Dear all,
Everyone here is doing alright. Jani is making his way through the firefighter training and has one more month left. During this time he will have some state exams and once he passes those, he will be official. Rowan is really enjoying school and doing great. I would swear Encsi got taller over night last weekend and she is learning a bunch of new words each day. I know I say this every time I update the blog but I can’t stress enough how glad I am to be with them. They are such a source of happiness and peace to me in all this.
As far as my health goes, I am not feeling too hot these last few days because got a cold. I can’t cough the way I did when my diaphragm worked and my strength is low but Jani has really done a lot to keep the family operations going and given me lots of chances to rest so hopefully it won’t take weeks to get through it like it did when I was in the hospital. Otherwise, my fluid balance seems to be much improved since Khaled suggested that I increase my desmopressin does and at last check, my blood sodium was good.
Last Monday Sept 8th was Bunko night. I have been very fortunate to be able join in the fun for a few of these nights at other people’s houses and the support and help I get from the ladies continues to amaze me. When I pull up, several women come out – a few grab the ramp from the back of the van and put it to the stairs while others help me into the house. Someone always makes sure that if I can’t get to something, they get it for me. I really enjoy these nights very much.
On Tuesday night there was a Rehab Social that the Outpatient Rehab clinic put on. People who had been patients there and their families were invite to come a visit with the wonderful folks who took such good care of them. I adore the people there and so it was a nice opportunity to visit with them.
On Saturday it was Rowan’s birthday and we needed to get some things at Sam’s club before people arrived. Before that, we went to a benefit at the Jaycee Park for the Dream Factory where the local firefighters and police were raising money by competing to see which organization could get more heads shaved! As it turns out, one of the firefighters’ wives recognized Jani and then me because she took care of me in the ICU. Her name was Kristen and she was a very energetic kind woman and was so glad to see me recovering so well. It was wonderful to hear. She encouraged me to go back to see the folks at PCMH because they would be glad to see how far I have come. Frankie and I have talked about this and I have wanted to go back since I got home but everytime I start to even talk about it I get overwhelmed with emotion. I don’t think that will change any time soon though and I would like to thank all the people that helped me and put up with me!
In the afternoon, we celebrated Rowan’s 5th birthday with friends – Gabor and Judit came with their 3 kids Izzy, Vince, and Lily, Scot and Logan came, Penny brought her 2 girls Ana and Carla, Dave joined us, Shannon came with Daniel and Taylor, Tonya brought Jordan, and Teresa and Dave joined in for a bit as well. It was a wonderful crowd and even though we asked people not bring stuff, they did anyway and of course, Rowan was very grateful for that. We all enjoyed it.
On Sunday, it was Estefania’s 19th birthday. Jani BBQ’d, Gabor and Vince dropped by for a bit, and then Emilia sang a birthday song in Spanish and the rest of us sang Happy Birthday in English and celebrated with some cheesecake!
Tuesday night, Jani put me onto Encsi’s bed so I could snuggle with her before she went to sleep. Since she was still in the crib in the other house and graduated from the Pack and Play about 5 months ago, this was the first time I did this and it was wonderful. I really miss being able to do this kind of thing. The chair is not the warmest spot to snuggle.
As far as work goes, this week was busy. I interviewed some people for a tech position in my lab. We had good applicants and so hopefully this issue will be resolved soon. In October, I will be serving on a grant review panel. Jani didn’t think I could pull off traveling on my own and was not happy about it. When he mentioned this to Teresa and I explained what the plan was, she immediately offered to accompany me. This is a big relief to everyone since it is my first excursion not only away from home but away from Jani. I don’t know how I have been so fortunate to have such wonderful people in my life.
Well, I realize this is a short addition but my head is not happy about looking at the computer screen and so I will try to rest a bit more before bathing and dinner rolls around so I can help with that.
Have a great weekend everyone!
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