message on the blog; sending a card, books or flowers, a big thank you from the bottom of my heart. All these gestures from your side give me the strength to move on and the will to fight.

Loads of things have happened in my mind/life and because of that I now have changed my look on life completely. I have realized that my family is the most important thing and without them I would not be where I am right now. I miss Siemens but most of all I miss you all … not only the professional side but also the personal relationship I had with each one of you. I am looking forward to the day I can start working again together with you in order to make Siemens stronger than before.

Hope to get more news from all of you via the blog.

Take care …  Tommy

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To my family and friends … Thank you for the many visits. I do appreciate the time we spend together in the afternoon after my therapy. Talking to you and having friends around me are a positive escape for me after a tough day of work. Also the weekends are very enjoyable for me and give me the energy to face a new week of therapy ahead.

Thank you for being there for me. It is in tough times that we discover who our real friends are. 

Hope to see you soon … Tommy

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A very special “thank you” to my Siemens colleague Jean-Lou Paquet who lives in Canada and who saved my life on 21st Feb 2008. Tabarnak estie de siboire de mon etolle  … without you I would not even be able write this email, nor to sit here next to my lovely wife Vicky. Both Vicky and I will cherish our friendship and the support we got from you, Kiki and little Kingston forever in our hearts.

Tommy