And The Pulitzer for Medical Reporting Goes To...

Actually, I just want one of those Ben Franklin medals

I feel like I have just won the Blogging Pulitzer Prize (if there isn't a Pulitzer category for blogging there should be). Cha Cha is in the front room reading all of the blogs from when she was in the hospital and it is evoking (and invoking) a lot of feelings. Of course, she did not read the blogs while she was fighting for her life; I mainly wrote them for you and, of course, for me. She has a huge file folder that we take and will take to all of her hospital/doctor/clinic... visits. Maybe we should print the blogs and put them in the folder too as sort of a timeline of how things went as things start to all run-together. We could give autographed copies to all the doctors.

Tomorrow (Monday) we have one follow-up at Dreyer Medical in Batavia or Geneva - whichever it is. Then, I know, we go back to Northwestern to have her stent removed on Friday. I know I say "we" on these appointments but she is the one who has to endure the worst part of all of this. Now that I wrote that I am not sure if it is more difficult to be the person going through the agony of the procedures or being the loved-ones of the person going through the procedures/operations... Personally, I think I would rather be the one going through the surgeries though I would not want to put people through that either. What a conundrum. 

Tomorrow night I go back to work after over three weeks off. I am so happy that I have a job now that, when I return tomorrow night, I just do my job. There is not going to be three weeks of work that I will have to try to get done in addition to doing the current work. There is a lot to be said for that. I still wish I worked days though. Maybe it is a blessing I work nights now too because I can go to Cha Cha's appointments with her. The Friday one works well because I am off Thursdays and Fridays. I think we may go in Thursday night because getting to a morning appointment in downtown Chicago would mean having to leave at about 0400 to avoid the traffic. Northwestern is close to the heart of Chicago (Michigan Avenue) so we can have a nice dinner and then see how Cha Cha feels. She is still pretty wiped-out and drained all the time. Unless there is vast improvement I am guessing dinner will be all we can do. Maybe a movie either in-room or at a real movie theater. Then, the following Friday, we will be back in Chicago again for that surprise I wrote about a couple of weeks ago. Since she is reading the old blogs I am fairly certain it will not be a surprise though.

While I write this I am sitting here in my pajamas getting caught-up on Survivor and The Amazing Race. I should be getting caught-up on my sleep but I do not think that is really possible. We always say we are "going to get caught-up on our sleep" but that is really kind of dumb. Maybe those times that I slept longer than I should have (theoretically, since that has never happened with me) I have those hours in the bank for the times when I don't sleep enough. That would be handy. And, if we could give them to other people, we could use sleeping time as currency. I know some people who would be rich and I think I would be a failure. But, remember no man is a failure who has friends.

Maybe I should print this photo and sell masks ?

Fabio just headed to work. He works at a supermarket about one mile from the house. I told him that they may not be as busy as they usually are on Sundays because the Chicago Bears played on Thanksgiving instead of today. I remember trying to grocery shop before Bears' games; it was cuckoo bananas. As a MATTer of fact I shopped last Sunday while the Bears were playing and it was a breeze. I need to shop today too so I hope there is a good match-up at noon (Chargers-Ravens and Saints-Steelers). Is Ray Rice back this week? I heard he is coming back. How many opposing fans do you suppose will be wearing masks of his wife? 

As Fabio walked out the door Cha Cha said, "make good choices" and I chimed-in "make the world a better place for somebody." He is going to mention us to a therapist one day.

Alright, I have to get dressed and get to the store before the people get out of church and all the donuts are gone. I hope you have a great day. I am confident that this will be a doctor-free day. I am tired and need a break - no more white coats with embroidered names on them for a few days please. In the words of the lady at the drive-up window at Walgreen's "Be well." TTTT...MITM (out) TA!

Everything Is Awesome (for now)!

Cha Cha was feeling a little light-headed last night. She is not really doing anything strenuous but her body is still healing inside and she is supposedly still producing blood to replace all that she lost from her internal bleeding. You may have seen on one of our Facebook pages that we went back to the emergency room because of this. She was feeling lightheaded and odd; and people say I am the odd one. Her feet were all tingly and she just didn't feel quite right.We talked about it for a bit and, given everything that has happened over the past month, we didn't want to take any chances. So, we get to  Kishwaukee Community Hospital and I go in and get a wheelchair and roll her in and then park the car. They got her in the emergency room pretty quickly and took all her vitals... turns out that her hemoglobin was down and her potassium level was low. The doctor in the ER called her doctors at Northwestern and they watched her for a bit and we got to depart with another $100 co-pay and have some more souvenir papers for our files. It confounds me that some doctors will not call doctors at other facilities - I imagine it is just hubris. The thing I like second best about the ER at KCH, the first being how close they are to our home, is that when there is an emergency they actually play the sound that they played on Emergency in the firehouse. Our next scheduled appointment is at Northwestern to have the stent removed.

Yesterday we went to brunch with my parents and Jill's sister Heather at The Junction Eating Place. Splenda was up from school - that is always nice. We will see her again over Christmas.Then Nature Girl came over for a visit. It was great to see her; it has been way too long. Cha Cha has become the Queen of England with all the people who want an audience with her.

Just About Anyway!

I have decided to change my name to Roy. Roy G. Biv to be precise. I wonder if I had a name tag with my last name on it people would now how to pronounce Biv? There was that R&B/hip-hop group Bell Biv Devoe back in the 1990's and everybody knew how to pronounce Biv then. They may still be together as far as I know.

I cannot get this song out of my head - Everything is Awesome! I was really surprised how funny The Lego Movie is. When Splenda was home the last time we started watching it together and then I ended-up recording it so Cha Cha could see it. I would not say I would go out and rent it but, if you have HBO and it is worth a watch. I have the theme song "Everything is awesome" stuck on my head.

Just so people know that my memory isn't as bad as they might think I do remember lots of things from Facebook that say, "share if you remember this" or "like if remember doing this." I just do not want to share those things. Occasionally I will "share" some of these things but they are usually not things like a restaurant you went to or a particular brand of soap or cereal or beverage... If you do something and are trying to promote it I will, about 95% share that but nobody really cares if I remember drinking Shasta Cream Soda or whatever. Why not Jolly Good? I have no idea why I selected Shasta Cream Soda because I am not sure if I ever had that or if Shasta even made cream soda. I imagine they did because, as I recall, they had every flavor imaginable when we were kids. Maybe we just drank Shasta because they had riddles on the bottoms of the cans.  Or was Jolly Good the one with the riddles? Cha Cha just told me that they used to pour the pop out just to read the riddles so her grandma quit buying that kind.

Alrighty, it is almost 1330 and I have lots to do around this house. I am still fairly certain that I will be sick at work Monday night. That is if there is not another cry for help by some damsel and I have to whisk someone away to a hospital or something. I would much rather be at work. Have a great Saturday and Saturnight - it will be weird having a Saturday night off and not having something planned. Let's hope that the night is uneventful. I will probably blog again tomorrow unless we decide to do a new load of Dirty Laundry Podcast (that is entirely up to Cha Cha). Thanks for being so supportive during these trying times - your thoughts and comments and prayers and hugs... have what helped Cha Cha and I get through this to this point. TTTT...MITM (out)

Still Appreciating the Little Things

Yesterday was a nice day (Thanksgiving). We went over to the Sock Drawer (home of Cha Cha's brother and our sister-in-law -- The Lost Sock and The Found Sock) for Thanksgiving. It was a very nice day. Today my parents and Jill's sister Heather are coming over (in about two hours - 10:30ish) and we are going out for lunch/brunch. I think we are either going to The Junction or The Lincoln Inn. Then, later today, Splenda has to be headed back to school and her jobs down south. It was really nice to have her home; I believe her being here (as well as Fabio) was a great help in getting Cha Cha back from the brink of death. It was a great comfort to me too. I know that sounds dramatic but sometimes the facts are dramatic too. You know I like to create new words that nobody will ever use so why not "dramatfacts" - dramatic and facts combined? Don't be surprised if that becomes a new film genre like "biopics" did.

