Cha Cha is Back in the News and the MITM Blog Team Was on the Scene!

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Yesterday, as previously reported, Cha Cha had another doctor's appointment at the Northwestern Medical complex. The drive in to Chicago was nice and the traffic was very light. Her appointment was set for 1100 and we arrived a little after 1000. I am a person who LOVES to arrive early for just about everything; my love, however, is usually scorned. Yesterday was a perfect reason why I try to be early everywhere I go (at least when I go alone). This most recent visit was like an episode of Where's Waldo but it was Where is Dr. McGee's Physician's Assistant (that was who Jill met with)? We were first sent to the 21st floor of the Galter Pavilion where we discovered that we were in the Cancer area and then they sent us down to the 17th floor but the person there said she was over in the Arkes Family Pavilion today so we crossed the bridge and found where we were supposed to be. Most of our time here over the past couple of months was spent at the Feinberg Pavilion but we didn't even enter there this time. So Jill met with Megan (the PA) and she is released to go back to work Monday.

I think I mentioned awhile back that the last time we were in to Northwestern Jill asked them what they ever heard about the liver biopsy from Rush Copley Hospital in Aurora that started this wild ride. They found out that Rush Copley had sent the biopsy to Rush University in Chicago to try to interpret the results. Jill asked about it again yesterday and they had not heard back from Rush; imagine that! By the time we got half-way home the information was on Jill's MyChart. I was not even familiar with MyChart until this whole thing began but, apparently, Jill has been using it for a long time. It is a hub whereby you can see just about everything they will allow you to know about your health and appointments. It appears that she has fibrosis. We are not sure if she ever even had auto-immune hepatitis. MyChart needs to include a glossary I think. It seems, from what we can surmise, like she may have NASH which is Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis. Where are Crosby, Nash and Young? The good part is that the reports use words like "minor" and "moderate" a lot. In summation, we are not really sure what Jill has or what she had and neither is anybody else. We all know that she is doing better and she is alive and I guess, bottom line, that is the ultimate goal we all have every day. Also, we know that they finally removed the bad section of her intestines that we have wanted out of her for about 30 years.

We love Jeff Swanson Helser (our Border Collie) very much but he has one trait about him that we really dislike. If you sneeze within his earshot he will charge you and get all up in your grill. When Splenda was home she looked it up on the interweb and found that primarily herding dogs do this. I was happy to hear that is is not just something psycho about Jeff. I have found lots of different theories for why this happens. If you are gonna sneeze in our house I would excuse yourself to the washroom and close the door if you have time. He will not hurt you but he will run at you full speed to make sure you're okay. Maybe it his way of saying gesundheit? They used to say when you sneezed you were releasing demons. That is why people say "bless you." Maybe this is just Jeff delivering his blessing? It is really annoying though. Ironically (actually it just coincidence not irony) Jill sneezed and Jeff charged her.

When we went into the hospital yesterday we listened to WLS instead of WLUP. Jill doesn't like The Loop. I prefer LUP but WLS was fine too. I also decided to take Lower Wacker Drive yesterday - mixin'-it-up. I had taken Wacker several times over the past couple of months but this time I noticed how clean it is down there. I remember back in the day when it was scary dirty. Maybe they had to clean it up when The Dark Knight and Batman Begins filmed down there? It was still filthy for Jake and Ellwood. It used to be where all of the vagrants stayed. This was is much better.

When we were on the cancer floor of the hospital yesterday we saw something about Gilda's Club. As you have probably assumed it named for comedian and original Saturday Night Live cast member Gilda Radner who died of ovarian cancer in 1989. Shortly thereafter her husband, Gene Wilder, and some of her close friends started Gilda's Club in New York City as a support all people impacted by cancer. What a great legacy to have; it is nice when something good comes from tragedies and sadness. I think Jill and I are a lot like Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner; just replace cancer for Crohn's Disease. Wilder and I are both strikingly handsome and both kinda quirky. Jill and Gilda are both funny ladies with great taste in men who support them in their illnesses. Jill is convinced that she will only be on this planet another five years or so; that puts the pressure on me to get her Crohn's Disease or Gastrointestinal support group together. Gilda had the red door and I just told Jill I am starting to work on her foundation. She said her favorite colors are red and dark pink so, as to not cause any confusion I think we will go with duty rose for the color of Jill's foundation doors. The reason I say "dusty rose" is that was the color of our bridesmaids' dresses. Actually they were kind of a mid-pink. I am so MATTrosexual. I will stop by the paint store and set some color samples so I can get the ball rolling on this.

I have blogged-on long enough. I do not think I am going to blog tomorrow. I may go back to week days only since I am going back to work tonight. We'll see if this "going back to work" lasts longer than one night like Tuesday's "going back to work" went. Thanks a lot for stopping by - I do appreciate you every day (even tomorrow when I will not blog). TTTMonday...MITM (out) TA!