zen.org Communal Weblog

Yesterday Elana and I tried doing a video chat with Skype, curious if the hospital’s wireless would work with it.  Bingo!  It was perfect.  I got to see my house for the first time in weeks, and, more importantly, she could bring her laptop upstairs and we got to surprise the boys.  Had a nice sit-down (if brief) chat with Eoin, who explained his work at school was “easy-peasy lemon squeezy”.

Patrick was able to show me both the Lego car he’s building (from a kit sent by our great friends David & Margaret) which I’d not yet seen, but I also got to see (after an initial picture) the great result of a wood-working class: Patrick’s name spelled using carved and varnished (I think) pieces of wood for each letter.  E and I got to talk for a little while, this time with our livingroom as the background.  What a treat!  This also tells us that we’ll be able to use this instead of texting or worrying about consuming our mobile phone minutes, separate from the great time when E’s in visiting.

Headaches

I spent time on the laptop this morning, as well as reading some of my book (cheesy “Nicky Heat” derived from the Castle TV show, but I’m enjoying it) and doing a Sudoku puzzle in our puzzle book.  That strained my eyes a bit, I think, giving me a headache which held on for a little while.  I got a pain killer, but not paracetamol—aka Tylenol—because they want to separate soling the pain from anything related to having a fever.  If I got a fever (fingers crossed it’s been a good week at least since my last one), they wouldn’t know until the paracetamol wore off—thus, the basic pain-killer.

I’m an Innocent Pepper

As advertised in Elana’s picture of me of a couple of days ago , I’m a long-time fan of Dr Pepper, a soda which tastes nothing like Cherry C0ke.  This afternoon I’m enjoying a bottle which Elana got me a few days ago.  The idea of caffeine helping to increase white cell generation is one motivation.  Ironically, either I’ve now been without the soda for a while or they’re messing with the formula.  Boy does it taste different.  Doesn’t mean I’ll ever give it up, just that it may take a while to get the “normal” flavor back.  Regardless, I spend most of the day drinking water.  This is a big treat.

Actually, today I’ve had two—Elana brought in an Innocent smoothie, which was heavenly.  My subconscious is saying it’s interested in alternatives to plain water.  (Shock.)

No Tubes, Baby

I’ve been unhooked all day today.  No fluids, no antibiotics, no platelets (today, anyway), no blood transfusion, nothing.  My blood pressure, oxygen level, pulse, and temperature have all behaved well over a good few days, which is also encouraging.

I was told by the doctor this morning that the urge to get the white cell count to go up so I can get out, even for a bit, is expected.  People not feeling well don’t have the inclination to get away; people feeling well remember there’s a world outside of this hospital ward.

I’m waiting patiently to meet that world again.  It’ll be worth the wait.