Today is Friday and I have to go back to work Monday night finally. But I will only work three days and then have me Thursday - Friday weekend. The one thing I like about this job over past jobs I have had is that when I go back to work I will just do my job. Most of my past jobs meant that I would have to do my job as well as catch-up on all of the work that I missed for the past week or two or however long I was gone. I just wish I could do it during the day and not on the real world's weekends.

Cha Cha is feeling a little better each day. I would say she is at about 72% of her norm. Thankfully, yesterday was a holiday in the U.S. and A. so she didn't have to deal with all of the insurance and follow-up stuff. I imagine today (Black Friday) will be a break too since most places make this a long weekend given the holiday was on a Thursday. She has some stuff set-up for follow-ups like having her stent removed. We are going to head back into Northwestern for that because we don't really trust anybody else anymore. I just hope that goes well; I am very talented at blogging the obvious. She still doesn't know that we will be going back to the same area again the following Friday night too. We should probably get a condo down there; we could rent it our to people going to Northwestern Hospital when we are not downtown? Maybe a time-share? Hmmmmmm

We gotta great big  convoy blocking Black Friday night

I cannot believe Black  Friday still exists. Doesn't everybody have a computer and the internet these days? Cyber Monday is right around the corner and nobody needs to get trampled or away from their families on Thanksgiving night. I think there are lots of internet sales and you don't even need to wait until Cyber Monday. My friend Brian Didier just posted on his Facebook page, "Not shopping just driving around delaying traffic. Currently double parked in front of Carson's." Firstly, I thought this was hilarious but then I started to think there should be a movement like "occupy Black Friday." We could rent U-Haul trucks and huge motor homes and such and just clog-up all of the entrances to stores to people who would normally be forced to work for their greedy companies could stay home and spend the holiday with their families. Doesn't anybody remember Convoy (song and film)?Maybe some people like working these nights because they get holiday pay but I imagine the do not get paid extra.

It is 0941 now and I am showered and dressed with my nails clipped again. Do our nails grow faster in the winter because there is less fruit and veggies and we need to kill our food with our claws? The other 3/4 of the house (3/5ths if we count Jeff) are still in bed. Jeff is a lot like me - we are ready to go at a moment's notice. I have to wrap-up so I can get everybody going. I hope you have a great Friday and an even better Frinight. I really appreciate you being here, as always. I will blog again tomorrow because I will still be on-duty here with Cha Cha and not on duty and my paying gig. Quite frankly the pay and benefits are much better working for Cha Cha. TTTT (63%)...MITM (out) TA!

I am Thankful for YOU!

I would say that I am an optimistic person which is why I can remain thankful and hopeful when things seem to have been pretty bleak in my little part of the world for the last month or so. Today is the day in America that we are told to be thankful - Thanksgiving. It is difficult to express all of the things that we are thankful for in this house. I am so thankful for so many things but just about every one of those things surround people. I am most thankful for my family, friends, bosses and neighbors. If you are reading this right now I consider you in that "most thankful for" category. I am especially thankful that Cha Cha is still alive. There were two or three times over the past month that I actually thought she was going to die. At moments like that nothing, and I mean the real NOTHING, mattered. You hear about that and see that and read about that but, until you are faced with that actual feeling, you cannot really understand the helplessness. I have seen death many times but nothing quite this close, I will be thankful for whatever time I have with Cha Cha and my family and friends.

I am also thankful that I have a stuffed-up nose and chapped lips. I used to hate those things but now it doesn't matter so much that I am getting sick and cannot breathe through my nose. I know that I am going to be faced with deaths of loved-ones and liked-ones and not-so-liked-ones (unless they are faced with mine first) but, in the meantime, I am not going to sweat the small stuff so much. I say that now but we'll see how successful I am. I believe that it's the economic and political systems and the media hype in our worlds that make us lose sight of what is important. I don't need to go into detail on my thoughts about that - you either understand now or one day I am confident that you will. I predict lots of changes in my life coming soon.

At 0156 this morning I heard three loud knocks. I wasn't certain if the knocks came from my bedroom door or the window. I was on the second story of our house so the window theory was highly unlikely. There is a tall tree outside the window so it could have been branches blowing against the window. I called-out "come in" but nobody came in so I got up and searched the house. I went from room-to-room checking on all of the sick people in the house and they were all fine. I had always heard that three mysterious knocks meant someone had died. With all of the close-calls I feel that I have been around lately I was concerned. I had always heard that 3:00 AM was when most evil spirits wonder the Earth. It has something to do with Jesus being crucified at 3:00 PM (the devil's hour, the demons' hour, devil's time...) and 3:00 AM being the opposite so spirits are let loose for that hour. I know 01:56 AM isn't 3:00 AM but with daylight savings time on and off all the time who knows if 0156 is really 0256? Or what time is it in Jerusalem (I never really put Jerusalem and Salem together until right now - eerie). I know all of that stuff is poppycock but I entertain my mind with it anyway.

Immediately when I woke-up to the knocks I thought I was in the hospital. I must have been sleeping very soundly for the first time in a month. I immediately wondered why I was in the hospital bed. Had I just woke from a coma? Where is Cha Cha? Where are the kids? If Cha Cha is still in the hospital am I in a different room? What about the kids? I began wondered how we would be billed for all of these hospital rooms. I must have had a pretty wacky four hours of sleep.

I baked the pumpkin pies this year so, hopefully, there will be no additional hospital visits today. Jeff and I are the only ones still on our feet. I am only on one but Jeff is still on all four. I hope you have a great day with family or friends or at work or alone or wherever you choose to be. I welcome you over but make sure you wear a hazMATT suit. I will probably blog again tomorrow TTTThen...MITM (out) TA!

Warmed Cockles!

Funny how the news is unimportant sometimes (most times)

It's odd how, when you have an "ordeal" in your personal life, you aren't really concerned with what is going on in Ferguson, Missouri or in the Middle East or at Bill Cosby's house. I heard a bit about a couple of these things in the hospital while Cha Cha was sleeping or have one of her many upgrades. So, now two-three weeks later, these things are still the lead stories. I guess it is good that media has nothing better (or worse) to talk about.

Last night Cha Cha and I were watching the news while waiting for Splenda to arrive. The news show went live to the protesters and police in Ferguson, Missouri. The anchor in the studio asked the field reporter, "how long has this confrontation been going on?" The reporter answered, "coincidentally, just as the cameras went live." Dude, do you really believe that was a coincidence? The news stations should be cited for inciting these riots.

Cha Cha spent the entire day yesterday on the phone with this hospital and an insurance company and her H.R. department and that doctor's office and then a different hospital and then another insurance company and so on and so on and so on... Luckily, she is so smart and tenacious because most people probably give-up and then are stuck with bills that they really should not be responsible for. All of this from a procedure that never should have occurred in the first place that caused internal bleeding because somebody probably needed a new vacation home.This is why they let you take off work with FMLA - not so much for the recovery and recuperation. I don't think FMLA really stands for Family Medical Leave Act it stands for Figuring-out Medical Lingo Ambidexterity because you are going to take another week or two, at least, to figure-out their lies, trickery and tomfoolery.

