Ethan’s Journey

 As I was sitting at the hospital yesterday, I found myself curious as to how they can improve efficiencies. It took 20 minutes for someone to come up with a wheelchair for Dario. There has got to be a more efficient way.  I found myself coming up with a bonus system so that there is incentive for speediness. I was trying to structure this fake system similar to Uber. The more people you transport the higher your wage. But it also ties into the people’s score of how you do. If you talked about something inappropriate or are rude, the patient can deduct stars butting you in a different pay class. Like I know anything about human hospitals, their payroll or anything. It was fun to think about it though. It’s very egocentric of me to think I could solve a problem that I am sure people with far more brains and specific supportive education are in charge of. Welcome to my brain. Ethan and I arrived at the hospital for his appointment. It seems like I was just there yesterday! Becau...

 Today I went to be with my in-laws while poor Dario was still in the hospital. It is nice that we have a strong family unit and we come together during times it is needed. Dario has charmed the nurses. Even the nurses that weren’t his, today, stopped by to say hello. I picked up Joanne and we headed to the hospital. I follow the directions to his room exactly how Paul described them to me. He gave great directions. We had a bit of a  vehicle switch this morning due to my van having a temper tantrum with the wheel bearing. Paul took my van, Ethan took his car so I could drive his winter jeep. I guess that is the advantage of having more cars than I can count. We got to the hospital with the promise of Dario being able to leave today. He had to show them he could do one thing. He tried but was able to. Minutes turned to hours. They brought him lunch. Lunch was 3/4 cup of soup, 1/2 cup of peaches and water. This was consumed in 12 seconds flat. This man eats! He eats a lot of fo...

I am hoping we have a break from the rain.   Ethan’s yard needs to dry out so he can move forward and have his floor poured. Paul’s dad is getting a little better each day with hopes to be released tomorrow. I will be on hospital duty for the day. We want an extra set of ears to make sure we are setting him up for success at home. I am so, so thankful to be able to work remotely. I do have a few calls to make tomorrow and will have to find a “quiet” spot somewhere to be able to conduct interviews. This week Ethan goes to the neurologist for his annual seizure check in. Basically it is to continue to have a valid doctor/patient relationship to continue prescribing Ethan’s seizure medication. Ethan has no interest in discontinuing the medications and has been advised against it. I popped by Avery’s for a quick minute. I was able to give her a hug and drop something off for Kendall. She is almost done with the semester. Woo hoo! I think she is excited to start her summer externship. E...

 My Mom and I started the day with coffee.  We chatted and she worked on things to get ready for her move. The car was packed up and we were off.  We had a few stops to make before getting to the new place and unpacking a few things. I got a tour and saw why she and Gene chose this place as their next home.  It’s funny when you walk in to an empty space and it feels exactly that, empty. It only comes to life after you have made it your own, cozy spot with your own cozy people. I had fun exploring and seeing all the possibilities for Mom and Gene to have fun, stay busy and eat well! Paul’s Dad is feeling better and is likely going home tomorrow. Paul and his sister have been instrumental being present and offering support. I situated a few things when I arrived home. I did a few chores. Ethan had already fed the dogs which was a helpful surprise. I turned a show on and Ethan ended up joining me. Paul arrived home and got sucked into the show as well. I don’t read book...

 Mid day, I piled Penny, Ferguson and Jiminy into the car to go to the vet. Our vet is amazing and happens to be a good friend of mine.  I stopped to buy her lunch because she was taking up part of her lunch hour for the three dogs. They needed their vaccines and bloodwork.  They are getting their teeth cleaned in the next 1-2 months. Ferguson is almost 14. If his bloodwork is good, he may be going to the ophthalmologist for an assessment of his cataract. He is having trouble with depth perception and seeing. So if there is something he can have done to help with that, I was to at least explore what it entails. Jiminy likely has at least a few teeth that need to be removed during his dental cleaning.  I am proud of all three of my little dogs. No one tried to bite, scratch or even make a sound for any of their pokes. If only that would rub off on Moe….Ha! I went to my mom’s for the evening. Ethan came over as well. He was going through some things in my Mom and Gene’...

 More tests came back today. All negative for bad stuff. Yay! Ethan feels almost back to normal.  I have started watching the Netflix show called Lucifer. It’s cute and makes me laugh a bit. I recommend it. You don’t have to pay too close attention to all the details so it is great to have on while I am working. I had a nice chat with Avery this evening. We got into a thoughtful conversation about human behavior. She offers a different perspective that I can appreciate and enjoy. Ethan was pumped because the mid-west is having some weather events. He watches them live. He gets so excited about nasty storms and tornados. He was blowing Paul and my phone up with pictures and updates about the tornados. It is nice to see him get so excited over it. To be clear, he gets excited over the weather portion. Not the destruction it causes. He has always had a fascination with weather. A little bit too much like my dad. It is a bit upsetting to me. I can’t imagine my neighborhood flatten...

 Ethan seems to be feeling better. Much better. The doctor said that all of his screening so far has come back negative and we needed to change the rejection medication doses just a little bit to compensate for potentially processing his medications differently. The doctor also wanted to add in another medication that will help lower Ethan‘s LDL (bad cholesterol). He has been struggling with this number being too high. His Team did try that other medication. That is the one which threw his kidneys into a tailspin as a “rare side effect”. We had to discontinue due to decreased kidney function His Team wants to start a new medication.  I’m worried, so I did some reading. I was researching if his current medication will have any contraindications with his new medication. and I found out that it typically doesn’t. We all know that Ethan‘s not typical.  As I dug a little deeper, I discovered some “rare” side effects. I reached out to the team. I voiced my concern. I learned th...