Accesibility

Our last evening in New York, we went back to Contento. We had been there in February, our first time to visit Hospital for Special Surgery, to comsult with the physician who ultimately did my osseointegration surgery in July.

The first time we went it was because it is likely the most accessible restaurant anywhere. The tables and the low bar are the right height for wheelchairs. There is an audio menu for blind people. The bathroom is a dream.

We came back for the food, the wine, and the atmosphere. We ordered the one Priorat wine on the wine list. The wine manager was a little hesitant, but we assured him we knew what we were ordering. We generally like very young wines from this region of Spain, but the 2015 had all the markings of an exceptional Priorat wine, including that earthy granite finish.

Dinner, as our experience before, was remarkable, especially fitting to cap off a great visit with my surgeon. I do have some hypergranulation, a fancy word for some growth around the aperture of the rod that holds my prosthesis in place. Since it doesn't hurt I could leave it alone, but he and I will reach out to my plastic surgeon at Hopkins to deal with it.

Once again we stayed at the Helmsley Medical Tower, the hotel associated with Hospital for Special Surgery and other surrounding hospitals.

Helmsley Medical Tower should be ashamed of itself. it is the most inaccessible hotel room I have ever experienced. My guess is the hotel has one "accessible" room, and while they have told us we cannot reserve it in advance, it seems others can, because they told us we could have it for one night, but then we would have to move.

The threshold into both the room and the bathroom are impassable by wheelchair. And in any event, the bathroom is not big enough to get in via a wheelchair, and it is downright scary to enter with a walker.

Nothing in the room is reachable. The sink, the lamps, nothing. It is a nightmare. We come back for my next appointment in January, and while my hope is I will be far more mobile, I don't want to stay here.

The rest of our visit has been delightful. We had dinner with friends two nights. Sunday night we met our friend Nancy at Chama Mama, a Georgian restaurant in Brooklyn Heights. Our waitperson was pretty inept, but the food and the wine was good, the rest of the staff was accomodating, and the company stellar.

Last night we had dinner with our friend Laura. While dinner was great, the highlight of my evening was walking a block on uneven pavement. I was ecstatic. I'm getting there.

My doctor today watched me walk, and he was pleased with what he saw. He reminded me that this isn't a race, and I should take things at my own pace. I need to remember that. I so badly want to be walking unaided. But I'm not a youngster, and I will get there when I get there.

For now, I will just try to appreciate my achievements, and enjoy the ride.

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