Thursday, September 23, 2010

Tanka Status Update - 23 September 2010

[Note: I started writing this post about two weeks into "the incident", but didn't post it - this makes up the first part of this post.  Jess has got a lot better since, but all of us - her specialist, the nursing staff, her family, Jess and me - all had doubts at one time or another as to whether she'd really come out of this as she was before it began.  Now I can say with some assurity that she will be back to what passes for normal in our pocket universe in a matter of weeks.  She's still in hospital, but should be home again in terms of weeks rather than months.]


Haiku Status Update - 27 July 2010

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A sudden start wakes
her from her troubled sleep, her
parody of death
-----

After thinking about it for a few days, I'm going to pursue the subject of my wife's current convalencence.  She's a very private person and for years she wouldn't talk about her condition to anyone.  That's been changing in the last few years, with close friends and immediate colleagues being brought into our little circle of knowing.  I wasn't going to write anything, but then I thought, what's the harm? Nobody we know will read it anyway.

Well, I'm not going to talk in specifics, but surfice it to say, she has a chronic condition that flares up every so often.  In the past it's taken her a couple of weeks to get over it, with a couple of days loss of some functionality (i.e walking with a limp, unable to write by hand).  This would happen every couple of years, annoy the hell out of her, and pass.

This time is different.  it's hard to describe without betraying a confidence, but this incident has laid Jess low.  It's robbed her of her ability to move around independently and to speak.  The simple act of swallowing is denied her. She has an I/V drip and a feeding tube, and the worst part is she's still in there, a little groggy from the veritable pharmacopia she's being fed, but alert, thoughtful and - when she can make herself understood - wise-cracking, trying to cheer up those around her.  Jess's prognosis is good, but it's impossible to stay 100% positive 100% of the time.  Doubts creep in during the quiet times - mostly in the medical profession

This, I guess, is why they make you take vows when you get married.  I wonder how many people ever really think about what they're committing to.


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Tanka Status Update - 23 September 2010

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Freedom -to one who
misplace theirs - comes to take
a narrow focus:
the ability to walk,
to pour a glass of water
-----

Jess is up and around again, albeit with some assistance.  She started to regain her speech and facility to swallow about four weeks or so from the beginning.  Now she's eating pizza and insisting I bring dessert when I visit after work (although she says the dessert jag will end when she gets out of hospital).

I'm looking forward to getting back to normal again.  Jess is looking forward to getting back to work.  We're both looking forward to having some time together, alone.