Cha Cha is still getting very winded even walking across the room; I guess that is why I get paid to be her personal valet. She lost so much blood that her body will probably take weeks to get back to where it should be, At one point her blood count was down to seven. I am not sure exactly what that means but the doctor says they never like to see that get below 15 (I am guessing that is hemoglobin?). She literally could have been one of the stars of The Walking Dead. I hope she starts doing better in the next four days because I am scheduled to go back to work on Monday. I am told that I can extend my FMLA if need be but I prefer not to do that. If it comes to that I will, however, because even though I prefer not to do that I prefer Cha Cha not to die LOTS LOTS more.

One of the Sergeants from work just stopped by with a gift for Jill. He had been trying to get it to us for a couple of weeks but we could not get together with me going Gold Coast to West Coast (as far as Chicagoland goes). Several officers signed the card - it always warms the heart to know people are thinking about you. Speaking of warming - the gift that they gave Cha Cha was a beautiful blanket that Sgt. Grant's wife made. Cha Cha loves blankets and even more so now that she only has about 25% of the blood in her body that most of us have and she is cold all the time. I am glad this isn't vampire season because I am a better target now with her being low several quarts. Another of the Magi stooped-by last night. Our buddy Jay Cole "butterscotch with the sprinkles" brought over some chocolates for Cha Cha, You may know Jay as the person who has been on Dirty Laundry Podcast the third most after Cha Cha, The Agitator and Eric Solfisburg (with his great theme music).

While I am writing this I am catching-up on "my stories." If you don't watch Gotham I have pity on your soul. I have been a Batman fan since I was about three-years-old when the television series began in 1966 so, of course, I love thi- s show but you don't even need to be a fan of the caped-crusader to like this show. It is great. I am so happy to see that Alfred Pennyworth is a total bad-ass. That makes so much more sense than him being the doddering old fart from the television series.I should give him much more credit because he was responsible to maintain all of the Batquipment in the Batcave. I guess he does a lot of medical stuff to Batman and Robin never have to go to the hospital and try to explain their injuries to the authorities. Sounds like I am Cha Cha's Alfred - I really didn't give him enough credit. I hope the show gets Aunt Harriet on the show soon. I would cast maybe Raquel Welch or Jacqueline Smith or Jacqueline Bisset or somebody along those curved lines to play her.

Splenda got home from school last night. She was up when Jill was in the hospital and now she is back. It sure is nice when we are all here. Fabio is on the mend. We were really worried about him the other night. That was another reason it was good that I was home; I could go from hospital room to hospital room in this house checking on my patients. I slept fairly well last night but I am still pretty exhausted.

The blog got long (a lot different than when I am looking for stuff to write about - thanks for that Cha Cha) but I have to say one more thing - if you get a chance to see Saving Mr. Banks you need to see it. We have tried to get it from Redbox over and over for months but it was always out. I finally decided to reserve it on Redbox and I got a message that it was at one of the kiosks across town so I reserved it and went over hill and dale and got it. I knew a few of the stars in the film but it had quite a few of my favorite actors in secondary or tertiary roles that I was unaware were in the movie. In case you are not familiar - it is about Walt Disney attempting to turn the Mary Poppins series of books into the film. It probably would be boring for young children but not for us MIDDLES or beyond who grew-up on Disney films in the theaters. My mom would take us to every Disney movie when we were kids. I remember it would be: my mom, my brother, my cousins Carrie and Michelle and me. What great memories. I think my favorite was Song of the South though that was actually a re-release from 1946. It probably paved the way to make Mary Poppins with the mix of live-action and animation.

Okay, enough. I should not write several paragraphs the day before because it gets long. Have a great Thanksgiving Eve. I will probably blog again in the morning (writing most of it this afternoon and tonight) so you have something to read while your turducken is cooking. Thanks for stopping by and for all your continued for my main patient. Patient #2 works this afternoon so we will see how he is doing when he wakes-up. TTTT...MITM (out) TA!

The Blog

I kept teasing with the story of the rose. I have not been teasing on purpose but there were obstacles and challenges flying at me so quickly and many of the things that came-up took precedence. Now, without further blogdoo... the rose story (I sure hope it can live-up to the unintentional hype). Cha Cha received quite a few plants and flowers while in the hospitals. Her spirits would get down every day or two so I would stop and get her something when I was on the way in to see her to make her smile. One day I saw these little rose buds in small vases (just a bit larger than a shot glass). I got one of the buds. It had some babies breath and a couple of green leafs in the vase too. It was the perfect size to sit on that little wheeled table  next to her bed that they rolled over whenever she got ice chips to eat (since she could not have hardly anything more than ice chips the entire two weeks she was infirmed). The flower was also perfect to move with her from hospital to hospital because it fit right in her purse or inside of one of her bags. Her other flowers were not allowed in the ambulances. Anyway, to make a short story long, as she started to get better the bud opened up (bloomed). It stayed closed until she started feeling better. It's like the rose was sad and as Cha Cha got better the bud cheered-up and opened. By the time she came home the rose was almost in full bloom. I believe Cha Cha and the rose were synchronous.

I took a nap this afternoon from about 1400 - 1800. As you might imagine, I am still pretty tired from lack of sleep over the past couple of weeks. It was so weird because the sun had gone down during my slumber so it was completely dark when I awoke and I could not figure-out which hospital I was waking-up in. I was delighted to remember that we are home. There truly is no place like home. The only thing we are missing is Splenda and she will be home again this weekend.

All of the bull--- with the insurance and the bills has begun. I know we will talk LOTS and LOTS about this on Dirty Laundry Podcast when Cha Cha feels like recording a new show with me. I have so much I want to say about that but Jill is so much more passionate and knowledgeable about this and I do not to rob her thunder. Thunder is quite an understatement as you will discover. It is more like Tropical Storm Cha Cha or Category 5 Hurricane Cha Cha. I spoke to Fabio, who is home for day #2 with the severe cold that he has, and told him that while he is young he should consider moving to Canada so he doesn't have to endure the holocaust that follows being sick and needing medical care in the U.S.A.. The cold that Fabio has apparently is going around the entire area; lots of his friends and our neighborhood kids were home yesterday too (we will get some bills from that quick ER visit too, of course). If you have never seen the film Sicko I highly recommend it. I have seen it several times and, coincidentally, saw it a couple of weeks ago on one of our premium stations or something. I am pretty sure I DVR'd it and may watch it again as the aftermath of this whole ordeal unfolds.

I think Thanksgiving is in a couple of days. I am not sure what we are doing but I really don't feel like cooking and I really don;t feel like going anywhere. I am mentally and emotionally spent. Maybe my mind will change within the next couple of days. Speaking of change, I think the Airbourne and Zicam are helping. I was headed down a sicko path but feel okay (other than the whole mental exhaustion) but seem stabilized at the moment.

Last night I had several nightmares. They were all about me being tortured in some kind of dark underground cavernous place. I was strapped to a table and eventually broke free and as I was exiting the mazes of caves (kind of like Mark Twain Cave in Hannibal, Missouri) I heard screams from back inside the cavern so I turned back to help save the people in the caves. I knew that I was taking a chance of being recaptured but I went back anyway. I don't remember what happened after that in the dream but I recall having that same portion of the dream repeat over and over. I woke up with drool all over my face. I don't remember my dreams very often because I am a very light sleeper. I think me fighting a cold and not having slept much in the last two-three weeks allowed to me to get into a deep sleep. It may also be that I am sleeping "regular" hours and not sleeping during the day in a coffin.

