Sunday, March 25, 2012

John Gets His Picture on the Post Office Wall

John is having a new experience - that of having his photo on the Post Office wall. Katherine, our post-mistress, swore to me that she would put it on the Most Wanted Wall, not the FBI Most Wanted wall - a very important distinction. But the Post Office is an important center of information in a town that has no newspaper, in a county that doesn't have a daily newspaper. If you live in town you don't get mail delivery, you have a post office box. When you go to pick up your mail - leaving your car running with the keys in it, of course - you stay a while, talk to folks, and catch up on the news. And get to see John's picture on the wall.

And since he is the world's only perfect man, he's gorgeous.

As of March 18th, he was spending an average of 6 hours a day up in the chair and gaining strength. He can't do anything in a linear fashion, so he had to throw a monkey wrench into things. I came in to see him on Tuesday morning (March 20th), and his left leg was the color of an eggplant. He'd developed a blood clot in a vein. So he was put on anticoagulants and bedrest. He relaxed after I told him that his leg was cool but not cold and he had pulses all the way down it, making this a nuisance but not crisis, and got worked up again when I told him that he'd have to stay in bed for a while. He really likes the chair. The leg looks almost normal now and his pulses are even better, so I hope the chair is in his near future.

In the meantime he's been doing his exercises in bed and the vent weaning is moving right along. Yesterday his trach was changed for a smaller size (which will be more comfortable) and with a disposable inner cannula (easier to keep clean - don't worry if this part makes no sense to you; it's really for the medical folks out there). He's been off antibiotics for a week and is doing fine without them - I think the pneumonia finally bit the dust. It is amazing how much better he looks and feels. Today we watched the UK game together and had a wonderful time. This is the first time in the tournament that he's felt like staying awake and focused for the whole game.  

So when you come to Topeka to see all the sights - both of them - be sure to stop by the Post Office and take a look at John's picture on the wall. He's gorgeous!


2 comments:

  1. There are TWO lights in Topeka now?!? There goes the small town cachet... :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yay for progress, albeit in a somewhat circular fashion! (here's a thought: in your "spare" time, teach Jethro to shake pom-poms, to be a cheerleader for Daddy. That could be Topeka's third sight. Or maybe not...

    ReplyDelete