Really, part deux

It is well past time for bumping this up to the front page!! The skating season has been busy lately but many of the watching has been of the live stream variety. I keep wondering if @Really has been able to watch any of it.

@Gerry - you and Lee and the whole family continue to be in my thoughts and prayers.
 
Hi there, Skate Fans! It's nearing Christmas, and although I said I'd try to do better in communicating, it doesn't appear to have worked out that way. Still, here we are... Lee has been continuing to steadily improve for the last month, getting stronger a small bit at a time, eating well, and surprising her nurses by talking more to them, which is really helping them to treat her like a person instead of a patient. (I know, they should treat everyone like they were alive and fully aware, but truth is, I can see the difference in everyone, including me, when she is more engaged)

I have been getting away a day here and there to get into schools, and was away working the whole first week of December, but have been here pretty much every other day; she used to phone me all the time when I was away, but lately, I rarely hear from her when I'm gone. imagine my surprise the other day when my phone rang just before lunch, and it was her... "Are you coming over here to have lunch with me?" So there are moments of normalcy, that brighten things up.

We watch skating when we can; PatC is sending us links that work in Canada, and Lee likes watching, but the vision issues make it tiring, so we don't watch for long at a time.

Developments in care:
  • Remember the day we spent getting her butt measured for the custom wheelchair seating? They screwed something up, so we have to do it again. Aarrggh. Oh well, nothing lost but time. Haven't gotten a new appointment yet, waiting until after the holiday, I suspect.
  • Eye Appointment - I had contacted her eye surgeon about her vision problems, and he asked if we would be able to come to see him at hospital, rather than waiting for a clinic appointment, so we traveled to see him last week, and he popped out between surgeries and did a fast exam. She has a strange kind of focal cataract, he says it's fairly easy to fix. He set us up with one of his colleagues for a more detailed appointment in the New Year. They have already contacted me for a preliminary date, so I'm hopeful we can get something done on this.
  • Jaw issues ... remember the MRI we need? They called back with an appointment date, about a year out. I gakked and followed up on that, because I am willing to pay for a private MRI, just to get this done faster, but apparently the problem is her shunt; private MRI clinics don't have the equipment or expertise to reset the shunt after the big magnet messes it up, so we are really limited to the MRIs in the big hospital, and need the Neuro guys to be there, also with the equipment to recalibrate the shunt. Trying to line up all that stuff is apparently the issue... I'll keep at it, but the extra variables are an issue.
  • Apparently, Alberta's conservative government has picked now to start flexing their muscles. They are on a big austerity kick, and are trying to slay the deficit by just cutting everything while announcing that they are cutting nothing and blaming any shortfalls on the last government, or on the closest greedy professional. They have adopted the use of Twitter as a means of blurting out a new crisis every day, and don't appear too beholden to telling the truth. The Education sector is taking a beating, public pensions have been hijacked (in the name of fiscal efficiency), and the Health sector is also under attack.

THAT one rots my socks... Fair Warning: you messa with my wife's Nurses, I messa with you.

So far, service cuts haven't compromised care in any way, but it's annoying to have to keep an eye on one more thing.

And that is all the news I have for you.. I won't be working again until the New Year, so I can stay near Lee. The kids are coming up here for Christmas, so I guess I have to put up a tree and decorate this year. It dawned on me that we've spend the last 3 Christmases in ICU; this will be Lee's 4th Christmas in a Hospital bed, but the first one in the last 3 years not hooked up to stuff that beeps. You take your gifts where you can.

Thanks for hanging with us all this time... Lee appreciates your thoughts and wishes she could be more active, but for now, we're ok with just being.

Merry Christmas to everybody here; we wish you happiness.
 
Wow, Gerry. Fourth hospital Christmas - that's sobering. You and Lee exemplify longsuffering in both the literal sense and the biblical sense of patience and forbearing. I'm happy for the good news about the cataract -- sorry that you both have to endure the long delays on the MRI and the new wheelchair.

I wish you all a merry Christmas and the continued grace of finding gifts to celebrate even in the most trying of times. God bless.
 
I admire the stamina that both Lee and Gerry are showing during her prolonged illness and recovery. It really boggles my mind how you can both stay so positive under such circumstances. I wish you both a calm Christmas with your family at hand.
 
Gerry I cannot express how thankful I am that you have been keeping us informed with the progress/changes of Lee's recovery. It does not matter when or how long it takes for you to do so... just that you do is a gift.

I haven't been in this post as regularly as I hoped, but know that both of you and the awesome team of medical workers are in my prayers.

You and Lee are true inspiration and I pray that the end is near and shining in light.

Barbara
 
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