Cha Cha just told me that she watched several episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond last night while I was having nightmares. She said that they remind her of us. She said Ray, just like me, "doesn't mean to be a boob." Then she tap-danced and said how lovable he is but sometimes he is just oblivious. Talk about an asterism (back-handed compliment). I have been told, on occasion, that he resembles me. I guess I resemble him since he is older than I am. He is incredible handsome. Remember, she is saying I am like Ray Barone not Ray Romano. I guess as long as "everybody loves" him I am okay with being a boob. I love boobs. Boobs represent nourishment and life. Okay, I have convinced myself that being a boob is a really nice compliment. Thanks Cha Cha.

I hope you have a great day and a nice night. For you here in America I hope you don't have to work on the holidays over the next month (I was there many, many holiday seasons and know it sucks). If you do I hope you at least work at one of the stores that has decided that family is important and allows you to be off at least on Thanksgiving. Here is a list of the greedy a-holes that are open on Thanksgiving Day because they are greedy bastards. There are three on that list that I can kind of understand (Rite Aid, CVS and Walgreens) because people need medicine, especially during this cold and flu season. They have to make their business decisions but I don't have to like them. Maybe for solidarity sake I will write my Thanksgiving blog the day before Thanksgiving or not even do one at all? I know there are professions that have to work every single day (and night) of the year because I work in one of those professions. Lucky for me I have Thursdays off but I would be off anyway this year because I am a care-giver right now. Okay, enough rambling from me. TTTT...MITM (out) TA!

Cha Cha In The Middle (still)

There was a nurse at Rush-Copley Hospital (Cha Cha called her "the loud lady") that kept bugging Cha Cha to "get up and walk, get up and walk." Then, the next day, she'd come in and say "you've got to get up and walk." Cha Cha was in tremendous pain but she and I would stroll around the unit like an old couple to A) shut the battleaxe up and B) we figured the nag knew what she was talkinng about. Cha Cha would be leaning on me in pain as we'd wheel the IV tree (not sure if that is the technical term) around with us. As it turns-out, as we know now, she was bleeding internally and walking was probably causing even more damage; maybe one of the worst things she could have been doing. Okay, there are probably several  worse things she could have been doing like: surfing, rock climbing, running a marathon, playing tackle football...but you get the point. The first time we walked and we passed the nurse control tower or whatever that little coven is called Cha Cha told the nurses there, "tell that loud nurse that I am walking." We could see that they knew exactly who she was referring to. I think Cha Cha has a bounty on her head and a lazy bounty hunter has hired Rush-Copley to kill her. First they stab her in the liver during an out-patient procedure and then, when they get her back as an admitted patient a week or so later (coincidence?), they try to make her walk with the blood pouring from the internal wound that they caused. These people are more clever than any bond villain in history but we are onto them

There was film that I had seen a commercial for that looked really good called Heaven Is For Real. In addition to looking good it has Greg Kinnear and Thomas Haden Church in it - I like them both a great deal. While Cha Cha was in the hospital I saw that it was going to be on either Starz or Encore (but I would bet it was on Starz since Encore, as you may guess by the name of the network, shows movies most of us have seen - like comfort TV). By the time the movie came on I was gone to my night job (taking care of Fabio, Jeff and the house). Cha Cha watched it but she missed a lot because, even though you are supposed to get rest in the hospital they knock on your door and check your vitals and take blood... what seems like every ten minutes You get lots more sleep at home. There is no pause on the televisions in the hospitals so you miss all the plot points; DVR's that could be paused is something that would come in handy in hospital rooms. So, anyway, I went to Redbox and rented it and the film is great. I am not a religious person but I think I can buy this. It is based on a true story. I always take that with a grain of salt (not a pillar) because we all know they embellish everything and we are never really certain what is embellishment and what is based on the real details.

Last night I went to bed at 1830; I was beat. Fabio went to work yesterday and came home sick after a couple of hours. I cannot believe he even went in as sick as he was. He works at a local grocery store and I wouldn't imagine that they wanted him there around their customers. I think all of the stress of his mom being sick really got to him; he had been fighting it for a week or two. As far as me, I hadn't been sleeping much for over two weeks and when I did it wasn't good sleep. Sometimes in a chair, sometimes on a hospital couch and sometimes fighting it back and forth to and from Chicago. I am off work anyway, using my sick hours (family sick / FMLA). Cha Cha has to call many doctors and medical departments today and plan our week's fun activities. I know we will have at least four different appointments and one procedure for sure and perhaps more. Maybe somebody else will stab one of her vital organs and we will have a re-run of the last 16 days or so. We are supposed to visit an open house tomorrow night for Fabio for a school/college for next year in Chicago. It would be nice if we could have one of her appointments at Northwestern for the same day as long as we are going to be in the city with the big shoulders anyway.

The alarm went off at the Matt In The Middle Crisis Management Center at about 2200. I slid down the pole and Cha Cha and I took Fabio to the Emergency Room at Kishwaukee Community Hospital. His throat was inflamed and bright red. They took a throat culture - initially it does not appear that it is strep throat. I called the school at 0100 and left a message on the machine that he would not be in on Monday (today). That way, if we were all able to sleep, we would not have to endure any alarms in the morning. Most of my crisis management involves preventative thinking. That is the awesome thing about being a worrier as I am - I always plan for the worst-case scenario and 98.6% of the time I am wrong - which is awesome! It is now 0900 and both patients are resting comfortably. Fabio is still very warm.

I just got done cleaning the kitchen. We finally ate most of the food that the neighbors had prepared for Fabio. Their pans, dishes, lids... are all in the dishwasher and they will be returned to them today or tomorrow. Lisa (of Lisa, Brian and Regina fame) brought us some more food yesterday. I invited her in and she declined - I cannot blame her since we seem to have our own leper colony up in this hizzy. I am thinking that today may just be a recuperation / lock-down day. It is raining pretty good out right now and that is a good day to try to sleep. I have a pretty severe headache but it is mainly in my Occipital Lobe or maybe in the lower portion of my Parietal Lobe which I diagnose as some kind of sinus pressure and it actually may be in the sinus ducts. I will probably get out the vaporizer. I am afraid I know what is going to happen. Counting today, I have seven days left before I will go back to work. Around day five this will turn-into a full-blown illness and I will be working sick. I am going over and get some Airborne and Zicam or something. As long as I am whining I think I have a cavity which may also be the reason for the headache.

Cha Cha will be making plenty of phone calls to plan our week of doctor visits. Maybe, with all of the doctor stuff we have been doing I can convince somebody to give me a little sumpen-sumpen for my maladies. As fate would have it her cell phone began ringing just as I typed that and, as a good P.A.B. (personal assistant and bodyguard) would do while his/her charge is resting, I answered the phone. It was one of her team of medical professionals (her gastroenterologist). I said she was resting and that I would not wake her and took the information for her to call them back. It is going to be a busy week and now it just began snowing like crazy - that makes sense.

That is way too much for today. I should change the name of the blog to Cha Cha In The Middle. Her life if far more interesting than mine right now. I guess they are one and the same though. Thanks a lot for continuing to stop by here and for your love and support of Cha Cha. I am tempted to blog again later today but I probably will not; if I do I will advise in the usual ways. TTT?...CCITM (out) TA! damn, I forgot to tell you the rose story again - I will begin writing tomorrow's blog now so I do not forget.

It Really IS Home Sweet Home!

See how similar Russell Crowe and I are? I use Heinz Ketchup too!

