I'll probably go in for a few hours and try to get some cataloging done in the silence. However, I intend to sleep as late as possible in the morning.
Sparky's spending the night at Z's tomorrow night. Beast and I are taking the opportunity to celebrate our anniversary eve at a nice hotel.
I don't think I mentioned that my sister Jean had her brain surgery last month:
June 4--from my niece Rosellen: A quick note because I just spoke to Dad - Mum had her brain op this morning - all went fine and she was "perky" and eating cake when Dad called. They kept her awake for the whole thing - eek!So that's all good.
No doubt Dad will give you more details sometime soon. I think she gets the rest of today to recover then tomorrow they do tests connecting the electrodes to see if it has any effect.- - - - - -
June 5--from Reg: Just a quick follow-up from [Rosellen]'s email. I'm just about to go to the hospital again (11 am Thursday).
There seem to have been some improvements to her general Parkinson's symptoms although her speech is still pretty bad - I had trouble understanding her on the phone. She is eating well - a good sign. She has been seen by the surgeon and his entourage today already (they are such a great team!) and I expect that they will now be doing small adjustments to the stimulation and monitoring the effects. This will occur over the next six days and if things look good they will implant the permanent stimulator next Wednesday. We should then be able to return home that weekend (14th or 15th).
I'll keep you posted as I am able to connect to [their friend]'s broadband modem (where I am staying). And you can send any questions or messages to [Jean]!- - - - - -
June 10: [Jean] speaking, [Reg] typing (and prohibited from editing). [Reg] has told you all the facts, now I get to do the feeling part.
I feel better just for having had the operation in ways I can't tell you. It is just like being back to the condition I was in six months ago. So it has given me back a little part of my life I lost. I was starting recently to find the meds would wear off and I would freeze. I no longer freeze and I have confidence to get out of bed in the morning knowing that I can make my own way to the bathroom without waiting for the meds to kick in. I seem to be straighter and until today I was drooling less. Now my brain is in the ricochet position of an injured brain which will gradually settle down. I shall come back in six weeks to be fine-tuned. I have a "therapeutic" setting which is at a low level while the the brain heals.
Being in hospital has been an interesting experience. Nowhere else do you get treated like a 5-year old child so consistently but it is all well meant so you can't do anything about it. The nursing and the doctoring are essentially very good but ... I guess I like to be my own person. At 58 I have little tolerance for other people's foibles. But I have to go with the flow. We are on the home stretch now. Tomorrow afternoon they will be implanting the stimulator in to the tummy area where they is some fat - there is very little around my collar bone!
I have been eating well but the food is stodgy. I might be able to go home as early as Friday afternoon. [Rosellen] and [Marguerite] are going to be at home from Friday to get the place ready for us to come back to. ([Marguerite], change the bed clothes in the little room for yourself! The manual for the new washing machine is in the kitchen! But it is dead easy to use.)- - - - - -
June 12: It might look like this email is only going to you, but actually it is going to a very long list of people from a number of areas of [Jean]'s life. But I've sent you all a 'BCC' ('Blind Carbon Copy') email because of anyone who is not fully happy about their email address going all round the world! But the long list serves to emphasise how many friends [Jean] has and how grateful we have been for your concern over the last ten days. [Jean] has gratefully received so many messages of support and encouragement.
But tomorrow (Friday afternoon) [Jean] will be discharged and will return [home] with a bit of electronic gadgetry embedded in her abdomen which will keep kicking her two copies of the internal Globus Pallidus to suppress their over-excitation! In about five weeks time she will return to have the stimulator tuned to optimise its effect. It definitely has an effect as evidenced by a deterioration in her state while it was switched off for a day following its implantation. Now, on a low setting, it is reducing the PD stiffness and enabling her to keep herself more, but not fully, upright. We hope that over time and with careful tuning of the stimulator that the camptocormia will be much reduced - it could take six months or more - if the the initial promise is fulfilled. [Jean] feels right now, however, that a good six months of deterioration has been reversed - at the flip of a switch, as it were.
Please continue to send your messages. It might be a little while before we send another update.
Meanwhile, my mom fell--again--and whacked her head last week.
There are things going on in other areas of the family that are equally up-in-the-air. I won't get into them, but the vortex continues to swirl.
Consequently, I am trying my best to eliminate external fripperies that are likely to piss me the fuck off again--as I was all winter and spring...and early summer. It's proving remarkably difficult, and yet relatively simple as well. I'm not quite as good at ruthlessness as I could be, but I'm improving.
Urban Word:
DFL: dead fuckin last, as in a sporting event or race. or anything else you can get last in.
Any time things get rearranged and reprioritized, someone has to end up DFL. My apologies to whoever, or whatever, that is.
May your own peaceful life bring greater peace to the Earth,
and humble tranquillity inspire your words.
Grace comes to us as an unmerited favor. Be all ways gracious and you will be all ways favored.
Play and consider.
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