A brief update:

That hacking cough, many of you probably guessed, ended up being a gift with purchase from the hospital. Pneumonia!

Through a series of events too icky to describe, I ended up at yet another ER yesterday and am now on what seems to be the upswing.

They gave me a breathing treatment and Prednisone, which despite its happy fun time side effects, seems to be really helping. I'm still coughing, but I can breathe. I actually slept last night, for the first time in a week. That was a boon.

Please keep me in your thoughts. Special ~ma requested for 'don't have to buy that ridiculously expensive antibiotic again!' I have only three left and am hoping for a BIG improvement by then.

And again, thank you all so much for your kind words.

PS: SMOOCH! To smonster and amyth, who sent me the most wonderful dog themed cards. Quoth one:

Acquiring a dog may be the only opportunity a human ever has to choose a relative. --Mordecai Siegal

PPS: Still won't be around the threads much, strength is at a premium right now, but know that I am hanging around in spirit.

Hello all- I wanted to let you know some very good news. Drew's numbers and health have steadily improved, and they removed his feeding tube today. Even better news--they have decided he should continue his recovery AT HOME, so he will be coming home tomorrow. Of course we still have a long road ahead of us and I will need to help him through his recovery over the next month, but I am absolutely thrilled he will be coming home. It will make everything so much easier to not have to juggle getting to and from the hospital, and home recovery is going to be SO much better for his emotional and mental health.

Many thanks to everyone who has been so supportive and compassionate during this time. It will be a while before life gets back to normal and I get caught up, but we are finally on the right path. If you want to contact Drew directly, he is now up to regular communication via text, mail, email, or phone call. He will have to take it easy for a while yet but is so much better than he was. 

Requesting some interview ~ma for the spouse, who is trying to get the fuck out of retail at 2:30 pm US Eastern/11:30 am board time.

If anyone knows a good trademark or IP attorney, can you contact me? Profile addy is good.

Can Joe get some license~~ma?? We finally paid off his California license and he's at the Michigan Sec of State's office with ten billion sheets of paper, hoping they'll issue him a Michigan driver's license which will open his job prospects immensley.

Thanks everyone.

I'm happy to report that my mom's gall bladder removal was successful yesterday, and she's now home and recovering. Less happy that she's in pain and nauseated, but I understand those are normal after-effects of the surgery.

Any get-well-quickly~ma would be greatly appreciated.

I'll probably be dark gray WRT the board at least through Monday, very little time away to access a computer.

Thank you for your two weeks of votes and all of your support! (And a special thank you to Polgara)! My grant was funded today! You all are AMAZING!

Drew is being readmitted to the hospital today. Unfortunately his pancreatitis is back, so he needs to be here for treatment for some more time. We are glad we have a good hospital with good care despite how much we don't want to be here. We are trying to stay positive and believe that this is just a temporary setback on the road to recovery.

Finally, a bro update: He has a grade III anaplastic astrocytoma. He didn't say so in the email, but based on the brief googling I did, it looks like a prognosis of about two years, especially since his is inoperable. He said that the chemo is a pill, and so far no side effects, but that they haven't been able to do the radiation yet, because he keeps having panic attacks when they try to fit him for the mask for the radiation. They're trying drugs for the panic attacks, but so far no luck.

Also, it looks like my sister-in-law's father is going to die any minute. The doctors didn't expect him to live past 1:00 p.m. yesterday, but he's still hanging on. (He has the same kind of--relatively rare!--cancer that my mom died of, but he has lived with it for much longer than she did.) So no wonder she has been freaking out so much. My brother said she hasn't slept in days.

I don't even know what to ask for, just thanks for keeping my family in your thoughts.

So much love to amyth and family.

Drew is having an ERCP tonight, which is a procedure they've been avoiding for a month because it has the potential to make the pancreatitis worse. It needs to happen and will most likely be a good thing, so make-it-better-not-worse vibes would be appreciated. He will be in here for awhile. We don't know until we see what happens tonight and over the next few days.