It is 0510 and I am awake. I turned on the television and there is a movie that just started on SundanceTV called Tenderness starring Russell Crowe. He is one of my favorite actors; he is a great actor and he chooses roles wisely. I missed the very beginning but, the synopsis says, "a detective investigates a violent teen who may have murdered his family." It seems a lot must have happened in the ten minutes I missed because Crowe was already visiting what I think must be said murderer in prison. Then they showed Russ (sometimes I call him Russ sometimes Rusty because that is the kind of relationship we have) sitting on the edge of what I believe is his wife's bed in a hospital. I instantly thought of Cha Cha and me over the past couple of weeks. I keep going upstairs and checking on her; I have discovered that I am an obsessive care-giver. That has it's place sometimes but I know when to back-off (I think), She has never known that I was there over the night because she is sleeping very well and quietly; I pretty much did the same thing thing when Splenda and Fabio were babies sleeping in their cribs/bassinets. I just watch that she is sleeping / breathing and pain-free and then I come back downstairs to the living room. I have an over-zealous protection instinct maybe. I guess that is good considering what I do for a living now. Hey, I think we rented this film about six years ago; it all seems very familiar. It is great getting older - you can enjoy the same movies and meet the same people all over again. Cha Cha and I already renewed our wedding vows once, in Hawaii, maybe soon she will marry me again (this time for the first time again). Hey, maybe when we go on our trip/cruise/whatever? We could start a reality show about marrying the same love of your life in every country around the world using their local traditions...

I think we (the royal we) may have turned the corner from MIDDLE-aged to whatever falls between that and old-age. Twilight? I remember seeing Cha Cha's grandfather Loren taking care of Mary Helen; what an inspiration. We were both the same kind of people (yes, he was an amazing, nice, smart, funny, caring, strikingly handsome man who loved his wife more than anything else in the world too). I take the "for better or worse" part of our vows very seriously. I guess it has been changed to "as long as you both shall live" though hasn't it? Fortunately, I have not seen much of "the worse." I consider these past few weeks, save for the few scary moments, as part of "the better" though because the scary/"worse" moments did lead to some of the great/"better" moments. I have been spending most of every moment of every day and every night at the side of my best friend and getting paid to do it (from my benefits at work). That's a lesson for you youngsters out there - don't burn your: sick time, comp time, vacation time... on stupid stuff because one day you may wish you had those hours for a meaningful purpose. We all have different thoughts of what our meaningful/special purposes are though, don't we? Use your hours doing whatever makes you happy.

I didn't write it
but I live it!

I tried to keep-up with the housework, the laundry, the dishes... over the past couple of weeks but I was not too successful. It isn't awful but it isn't great. I didn't want to mention those things when I was blogging while Cha Cha was in the hospital for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I didn't want Cha Cha to worry about that kind pf stupid stuff and I didn't want neighbors and family to try to talk me into letting them come in and do our laundry and stuff. The kitchen I was able to keep-up with on my touch-and-go's but I suppose it is mainly the laundry that I am speaking of. And, it was a little untidy - pretty much as you would imagine if a 17-year-old (almost 18 now, actually) and a needy two-year-old dog lived alone (hey, isn't that Sherman and Peabody?) I am on my fourth load of laundry so I will be all good by this afternoon.

I just let Peabody Jeff out in the backyard. I find it funny how how he runs immediately to the end of the house and jogs the perimeter of the fence. He's like a prison guard. No, border patrol - so that's why Border Collies and called Border Collies - Jeff was bred to keep our borders secure. He chases-off all the doves and tries to catch any rabbits that happen to be inside the fence (this side of the border). The rabbits are usually just ahead of him and make it under Mr. McGregor's fence where Jeff cannot fit. Good thing we don't have to have a briar patch.

I have lots of note that I wrote while driving (with a pen and paper not an electronic devise - I kept watching the road and the notes were not kept between the lines) from the FAR west and western suburbs to Chicago of tips that would make the drive easier for people. I think I will do them in a separate blog later today or tomorrow so you can print that one, if you are a victim of this pain. Maybe I should write a book or newspaper or magazine article about it? It is a pretty small audience that would be interested though. Maybe I should see if Far West Suburbs to Downtown Chicago Weekly would be interested.

I can get a few of the small notes from my notebook(s) out every here-and-there. Here are a couple:

While driving I saw a dude digging in his nose pretty good and I wrote, "whether we like to believe it or not we all pick our noses (even if it is just an "itch"). Who are we kidding? We are meant to pick our noses - why else are our fingers the perfect size to fit? Invent a receptacle to capture and recycle the refuse." 


"Driving clears my head just like blogging does."

Ha, now Tenderness is over and I just changed the channel and Cinderella Man is on HBO West. See, there's another way Rusty Crowe and I are alike - we re both hoverers today.

If I forget - remind me to tell you the story of the rose.

Have a great day. Enjoy your families and friends and football and shopping and just being with the people you like and love - even if that is just you. I won't blog again today. If I start blogging more than once a day again that means that we are back at Defcon 3 or worse; blog forbid. TTTT...MITM (out)

SORRY, I COULD HAVE POSTED THIS AN HOUR AGO BUT I STARTED TIDYING UP!

Now For a Little R & R (Rest and Reuperation)

Now you know why I'm Matt In The Middle and not Matt In The South

The Cha Cha updates will be slowing down but the blog will go on as usual. Cha Cha updates will continue but they will not be two or more times a day for now. I will just update about her when I write the blog, pretty much, daily. I think another load of Dirty Laundry Podcast will be recorded soon too. I will let her decide when she is ready. All it really requires on her part is to sit and talk to me for an hour; pretty much torture. I would bet dollars to donuts that we talk a lot about the last couple of weeks' escapades when we do record a new show. When I was young people always said "dollars to donuts" but I don't really understand what that means. Does the "donut" mean a literal donut or a zero? You know, like a "a big fat donut?" I understand that dollars are valuable and donuts aren't as valuable - is that what they meant? Then there's the goose egg...

So, Cha Cha is home. Over the next couple of weeks we had to see many different specialists. I am not sure what-all specialist we have have to see but Cha Cha was given a whole packet of people she needs to contact. She also needs to get the stent removed, eventually. They told us that we could either go to someone closer to us or we could go back to Northwestern. Cha Cha and I both said, in unison, "we will be coming back here." Many people told us that we should go to Northwestern all along but we thought we were fine. How wrong we were. Kishwaukee Community Hospital was the second best because, as soon as they saw they were out of their league and this was a bigger deal than they could handle they got her in an ambulance and shipped her out. It is so nice to have her sleeping upstairs in her own bed with no pain (she does have some pain meds though). 

I am so tired I can barely remember what else. I will probably have to tell you more about that tomorrow. I am so happy that I am off work until December 1st. I know, if I need to, I can file for an extension for more FMLA; I really sure hope it is not needed. I want Cha Cha at 100% again.

I must say that this whole thing has been life-changing. We have gone through issues with complications from her Crohn's Disease for the better part of the 30 years we have been together but this was different. This time she almost died. I seriously believe she almost died a couple of times over the past week. I cannot believe it is only 1957; it feels like it's 3AM (I must be lonely). I have always loved that song. I think I want to go to more concerts. Sorry, it's like I have blogging Tourette Syndrome or something. (I think the last big concert we went to was Matchbox Twenty and the Goo Goo Dolls at Ravinia with MADYM and Derek). That was a really good time. I am listening to that video I linked  up there for the third time right now. Can you tell I am tired? There was not even a segue between the life-changing talk / Cha Cha almost dying and talk about the concert we went to. 

I already told you about the cruise / trip that we are going to go on - we just have to figure out when and where we are going to go. My guess is it will be the Bahamas but, quite possible, a European river cruise. For some reason I want to see where I was born (Heidelberg, Germany). What is that about? Why do we feel the need/want to see where we were born? I am going to work on one of the many story ideas I have for novels (maybe I will work on it on the cruise ship or a beach?) I have extensive notes I have made for three or four different stories. Maybe I can combine them and be done already. Something always gets in the way of things but that is going to change. I am not going to sweat the small stuff anymore. We are both going to get healthy again. We are going to win the lottery (still trying to figure out how to accomplish that one)... 

