Stuff and More Stuff

Marty has been off antibiotics for two weeks. This is wonderful. She appears to be infection free and we haven't seen great and wise -- in about two weeks. I'm sure they really miss seeing us. But just to be safe, let's all take a pause, find some wood and knock three times, together now, 1,2,3 go. Thank you. Now if Marty gets sick, and you didn't knock ........

We did go see Marty's Pulmonologist on Wednesday, a wonderful Doctor named Mayee Rosario-Reglero. She is young, attentive, bold, aggressive and extremely knowledgeable, a great combination for any doctor dealing with the multiple complications Marty represents. Marty is what is called a complicated case, there's just a lot of stuff happening, a lot of balls in the air at the same time. It really takes people who know her, know her history, and know the patterns of her illness. Medical continuity is incredibly important. So we have Great and Wise the older and Great and Wise the younger working with us. It's a comfort.

We also went to Providence Hospital for a modified barium swallow study. This is where Marty sits in a chair in front of a fluoroscope and swallows barium coated bananas and graham crackers, yumm. This is all done to check her swallow reflex to make sure she is not aspirating any food or drink which in turn causes respiratory havoc and infection. I never knew what a big deal swallowing was and how strokes affected that reflex. There's a whole cottage industry of thickening and swallowing aids. We really take the whole swallowing process for granted. Actually we take a lot of things for granted, like walking, talking, coughing... lots of really fun stuff.

Yesterday we went to the movies to see Julia and Julie or Julie and Julia, a very nice and enjoyable movie. I'm starting to think all of this is turning me into a real girl but I liked this movie. Just to prove my manhood I'm thinking we will go and see GI Joe next.

Movies are a lot of fun though you when you are wheelchair bound you have to sit too friggin close. There are two first run theaters in Waco and the one we were in yesterday puts you up really close to a really big screen so you are constantly having to move your head to keep up with the action. With a dialogue intensive movie like J & J, it's okay, but when you watch stuff like Transformers it's just a big blur.

Marty likes going to the movies. She likes the stimulation, she likes the popcorn and she likes the Diet Coke. I have also discovered she likes watching baseball on TV. Who knew. She really follows the balls and strikes and outs and even occasionally offers a bit of commentary. Very cool. Once again, it's the little things, the little moments of normalcy -- or at least the new normal that are the best.