Sara, no guilt. It was just a comment. She was pretty gunky today and smelled funny (you can actually smell an infection in Grace before it goes full blown). I think I need to give her some sinupret.

Amy, they are, I think. She's gone down in trache size and she's breathing more through her mouth. Last surgery, they didn't do any laser-ing at all (I'm not sure if that was because they had to surgically remove a granuloma or if she didn't need it).

Wearing the PMV means she's not relying on her trache much to breathe. From adults I know who are trached, a PMV feels like breathing through a straw if you have to rely on it for your only airway access. For people who are breathing more from all available sources, it's not as panic-inducing.

I dunno what it means, long term, but it's a positive movement.

Tomorrow I have to go to UCLA for a field trip. On a sunday. ugh.

This must be such a weird series of sensations for Grace.

So far, curling up with Amy Garvey is paying off.

Okay, this is weird, Cage:

"I have a fascination with fish, birds, whales – sentient life – insects, reptiles," says Cage, who is currently getting great reviews for his performance as a drug-addled detective in Werner Herzog's Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans, a quasi-remake of Abel Ferrara's 1992 tale of a destructive cop.
He continues: "I actually choose the way I eat according to the way animals have sex. I think fish are very dignified with sex. So are birds.
"But pigs, not so much. So I don't eat pig meat or things like that. I eat fish and fowl."

Yay Grace!! Is it possible that she'll eventually be un-trached, or is that not possible?

I have finished cleaning. I suspect there are things I am overlooking, but now am too nervous to do anything else. Eep.

There is an elf somewhere that is not only eating my socks, it is eating my lipglosses. Which is bad, because the ones with my favorite colors are no longer being made, so I don't want those to disappear!

This must be such a weird series of sensations for Grace.

I think every thing Grace experiences must seem horrifically weird. Except all the weird things she does experience as totally normal.

Lately, she's been covering her mouth when she sneezes or coughs. Super cute but also not the area that needs to be covered.

Yay Grace!! Is it possible that she'll eventually be un-trached, or is that not possible?

Yes. The goal of all the surgeries is eventual decannulation.

Skipping way too much on the far end of shabbat, because, according to the Buffista Calendar, today is (still! In the board's timezone, at least - so sorry for being so last-minute-y!) one of those lovely double Buffista events: it's both Jessica's birthday, as well as (according to sj "If the Apocalypse Comes, Beep Me" Nov 12, 2010 9:59:29 am PST ) sj's anniversary.

Happy birthday, Jessica! With lots of wishes for a great, um, end-of-the-day, and a wonderful year!

Happy anniversary, sj and TCG!

I hope the evil microbe is gone for good, Allyson. That sounds scary.

My sinuses have been wonky for two months. Apparently sinus pressure is the new normal.

My brain refuses to deal with Cage's view of dignified sex. It sounds like he would prefer to live on plankton.

There is an elf somewhere that is not only eating my socks, it is eating my lipglosses.

I lost my Black Raisin Almost Lipstick, and I'm heartbroken. Because I really don't want to have to buy another -- that one wasn't even a quarter used.

I don't want to think about my food having sex at all. Eww.

Random:

Tom Jones was on an episode of Top Gear today. That was weird.

A father in Old Navy today was pushing two girls who had to be over five in a double stroller. One of them was in a short taffetta party skirt and ballet flats, bare-legged. I boggled.

Wegman's pumpkin frycake donuts are delicious.

I went through my makeup and sorted out my lip colours from everything else, and I can't find much of my go to stuff. So I feel the elf thief pain.

I bought real grownup makeup recently -- I had the Smashbox primer from Jilli, and I got a Tarte concelaer that I LOVE, Studio Gear mineral powder, and a Smashbox blush. Now basic makeup takes maybe three minutes, and looks really good (even and polished but not "makeupy") even if I only add mascara and a tinted Burt's Bees.