See why I want to visit the motherland?

When we came home from the hospital it was like Cha Cha was returning from war or something. Kevin from across the street was on his porch clapping and waving. Lisa from across the street came out of her house and welcomed us home. There were balloons flying from our mailbox. Cha Cha is so popular and well-liked. I had a difficult time trying to keep-up trying to keep everybody informed which is why I turned the blog into Cha Cha Watch 2014. People from all walks of her and my lives wanted to know all about Cha Cha. You all were a huge part of her recovery. Thank you sooooo much. I still want to know how Kevin knew we were turning into the cul-de-sac. Was he on his porch for hours just waiting? Were we on radar like Santa Claus is every Christmas Eve? 

Wow, this got long quickly (TWSS). I have lots more to talk about Cha Cha and lots more to talk about the life-changing thing. I am too tired to keep blogging. I will blog more in the morning. Thanks a lot for stopping by; I really appreciate you. Sleep tight (not the drunk kind of tight). TTTT,,,MITM (out but quite a bit less stressed), Speaking of stress, now that this situation is better, both Fabio and I are getting sick. HA, that makes me sick and tired, TA!

Outta Here? That's What Doogie Says

I am back at Northwestern Hospital. Doogie Howser just came in to see how Cha Cha is doing. He was one of the radiologists during her procedure here. He seriously looked like he is about 17-years-old. They still have not told her whether or not she is going home today. Everybody who has come in here seems very pleased with her progress and... now she is on the phone with the doctor... hey, she is released. Now we have to wait for the discharge team (that doesn't sound very pleasant) to come and tell us what we do next. I sure hope we get out of here because, when I was driving home last night, they were setting up those metal bleachers along Michigan Avenue for the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival that is two blocks from here tonight. We will have to come back and meet with the liver specialists and she will have to have her stent removed. That is why my FMLA is approved until the last day of this month. It will be nice to not be driving here and back alone - Cha Cha is a great co-pilot. Doogie (his white coat read Dr. Brian something - it was long and started with a D. and it was long but it was stitched in cursive ) reaffirmed that all of the problems we have had for the past month were because they nicked the her liver and caused internal bleeding. From all of the medical dramas (Medical Center, Emergency!, M.A.S.H., Marcus Welby M.D...) that we watched as kids because "back in my day we only had three channels and we watched whatever was on..." I learned that internal bleeding was a terrible thing. I now know that a stabbed liver is a bad thing too.

We were also told that Cha Cha definitely had/has autoimmune hepatitis. That is not the bad one if there is such a thing as not having bad hepatitis. I told her, when we were serving together in Vietnam that she shouldn't trust those rust needle tattoos she got in Hanoi but she didn't listen. Not that I told her so but...

She is in the shower here in the bathroom of Room 1552 (her address for the past three or four days). If she gets out soon I may only have to pay $12 for parking or, at least, something less than the $44 last night. Today the parking garage was not as busy and I got to park on the 6th level which is Bing Crosby. So, I have been on Barbra Streisand, Billie Holliday, Louis Armstrong and now Bing. Maybe when we come back for her other things over the next few weeks we can park on a new musician/musical acts.

Cha Cha sent me down to the first floor of the mallportlibraratoriumcenter (ot whatever it is) to Starbuck's to get her a "non-fat, no whip, venti, Chai Tea Latte." While in the elevator I typed it into the "notes APP" on my phone because I knew I would have forgotten one on those things before I got there. So, I stepped right up and read it from my phone telling the barista dude that I am not a coffee drinker so I have to read it to get it right. He then told me that the Chai Tea Latte doesn't have whip. I asked, "what is whip? does that mean that it is whipped with a blender or something?" He told me that it just means whipped cream. I am not near as whip hip as I thought I was. But, I got it back here and it was what she wanted. She let me taste it and it tastes like a cinnamon bun.

If we every do get out of here I will not miss all of the sirens all the time. Well, until I get back to work and hear sirens all the time. The ambulance ER drop-off must be just 14 floors right below Cha Cha's window. Cha Cha just told me that when she arrived here in the ambulance and got taken into the ER (I don't have to tell you that ER is Emergency Room do I? Opps I guess I just did) she kept her eyes closed tightly because she knew there some bad things going-on in there.

It is 1157 now and I will wrap-up and, hopefully, will blog from home nest time. Have a great rest of your day and night. I will be blogging from my personal hospital recovery room in Dekalb. Thank you, again for everything you have done, said, texted, posted, prayed about... We really appreciate you very much. TTTlater today...MITM (out) TA!

90%, of Recovery is Half Mental

It was nice sleeping in my own bed last night. I slept fairly well and got about six hours of sleep. I think Jeff (our Border Collie if you are unfamiliar) is a little lonely. Just like me, Cha Cha is his favorite person. Jeff slept in the bed with me. He's not too bad. Occasionally, he'd lie across my chest and I would pet him and then turn on my side and he'd lie back down.

No MATTer what our homes are: house, apartment, car, refrigerator box, mansion, boat, airport, hotel, hospital... there is no place like home; L. Frank Baum knew what he was talking about when he made that the main theme of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Incidentally, he wrote the The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the same city that Cha Cha is right now. He wrote the story in the Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago. There have been a lot of great and/or well-known writers who have come out of the Chicagoland area (Baum was not "from" Chicago but lived here when he wrote one of the most famous stories of all time): Edgar Rice Burroughs, Matt In The Middle, Roger Ebert, Michael Crichton, John Chancellor, Ann Landers, Carl Sandburg, Gary Gygax, Ernest Hemingway, Mike Royko, Ben Hecht Ray Bradbury, Larry Gelbart...

The best part of home last night was the shower I took before bed. It is funny how we can take the simple things for granted. That is why sometimes people take me for granted I think.

I spoke (actually the more intimate form of communication - texted) Cha Cha and the nurses tell her that the roads are very icy. It is rainy (moisture) and a bit foggy (moisture) and cold so it makes sense that there would be ice on the roads. Fortunately, to get to Cha Cha I am mainly on 290/88 and then take The Magnificent Mile (Michigan Avenue) all the way to her hospital (save for getting to the tollway and the two blocks from Michigan Avenue to the hospital. The tollway is almost always one of the first things salted so I will be fine. I will probably wait and leave here at 0830 or so. We are still 90% certain she will be getting out of the hospital today. We will have to go back sometime later within the week for her to get her stent out. We already told them that want to go back to Northwestern to get that done. We don't really trust our horse doctors much anymore.

The Magnificent Mile when I left The Magnificent Cha Cha last night

I am pretty sure that I will take tonight off work again (I am approved to take off work via my "continuous FMLA" to help Cha Cha at home and, as it turns out I fear, for me to get better too) and maybe the rest of the month. Once she started feeling better it was like someone slapped me in the face with a shovel; I have flu-like symptoms and am exhausted. Adrenaline is an amazing thing. We can go non-stop but, once the fight-or-flight instinct is no longer a requirement, we eventually crash. Before you start thinking, "you need to eat" as I have heard quite a bit over the past couple of weeks, I just had two mozzarella cheese sticks and some cracked pepper turkey breast. Jeff helped me a little.

