Onward

Sorry for the long break in blog posts.  Life is busy, but nothing extra-ordinary going on. Well, unless you consider the fact that Mark found out a month ago that he's been "displaced" at work.  That's the corporate world's nice way of telling you -- you are out of a job.  Mark's company has a history of going through massive layoffs every couple of years.  So much of a history, that the company's CEO has made a reputation for himself because of all the layoffs that have occurred during his tenure.  The annoying thing is that they layoff entire departments and then turn around and post a bunch of new job openings and the "displaced" employees are "encouraged" to apply for those jobs.  Mark is fairly confident that he will get one of the coveted spots, but there certainly are no guarantees and we are getting down to the wire with no replacement job yet.  I'm just trying to keep my panic level at a minimum. Aside from the obvious loss of income, the loss of health insurance would be catastrophic. To say the stress level in our house right now is at an all time high is an understatement.

So, I'm going to do the only rational thing to do when the stress level is off the charts ... I'm running away.  For a few days anyway.  I have a friend coming to town from Maryland and we are escaping to Sedona for a few days this week.  We actually planned this get-away back in November, but the timing couldn't be better.  I may never come back.

spectacular Sedona 

(not my photo)

Jack is doing great.  I think it's safe to say that he's stable and feeling well and maybe, just maybe, this year will be an uneventful one.  He does have occasional "episodes" where his color changes pretty quickly and he looks like he's about to faint (if he were standing up).  It usually happens when he's in his wheelchair.  Our guess is that it's heart related.  He eventually recovers and seems to be no worse for the wear (so far).  Next month will be six months post-op from his last kidney surgery, so I'm going to ask his urologist to order a kidney ultrasound - which he originally wanted six weeks post-op, but I thought that was too soon (or maybe, I was just "done" with hospitals and doctors at the time), so I never scheduled it.  I'm not expecting that the ultrasound will show a recurrence of stones, I'd just like to confirm that all the medications Jack is on are doing what they are supposed to.  Plus, I kind of miss all those trips to Phoenix Children's (NOT!)

Speaking of Phoenix Children's  - last week I participated in a palliative care educational program at the hospital as a member of a panel representing the different organizations in the State of Arizona that provide services and support for sick and dying children and their families.  I was invited to share information about the Willow Tree Foundation.  I recognized several of the PICU and airway floor nurses who cared for Jack last year who were in attendance.  One of the airway floor nurses told me that she'd be sending me a lot of referrals now that she knows about the Foundation.  I expect business to pick up significantly after this event, which will be great!

Well, that's about all the news I can muster from my little corner of the world.  Thanks for checking in, thanks for caring.

Onward.