Two weeks, a few days and still napping

I did errands today, riding all over town, one end to the other doing things that I have been trying to get done for what seems like a long time. Just tasks which have come up since the transplant and not urgent and so pushed aside. I also returned the extender toilet seat and shower seat that I bought at the urging of David's nurse and OT. Apparently I do have a super husband and he is fine to stand and sit like the rest of us.

David is tired. He has been sleeping in huge gulps of sleep -- most of the night and long deep naps during the day. He is picking up the New Yorker and rummaged through the pile of books that friends have sent. His concentration is returning. His pills, insulin (transplant patients who take steroids for anti-rejection meds, have a medically induced diabetes), and charts for vitals take up some time four times a day. I continue to wonder how people with less ability than we have cope with the self-care that comes with this gift of new life.

This evening David's blood pressure is higher than the recommended reading and he needs to call this in to his coordinator. I don't know whether our small pressure machine that is faulty or accurate, and I am not sure what his coordinator will do, but it is part of the instructions and he is following them. David has not seen a doc since his release but he has appointments next Monday and Tuesday.

David is enjoying the new flat screen (our first) tv that he wanted and I bought after surgery. Actually, good friends bought it and set it up on my general directions (Don't let me forget to pay you back, Mary!). David was tickled to see it when he first got home, and even I have to admit (the one who has always said that a little tv is fine with me) that the picture quality dazzles. Last night, we watched Kung Fu Panda (real adult viewing) and just WOW -- clarity, detail, color. Some maybe there is something to this new age of video.

In Julia news, she is have a moderately good week -- mostly good reports from school, pretty cooperative with her therapists, and mellow and loving with us. Amidst all of the stress, she has been able to maintain herself pretty well. She has really enjoyed being outside during the warm days of this week, and has been willing to do new activities with her therapists. Her drawing continues to evolve. I have to take some pictures. Much more detailed color is appearing in animals and fruit. Yes, she is drawing fruit. I think her art teacher at school had the kids doing still life, and pears, watermelon, and bananas are appearing everywhere -- not in neat bowls but in the jaws of dinosaurs and the hands of cats. She uses her colored pencils to produce deep, rich colors and does not forget that watermelon has tiny black seeds. She talks about drawing stars in the eyes of her happy characters.

Kinda' funny Julia art story: Marilyn, our attachment therapist, has pictures that kids draw on one of her walls. Julia contributed a picture of a wolf with sharp teeth, a furry tail and shiny eyes wearing a long and fancy tutu. It is not an unhappy picture at all, but another patient asked Marilyn to take it down because she was scared of it. I take this kind of picture for granted, but looking at the more typical child generated art that adorns the wall, I can see how some other child could be scared. There are no ponies, no pastel colors, no pretty yellow sun. Just a Julia wolf in ballet clothes.

My girl!