Last night, as I left the hospital for the parking garage across the skyway bridge deal, I wondered how much the parking would be. The previous night it had been reduced from $52 to $24 because I was visiting a patient and got the parking ticket validated or whatever they did to it. The $52 amount is charged if you are parked between seven and 24 hours. So, since I was parked for about 34 hours I was curious how bad they would rape me. It was $48. So, just to park we have paid $68 and whatever I have to pay today. That seems kind of like ambulance chasing to me (pun intended).

I still have lots of notes from my travels but I just felt like clearing my mind here this morning. Those notes will come when Cha Cha is home (hopefully very, very soon). I am gonna take another shower and head east. Thanks a lot for continuing to think about Cha Cha - she still needs out positive energy. Even though the big, bad parts appear to be over for now she still has lots of healing and a few more procedures to endure.You have been a HUGE part in her recovery. Ninety percent of recovery is half mental. Sincerely, thank you all of you for everything. MITM (out and hopefully home with Cha Cha very soon) TA!

Taking a Stroll on the 15th Floor

Don't tell Cha Cha but he died here at 50 years old

Cha Cha is doing very well. She ate real food for lunch and is doing good. It is 1703 now so dinner may be coming for her soon. The guy who is doing her vitals now just stopped-by. His name is Marcell (even though spell-check is giving me the red squiggles it is spelled correctly because he wrote it on the big wipe-board at the foot of Cha Cha's bed. Anyway, we started talking because he is shy just like Cha Cha and I are. Some how Bernie Mac came up and we found out that he died right here in this room (I swear that come up in our discussion). Maybe we could do the podcast here tomorrow and see if we can get his voice on the show. Cha Cha thinks the hospital would not like us recording Dirty Laundry Podcast here. Why? Marcell went on to tell us all of the people he has met in the 18 months here has been there. He has met Mayor Rahm Emanuel. It sounds like the Secret Service comes and does sweeps occasionally since POTUS comes to town every now and then since his home is here. He talked about some baseball player that used to be a Chicago Cub and "played shortstop" but Marcell is not a baseball fan and then said, "his nickname is Mr. Cub." I said, "you mean Ernie Banks?" Marcell said, "yeah, that's his name." He named some other people that I didn't know (rappers...). It makes sense since this is a big city so I suppose there have been lots of people we all know here. I wonder if the Secret Service gets to use the staff elevators and ride with doctors like I get to because I do what ever the hell I want to do. Thanks Obama!

She will definitely have to have the stent removed but they are going to keep an eye on her blood count all night tonight and then make the decision in the morning. I will head home tonight and come back in the morning. My guess is she will not going to come home too early. With my FMLA being approved until the end of the month I know I will continue to use some of my vacation days to take care of Cha Cha and getting myself back to normal. Now that I am not in charge of Cha Cha's health monitoring I will be sick and exhausted. I have been parked in the lot across the street for over 24 hours. I am curious how much the bill will be for this one. When I got here yesterday morning I had to drive all the way to the top (Louis Armstrong) but that was literally on the top and it was outside so I went down to Billie Holliday so, if it snowed, I would not have to clear off the snow.

Two of the greats have watched over my car for about 20 hours

Cha Cha told me that, while she was out with the morphine one of the many times, she dreamt about bubbles and cake. She also said she had a dream about her Great Grandma Rich. I never met her because she was gone before Cha Cha and I met. Morphine should be legalized.

I am gonna end. I still have lots of notes about non-medical-related items that I have been thing about and maybe I will finally get to some of that stuff tomorrow. I may take a little nap before I leave here. I am planning on heading back about 2100. The traffic should be died-down by then. Thanks a lot for stopping-by. If you are new to the blog because of Cha Cha's health reporting I hope you stick around after she gets her parole. I hope you have a great night. Thanks again for all all of your thoughts and encouragement and prayers and meditating for Cha Cha and I. I don't know if I would have made it without you. TTTT...MITM (out) TA!

Chameleon in the Middle

I can get anywhere, anytime - I'm a chameleon 

Before I forget for the tenth time, I will let you know about my escapade of finding Cha Cha's room after the ambulance brought her here and I came later I think that was Wednesday. Remember, this place is hugemongous (it's not just huge and it's not just humongous) which is why I coined the term airmallportspital in one of Wednesday's blogs. Anyway, I walked-in and had no idea where to go so I just went anyway. I have always known that if you look like you are supposed to be somewhere nobody will question that you do belong there. So, I got in a Staff Elevator on the second floor of the hospital. There were only 13 buttons of floors I could choose from. Of course, I chose 13. When I arrived on 13 I found a different elevator and traveled up the next two floors. The stairs required me to have to use a Prox Card but, since I was just pretending to be staff, I did not have one of those. I did see one later on someone's coat and, had I been so inclined, I could have me one of those now. I guess I do sort of this thing for a living so??? I didn't learn until I went back down to eat that I was probably the best mole/spy this hospital has ever not seen. They give the card out on the first floor and the second floor and there is someone at a desk by the elevators on all other 13 floors to make sure you have your badge yet, I made it to Cha Cha's room without contact with one person. My services are for hire if you need my very special set of skills.

It is now 1102 and Cha Cha is sleeping very well. Of course, they keep coming in and checking on her (vitals, weight, turn off the beeping IV...). Supposedly, rest and apples are the best medicines but she doesn't get much of either. She is better than I am - I would say that I was in pain so I could get some more morphine just to sleep. She is in a bit of discomfort but, compared to what she has endured over the last two weeks, this is nothing apparently. The last time she had pain medicine was 2255 last night. We still haven't heard when she will be getting her stent out. I hope they give us some warning so, if we are going to leave today and come back later, I would like to start getting her stuff together; that is what a good PA does. We don't have much here but I need a task. I noticed last night, when I wasn't on-duty as Cha Cha's consigliere (though I am always on call), I was getting really tired and I was feeling a bit run-down. I will probably be sick for awhile after we are done with this ordeal. Maybe I will be using all of my "continuous FMLA" through November 30th just for me to get well. I will have a lot of the last part of December off too because we go down to minimum staffing and my seniority that I will probably be above the Mendoza Line and will be able to be off.

Don't tell Cha Cha but I think I am going to throw down a couple of duckets for tickets to I Love Lucy On Stage. When I was getting her stuff at Marshall's and Walgreen's yesterday, while she was in surgery, I walked-by the Bank of America Theater and saw that it is playing there. She was always a big fan of Lucy and I know she would like this. I am off Friday nights and I see they have tickets available for one of the Friday nights while the show is here.  I would go now but I know as soon as I do the doctors will walk-in and I will be gone.

Mum's the word!

Maybe I will take a nap in this chair. It only partially reclines because people were stupid and couldn't figure out how to use the recliners so they had the foot parts that are supposed to go up incapacitated. Who doesn't know how a recliner works. I got the story though. If you need intel or to be snuck into someplace just let me know. If Cha Cha were more daring we'f be able to get into I Love Lucy for free dressed as dancers at the Tropicana (I assume they will have scenes there); maybe I should do my homework first. Prep is about 80% in my line of work.

Okay, I am just rambling now. I will blog again later today/tonight either with news about Sleeping Cha Cha or just some notes from my many pages of blog note. One day we will be getting back to Dirty Laundry Podcast I hope. TTT?...MITM (out)... maybe I will just take that nap. TA!

