Wednesday Dawns (OK, Wednesday Mid-Mornings)

I sort of missed the dawn.

The night was pretty uneventful after my previous post. He had what appeared to be a much more restful night. Unfortunately that didn't translate into anymore sleep for me.

Denise got to the hospital sometime around 4:30AM, I think. I was made it home by around 5:30, driving like a bat-out-of-hell on the theory that you can't fall asleep at the wheel when driving at "the brink of adhesion," a phrase I picked up from an interview of Jackie Stewart a long time ago. (Man, that was random!)

Nick was up and getting ready to head out, so I got to see him off. Our next door neighbor Larry was kind enough to give him a lift to Ontario Airport, saving Denise and/or me another drive. After an hour drive, one-on-one with Larry, I suspect that Nick will have developed a sudden passion for John Wayne, rotary dial telephones and good tequila.

I got to sleep around 6:00 and slept til 10:00-ish. I decided to give up on sleeping for the time being. Leo was waiting to be let out and fed, so I figured I might as well get up.

Someone (I guess maybe most people) asked how I'm doing, so I'll give a little update on my status. I will let Denise speak for herself.

I am doing OK, but really tired. I have had enough with the sleep deprivation and am going to ask if I can't please be switched to water-boarding instead, just for a change of pace. We were supposed to be houseboating this week after all, and the way I waterski, waterboarding can't be all that different.

The worst part for me is all the driving. I figure we lose 6 to 8 person hours in the car that we could be spending with Jake/sleeping. We're putting a couple hundred miles a day on the cars with all the shuttling back and forth, so we are developing a Sasquatchian carbon footprint.

Our dog, our garden and primarily our kitchen have been being pretty much neglected. Fortunately for Leo we've managed the schedule so there's always someone home with him at night. I need to try to take him for a walk today before I head off to the hospital.

Thanks to Irritrol PC Control, our garden is being watered regularly, but it's not getting much attention beyond that. Nick and I harvested some vegies yesterday afternoon and made ourselves some crookneck and pattipan squash quesadillas with cheddar and dry-aged Jack cheeses and dried chipotles. Pretty darn tasty. I don't think it's a recipe we'll be blending up for Jake however.

Our kitchen is probably the worst. Not being around a lot we haven't been doing a lot of home cooking. (Unless you count the Bloody Marys.) As a result we are fostering biodiversity; in our refrigerator. I found a leftover sweet potato that was a lovely shade of green and some moldy leftover ground lamb. I haven't worked up the courage to open the produce drawer yet and I'm not going in there without a tennis racket or some other blunt instrument to fend off the alien life forms.

Emotionally, it's getting a little easier day by day, as I can see Jake's condition improving and as we get closer to the surgery that will help get him on the road back to some kind of normalcy. My feelings about the surgery are somewhat mixed; obviously there's no alternative and it will dramatically improve his condition, so I can't wait for it to be done, but there are also the risks that you worry about, however remote the possibility.

I should say that the process of blogging seems to be somewhat cathartic. I thought about suggesting that the hospital provide access to a blogging site as a service to their patients, and then I realized that I'm probably violating some sort of HIPAA regulations by posting about someone's medical condition.

Blogging also helps me to keep some kind of a grip on all the information that's passing between the medical staff and the family. And it's certainly streamlined the dissemination of information to the extended family and friends. I thought about Twitter, but half the medical jargon won't it in a 140-character Tweet. Now, if only my Mom had any interest in the Internet. My sister Jean has been calling to read her the blog updates, so she is staying in the loop. Thanks Jean, we have been a little remiss about calling her.

And while I'm on the subject, thanks to everyone who has posted a comment or emailed with well wishes and offers of support. I know that we haven't taken a lot of people up on their offers yet, but that is mostly because we really need to stay directly involved with Jake at this point. It is certainly not because those offers are not appreciated.

I should sign off and get back up to relieve Denise. I have a lot more to post about Jake's condition, but I want to coordinate that post with Denise, since she is the one who spoke with the doctors.

Thanks again and will post at you later.