Freedom Day!

Went to Infectious Diseases for my sixth weekly appointment, after taking my last dose of IV antibiotic this morning. My labs from last week were normal. And, they pulled out the PICC line. Woo hoo!

Blood Draw

Saw my new Neurologist about my numb toes. Then I stopped at a nearby lab, and (it seems!) had almost all my blood drained, so they can screen for what's causing the neuropathy. I've never waited so long, to serve a Vampire before. The lab tech was really apologetic about how many vials of blood she took, so I stopped at the drugstore on the way out, for a bottle of orange juice. — at LabCorp.

Visited David

Visited with my old friend David, for a few hours. We're both having tough times right now, but we both enjoyed seeing each other. I think he enjoyed the slide show I gave him, of dozens of pictures on my iPhone...

Memorial Day

Silently thanking everyone who served and didn't make it back. Our Memorial Day walk around the park started with a rousing set of bagpipe music, as the pipers warmed up for today's ceremony. — at Ketring Park. As we got halfway around the park, the bagpipers across the park were playing "God Bless America" ... and then my heart started to ache. — at Ketring Lake. The unexpected bonus today, was the flyover of a couple of F-15 jets from Buckley Air Base nearby. They went exactly over our heads, as we stood in the parking lot, listening to the end of the Memorial ceremony nearby. Stirring.

Just a few more IVs

All setup for my afternoon IV. Only four more days of this... 12 more doses, every 8 hours... 96 more hours... until my IV freedom day!

Walking the Platte

Venturing farther than ever! Two miles round trip. Only a few stabs of pain, when I happen to move my ankle a certain way. — at South Platte River.

K&S at Ted's

I took K for a welcome K&S dinner out this evening, after her "girl's day out" with a friend. No waiting on Saturday evening. Go figure! And now nice. — at Ted's Montana Grill.

Walk at Clement Park

Got a nice walk, mostly around the lake at Clement Park. Looking forward to getting all the way around sometime soon.

First PT session

OK, so let's see what this prescription for Physical Therapy can do for all my pain. — at HealthOne Englewood Occupational Medicine. Update: PT was... Fun?! She didn't push me too hard, but my ankle, and all the muscles and ligaments around it, definitely had a workout. Oh, and I had it completely wrong about it helping with the pain. PT is about mobility... apparently. The pain's worse than ever today, but there are some nearly pain-free moments, which I trust will increase, as my foot gets used to being walked on again.

Leaving the walker home

Took my first fairly long walk, without the rolling walker. Pain is clearly a bigger factor, during this second recovery period. I guess I've just been off my right leg too long, and it's complaining about everything, from the toes to the knee. — with Mikele Hushing-Kline at DeKoevend Park.

Happy Mom's Day!

Wishing all my Mom friends out there a very special Mother's Day! Thanks for all those special moments you took to help out your kids (any everyone else), when nobody else even noticed that things weren't perfect.

Denny's

Denny's is a nice, easy, place to stop for lunch, after a good checkup at South Denver Infectious Disease Specialists (SDIDS) nearby on Old Hampden Ave.

Back to the boot

Saw the Ortho doc this morning. Mikele came too, since she was visiting. Well, the good news is, I'm out of the splint, and the same old Ace bandage that's been holding it on for the past two weeks. And most of the stitches are out. And I'm allowed to resume putting weight on it, as long as I use the klunky black Ortho-friendly boot with 5 Velcro straps. "Listen to the pain," he said... Huzzah! And the pain says, "Ow! Ow! Ow! Get that weight off me!!!" Dang. Well, we'll hope to see some improvement over the next 3 weeks, until I see the doc again.

Walk at Clement Park

Gliding on the walker, on the trail around the lake at Clement Park. Well, at least my left leg is getting a workout these days.

AEHF-2 Launched!

Today we launched AV-031, an Atlas V carrying AEHF-2, from Cape Canaveral LC-41