And the Medical Blog Goes On

Why is the ambulance inside? Damn Fisher Price hospital staff

It is 0501 and Cha Cha and I are both awake. She is in a little pain discomfort but she has not had any morphine since 2255 and she is going to try, for now at least, to go without it. We still do not have word if they have room for her at the inn (surgery) or she will have to wait until tomorrow (Saturday). I was extremely tired last night so I stayed here at the hospital. Cha Cha told me to go get a hotel (there is even a Doubletree about two blocks from here where we stayed with the kids one summer when we came down for a weekend) but I didn't want to because if I am gonna stay down here I gotta be with my baby. So, I slept on this couchy thing that was really uncomfortable. Picture a prison cot (still better than her previous hospital - KCH was nice though but that was close to home where I could be back in five minutes). I would rather have a backache and be sleepy than sit through that traffic again. Jill's former boss lives near here and she offered me a room for as many nights as I wanted/needed but I have a problem feeling like I am an imposition. I know that is silly and, when we do similar things for people, I do not feel like they're imposing so I am not sure where that comes from in me. I know it even makes people feel good that they could help but I would rather risk falling asleep at the wheel or having a backache for a week than impose on someone - I have problems.

I was just in the bathroom and I saw myself in the mirror. I don't have any disillusion that I am a good-looking guy but I look worse than usual. I have bags under my red eyes and I just look tired.

Last night and tonight are my normal weekend nights off. Then, tomorrow night, I may or may not go to work depending on whether she is out of here Saturday or Sunday. I may take Saturday night off even if she gets out on Saturday because most places don't discharge you early but maybe Northwestern is different. They actually had Jill in surgery yesterday before I even got here. Most hospitals we have been to don't do anything until afternoon. Many people said this hospital is not like any other hospital and now we know what they are talking about. If I need to go the the ER I may even tough-it-out and get driven here. I could deal with the pain for a little longer to get better quicker. Since she is doing better and not in pain I really hope that they keep her here until Sunday. I could use one day to get caught-up on my rest for one night.

T.J., Luca, Hondo, Deacon and Street

Another thing we like about this hospital is that they have Starz and Encore on the television. Really, entertainment to keep the patients' minds off of their pain? What a novel approach. We just got done watching S.W.A.T.. It is a fun movie (kind of like comfort food for we MIDDLES). At the end the truck driver looked like Hondo (not the new Samuel L. Jackson but the old Steve Forrest from the television series). I had to IMDB is and yes, it was Steve Forrest. I did some more digging and discovered that S.W.A.T. was only on from 1975-1976. That was a huge surprise to me. We played S.W.A.T. as kids all the time and it was on for only one season. Now I have to check how long Emergency! and Adam-12 were on, Emergency! from 1972-1979 and Adam-12 from 1968-1975.

Cha Cha is sleeping again which makes me happy. Not that I do not like her company but she has fought so hard for a couple of weeks (actually off-and-on for 30 or so years) and she will still need her strength to get well. Her guts probably look like that stuff you pull out of a pumpkin before you carve it. We sure had an emotional reunion when she got back from surgery yesterday. It was like one of those movie romance movie ones. Now she is sleeping and I am just watching her sleep - it is such a relief that she is relatively pain-free. I just checked my work emails and I see that my FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) has been approved for "continuous" coverage until 11/30/14. So, I guess I am off until the end of the month so I can help Cha Cha when she gets home. She will definitely need the help. She is still very weak and won't be able to do much.

A fistula - not THE fistula

Two different doctors just came in (one about what is going on and one about what went on in the operating room yesterday). It was confirmed that there was a fistula that was caused by the liver biopsy a couple of weeks ago. They still have to remove the stent and they are waiting to see how today goes with their current schedule and she may be able to be fit in today or tomorrow or she may be sent home and have to have the stent removed somewhere else or here later (maybe next week). I told the doctor that if we have to have it done later it would definitely be done here. The doctor also said that the fistula that caused all of this problem was undoubtedly caused by the liver biopsy fiasco (I paraphrased with the fiasco part). So, right now, she is back on nothing by mouth - not even ice chips - until they know if they will be working on her again today.

It looks like I will be blogging from here at least for another day. Thank you everyone for all of your love and support. Even just your reading the blog has helped me because, knowing that so many people are reading it because of their love of Jill and I, has given me something to do to occupy my time and not fret so much. So, I will let you know what we know when we know it. In the meantime - be well! TTTLater Today...MITM (out). TA! The main doctor just walked-in (later tater)

Where's Cha Cha?

It is 1134 and the love of my life is somewhere in this humongous building surrounded by strangers getting a blood transfusion due to the surgery she had been having this morning. It is such a helpless feeling. I know everything will be alright but, in the meantime, I just have to sit and wait. I thought that this whole ordeal had been going-on for a week but, as Splenda pointed-out, it has been two weeks ago today that the fuse was lit for this (insert whatever word you find fitting here).

Lots of people are worrying about me but please do not. I am fine. Use whatever positive energy that you have and aim it at Cha Cha (prayers, juju, thoughts...).

It has been about two or three hours since I wrote those two paragraphs up there because Cha Cha came back and I have been helping and hugging and smooching with her. She seems great. She has a bit of pain in her back (more like stiffness) and is getting some medication for that.

She did not have the transfusion after-all. I think the nurse thought that, since she told me that, but they were doing an angioplasty. I know a lot about what that is now but I will not bore you with something that you can Google. So, later they will probably have to do a blood transfusion but it sounds like that will be done right here in her room if necessary.

Baby Cha Chica seems to have been pulled from the well

She just hit the nurse's call button to try to get some pain medicine. Her back is hurting a bit and there is some discomfort up by her liver area again. She had some medicine at 1345 and she can only have it every two hours. Nobody ever told us how often she could have it but now we know. It is morphine again. I think they are getting tired of my "help" which means I am doing my duty. When they transferred Cha Cha from the operating room bed to her room bed here the pad she was lying on was clogging-up the whole deal and they needed my help to hold the pad. I am going to continue to do what I think is right. I rarely overstep my bounds. I came close on November 6th but I restrained myself right on the edge of the precipice. If you need to catch-up on all of this nonsense I would start with that day, or maybe a day or two before. Get you popcorn and favorite beverage ready first.

The doctor and nurse were just in (1400ish). It sounds like Cha Cha's blood is starting to look better and maybe no transfusion. The blood is regenerating itself like it is supposed to do. We are always ready for whatever curve ball could come but it looks like all of the good vibes from you have helped - THANK YOU!!! They still want to take out the stent and it looks like they have lots of things scheduled in the O.R. so that may not be until Saturday. The doctor will advise us on that later. Cha Cha has become like Baby Jessica (that little girl who fell down the well and was there for almost three days when we MIDDLES were younger). Everybody rallied around her, just like you did with Baby Cha Chicca, and it appears that she has been pulled from her well too.

Prepare Cha Cha with 3-in-1 oil, gauze pads & I will need 10 quarts of antifreeze...

A lot of people have been talking about how we should lawyer-up and the like. We are not people who typically think about or do that sort of thing. We will see what kind of bills we get and what the insurance company is going to do but, I agree we should not see any bills. It's like you take your plane (Cha Cha) in for a tune-up and Gordon Liddy tells you,"hey, you need a Fetzer valve..." But, when they replace the Fetzer valve your Ipswitch clamp goes out and you have to go somewhere else to get that fixed. The first plane mechanic would, in most cases if he was incapable or equipped to fix it, pay for that repair. We shall see what happens. Talk about creating your own business.

Tomorrow I think (and hope) I will be able to get back to writing about everything MIDDLE in America. I have a feeling, because of Cha Cha's huge fan club, I may have some new followers to the blog. That would be great; the more people I can make smile or think once in awhile the more that I will smile and think too. I will probably still have quite a few doctor things to blog about before we get out of here though too I imagine. Maybe I can start crossing-off some of the many notes I have in my notebooks too in a day or two. Thanks a lot for helping Cha Cha and I through this difficult journey so far - you were all a tremendous help. Whatever does not kill us makes us stronger! TTTT...MITM (relieved a bit and out) TA!