2/19/2023

 

Ethan sat in the living room for a while and watched the NASCAR race. If felt good. I love when we get these little gifts from him. He was even snuggling Jiminy. Jiminy has a way of always making him smile. He does his crooked smile that I love so much.

He looks good. His face is filled out. He has muscles.

Rachel spent the night and I enjoyed the chattering that she and Avery did. The giggling and being Seniors in high school. I loved it.

Paul and I took all the dogs (except Jim) for a long walk. Jim doesn’t really enjoy the leash and he is so timid, any time a car goes by he thinks he is going to die….so he stayed back and happily sat by the fire.

We walked probably about a mile or so. A solid 20 minute brisk walk. I am trying to work my endurance back up. I don’t enjoy exercise but it is a must. If I disguise it as ME exercising the dogs, it doesn’t seem as bad for some stupid reason. Paul was nice enough to listen to me just babble away.

I am sure Ethan is feeling stress about this upcoming week. I know I am. I am not as much worried about test results as I am about dealing with the long and miserable day on Wednesday. I can’t imagine what goes through Ethan’s mind. I can’t believe we lived there for so long. As soon as I smell it in there it brings me back. The noises of the monitors they hook him up to….ugh! I know I get worked up. 

He hates the echo the most. It hurts him. He is lean and it is wand pressing on bone. He finds it quite uncomfortable and for some reason they have trouble getting the view from the base of his neck pointing down. It always looks like they are jamming the ultrasound wand into his thoracic inlet. I think they are looking at the arteries for abnormalities but I don’t really know for sure.

I always look at the screen and feel like Nicole is standing beside us proudly. I really feel like she is proud that she helped save Ethan. It sounds stupid, but I believe in it. I do think she follows Ethan around and protects him.

I am glad Rachel is staying another night. It will be a nice distraction before this traumatic trip.

We spent the evening (Ethan had gone up to his room at this point) watching Fear Factor. There was a lot of gagging noises. Some were mine. I would be the first to drop out of the rotten squid sausage eating contest. 🤮 why would anyone do this to themselves?????

The dogs played happily while the show was on….except Phineas. He was passed out, in front of the fire. His 13 1/2 year old body was tired from our walk today. I know he and I will both be sore tomorrow. I did some massaging on his back and stretching his hips/legs today too.

But holy crap!!!!!!! Look how many steps I did today. One month after surgery!!!!!!😯