Back by Request

So my mom asks if I’m still doing a blog or not because it’s been 10 days since my last entry.  I didn’t realize there were folks out there awaiting the next chapter in my life with such anticipation that worry would be stirred that it’s come to a close with a lull in the narrative! Maybe her retired-in-between-jobs status gives her more time to check-in; to see what’s new, or maybe I spoiled readers with having 6 entries last month J No matter, it’s good to know people are still reading and still entertained.  I am indeed still blogging my exploits, but sometimes there’s not much to tell … but since I started this dialogue, I’d better come up with something!

 

The black diamond showing a jagged line denotes
the relentless trail we've been running - good thing
we've had amazing fall foliage to distract us a bit.



Running: Lapham Peak is where it’s at. We’ve spent the past couple Saturday’s gutting it out on the Black Trail, the “advanced trail” within the park, that travels 7 miles up and down sharp kettles and moraines with name plates such as “The Wall”, “Magic Carpet Ride”, “Two Tier” (Surprise! you think you reached the top, but it goes on to a second higher top) and “Stairway to Heaven”. This trail is delineated by the most jagged trail marker design (pictured here in winter) while the other trail markers show a straight or gently waved line, and used to be part of our weekly hiking regimen the year we trained with a 40-pound weighted vest for the Wonderland backpacking trip. That is to say, this trail is hard enough to walk, let alone run. Accomplishing this route, with an additional 2-3 miles in the rolling meadows, has been a fatiguing, humbling, strengthening and power-building experience. Training that will hopefully yield to PR’s in our flat-n-fast road half-marathon later this month.

Chaco: Our little Chaco-Bean is likely suffering from allergies and has a touch of moderate conjunctivitis in his left eye. He has scratched his ear, and the area between his eye up to his ear, nearly bald. His skin looks pink and puffy, his eye is red and squinty, and you just know he’s uncomfortable.  These issues were going on to some degree for the past couple months, but one day last week, he suddenly looked much worse, so I got him in right away to see Dr. Jackie. It was a traumatic experience for him as this was possibly the first time he’s ever been separated from Denali. Running late for the appointment, I did not have time to tug both boys out from under the bed and into their carriers (I’d hoped to take Denali along for Chaco’s comfort). I heard about his feelings on my decision all the way to vet’s (luckily it’s only a 10 minute drive). He was so stressed he urinated in the carrier on the way there. The vet offered to put the wet blanket from the carrier in a bag while giving me a cushy purple towel to put in the carrier for the return trip. Before she returned with the bagged blanket, Chaco’s bowels let loose and I had to hand her back the towel with a massive pile enclosed. Poor guy – the indignity of it all. An antibiotic ointment (costing $65!) was prescribed for his eye, and new expensive  prescription only low allergen food was prescribed to address his allergies. We don’t know for sure that food is the culprit, but it’s the easiest place to start. Five days into the eye ointment regimen, Chaco’s eye still looked bad and his itchiness ratcheted up to a new level. Dr. Jackie prescribed an oral steroid to help him for a few weeks until the change in food can take full effect. After one dose, Chaco is looking better. We’re crossing our fingers that food is the cause and that we don’t have to take the next year to test him in a million different ways to get to the bottom of this. But I know two things in life: 1) Nothing is ever easy, and 2) Chaco can never go to the vet without Denali again!

Shirley: Shirley has been in the Long-term Acute care Select Specialty wound care unit at West Allis Memorial Hospital for the past month where the emphasis was on healing her long deep open wound from her kidney extraction. She has healed remarkably well in a short amount of time, and no longer deemed to have medical necessity for insurance to cover further care in this facility. Today, the key players in Shirley's saga - Me, my mom, my uncle and my sister, Karen - met with Shirley and her Case Manager to discuss discharge plans to a rehab facility where the focus will shift to developing muscle strength. After 2 months on her back, Shirley has lost 20 pounds and any muscle mass she did have. She cannot get herself into a seated position from lying on her back - her core muscles are gone. With assistance to sit up, she can sit on the edge of her bed  for 10-15 minutes, but this also causes her pain. She can stand for approximately 10 seconds IF there are aides supporting her on either side. Historically and at present, it is Shirley's pattern to denounce physical therapy - she hates it and does not work hard to improve her functioning. Today she spoke differently about it - expressing a desire to walk again, to be able to get off a catheter system so she can transfer herself to a commode, and to eventually return to her home. We honestly cannot see a return to independent living for a multitude of reasons, but rather than kick off WWIII at this time, we'll keep our mouths shut and encourage Shirley to be an active participant in her on-going recovery.