The Adoration of the Christ Child

The Adoration of the Christ Child
See if you can spot why I like this image

Everything in its Right Place

A blog about disability, life, parenting, and learning what it means to live well in this world.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Monday morning

I've been reading a book called The Winter of our Disconnect by Susan Maushart, a journalist living in Australia who tried an "Experiment" with her three teenage children--giving up all media for six months (and all electricity for two weeks at the start as "boot camp"!) It's a great, very enjoyable read and an illuminating look at how dependent our culture has become on our iThings to live our iLives. I totally get that.

Then over the weekend I went and bought a Netbook and printer. And yesterday I sent off my HTC smartphone to be fixed and promptly felt the sting of being disconnected. What an irony!

However, being consigned to the hospital for hours and days on end has a funny effect on one's productivity and social input. I'm more fond of BBC news than I thought, more chatty with the nurses than I was before, and convinced that I will "get stuff done" with a computer in the room. Really, I'm just lonely and being stuck with my own thoughts and worries for too long is not healthy. I'll admit it makes me feel better to have "access", and I've told myself that I can do more blog updates while I'm stuck there (oh, yeah, and some work too!)...you know, Adam as my muse and all that.

As of Sunday at 5pm he was looking better--still had a fever but it did not go as high, and his neutrophils have climbed to the dizzying heights of 0.3!! Keep in mind, this IS an improvement! He seemed in better spirits, wanted to sit and watch the lifts (elevators), walked with sister and I to the play area, asked for Mr Tumble...in general he seemed as close to how he was at the beginning of any time in the last 4 weeks. What joy!!

Having said that, when I gave him a bath I saw all of his war-wounds: the port site, still the subject of much discussion and speculation, the red lumps where he's getting his heparin injections, the many track marks of blood-letting, the bruises, the tiny, skinny legs and arms and bloated belly, and of course--and most distressingly--the hair coming out in fistfulls. You can now see more scalp than hair--but it's a cute scalp for sure!

All this is par for the course, and again we press on. I am ever hopeful that the docs might let him home for a couple of days soon. A lot will depend on how things go with the port this week, and of course I'll keep you posted. AS it happens :)

1 comment:

Jana Bennett said...

I read the Winter of our Disconnect recently too! I really admired her doing that with teenagers, especially, but I was very interested in the fact that the one daughter did so much better with - gasp - sleep!

Even though I don't have daughters that age yet, I'm reflecting pretty heavily on how we might use technology well...

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