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Another Sunday update from the Bring It world we all live in now. In the past few days many things have happened, yet not much has changed with Dom’s condition. His health remains as previously postings have described; he has turned more nocturnal now staying awake much of the night watching TV & sleeping much of the days. He isn’t eating too much as you can imagine, but there are times he drinks some water, or takes a few spoonfuls of Ensure. He digestive track is starting to work again (I’ll just leave that up to you to decipher) after nearly a month without use. Most communication is with a slight head nod or hand squeeze.

It’s the hand squeeze that I’d like to pick up on the story that has been going on for the past few days at Cedars. As you know, there are many heroes fighting along side Dominic, the 4th floor staff at Cedars being a battalion in his army of support, who many credit with the care that has helped sustain Dom in these grave times. Well the time has come for Dominic to leave Cedars now; mainly insurance reasons. I will spare you much of the back-story that took place but the conflict left a decision to be made rather quickly. There was an immediate scramble by the staff to intervene, but there is only so much the doctors can do to fight red tape. We then turned to the “Magnificent Mattel Machine” to see if they could apply any pressure and or advise in this situation.

I cannot emphasis enough how astonishing Mattel acted - it started from an email to a peer of Dominic’s, and then it went from Manager level, to a VP on vacation to the President himself intervening & taking action. It was amazing to witness the urgency & dedication the Mattel family put in. Much love to all of Mattel & special “kudos to Paul, Cindy, Evelyn, Mark, Alan, the CEO and the President himself!”

Well, that left us with time but a new solution was needed. His doctor asked Dominic to squeeze his hand when he heard where he wanted to be, “Cedars, a nursing facility or home.” Dom clutched his hand when he heard he could head home; so the decision was made. Monday afternoon [tomorrow] Dom will have a simple procedure to place a G-Tube (sounds kind of thuggish, so I’m sure Dom wont mind), which will enable an easier method of delivering nourishment & medication. Once that gets settled in & Don & Jane take a crash course in nursing, Dom should be home in Hermosa by week’s end. Hospice will set up his apartment with everything, but sadly there will no longer be 24-hour care on site. Some of the nurses have given their personal phone numbers to the Ambriz family & said they will come by to help & visit with Dom (he has inspired so many people). Don & Jane will be administering the medication & this point. I will let you know once that move is complete b/c I’m sure many of you will want to say hi.

For obvious reasons we’d love to have the chance to keep Dom at Cedars, but this is a great option too. Friends & family can come much easier now, Dom will be able to see his art & creations, catch up on his overloaded TiVo, and have some sense of familiarity. It was 50 days ago we went to Cedars; we thought we’d leave a lot sooner, and then we thought Dom might never leave. This journey has us each guessing & there are unpredictable turns everywhere; but there are two constants that we all should draw strength from:

1. Dom will never give up his fight.
2. The Bring It Community will never give up on Dom.

Bring It. Live It.