Dog Dozing

Mandy joined me for a short sunning session on the deck this gorgeous Spring afternoon, after our breakfast walk w/Ken. We noticed that the Sterne Park lake is completely thawed, and shows no signs that it was frozen over for several months. Soon we'll have a few more choices for our morning walks, as the temperature begins to support comfortable outdoor seating.

Devastating News

We're feeling a little lost, after the bad news we got yesterday at Porter Hospital. Our supposed "orientation" meeting with the Doctor was really a blow-off session, during which he explained the high risks of Pancreas-Kidney transplant surgery. It's a "big" surgery, they've had two fatalities in the past five years, and she should seriously consider not doing it. He said something about Univ. of Chicago maybe shouldn't be saying they will do the surgery for her. While we were digesting all that, he explained that Porter's age policy prevents them from accepting her as a PK transplant patient, since she passed their age limit, while fighting the various foot wounds for the past few years. She's still eligible for a Kidney transplant, but Porter doesn't do those for Kaiser Permanente, so she will need to go back to Presbyterian St Luke if she still wants to do that. But thanks for coming, and have a nice day!

GOES-P Launched!

We launched D-348, a Delta IV rocket carrying the GOES-P weather satellite, after a late afternoon countdown and an unusually long 5-hour flight. See the writeup at SpaceFlightNow.

K Fighting Infection

K's been dealing with stomach pain for the past few weeks. A lab test last week indicated she's fighting an infection somewhere. They've put her on antibiotics, and she's been pretty much wiped out and sleeping through the days, giving it a chance to work. Both feet are still wound free. She's still not on the transplant list, but she's contacted her transplant coordinator, and I think they need to re-run a bunch of tests, to make sure she's still a qualified organ recipient. The likelihood is that she'll go onto Porter Hospital's list here in the Denver area this time, assuming their wait isn't way longer than Univ. Chicago's list.

Ken and I walked Mandy around Johnson Reservoir in Clement Park this morning, after enjoying a nice 2x2x2 breakfast at IHOP. It's both fun and frightening to realize I qualify for their Senior breakfast. It was nice to have the path finally be clear of snow and ice, after the past few months of slipping and sliding, and the occasional fall on the butt. I'm trying a new approach to dealing with Mandy's "Little Ms. Alpha Dog" approach to meeting other dogs on our walks. I'm picking her up just before we come face to face with another dog, which keeps her calm, but still gives her the chance to eyeball the other dog as it goes by. I want her to get used to having that moment go by quietly, instead of in a flurry of posturing. I dunno, maybe it'll help.

OK, I admit hockey gets exciting if you actually pay attention! I'm following the USA-Canada Olympic gold medal game on HD TV, as I get a few chores done. It helps to be able to see the puck!

Nice snow view

I couldn't resist snapping a panorama this morning, of the pretty view of the recent snow and the mountains.

Sterne Lake Frozen

Walking Mandy home from lunch at Blueberry's, I see that Sterne Lake is still completely frozen over, and has a nice fresh layer of snow. Only one new set of goose prints is visible.

Mandy at Blueberry's

Mandy and I walked down to Blueberry's for lunch, on this chilly day. Here she's wondering what else she can mooch from me, after polishing off half my sandwich. The Cheerio doesn't seem to be making the grade...

Walk

Ken and I enjoyed another cool snowy walk with Mandy around Johnson Reservoir at Clement Park, on this beautiful sunny day. Here's Mandy, just after checking out the shoreline. I still can't get over how cold it's been around here this Winter. Around here the lakes don't usually stay frozen for long, but it's been weeks, if not months, this time.

SDO Launched!

We launched AV-021, an Atlas V rocket carrying the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) payload, after an early morning countdown that started not long after midnight. See the writeup at Space Flight Now.

Johnson Reservoir

Ken and I took Mandy for a cold and snowy walk around Johnson Reservoir. The lake and the path are both frozen over, which made for a slippery adventure in walking. Mandy had a great time sniffing the snow, though. Can't stop her from having a good time, wherever she goes!

Sterne Park Lake

We passed through Sterne Park, on our way to Blueberry’s for lunch today. The lake is still frozen over, since we’ve had quite a cold spell this winter. Notice all the geese who took refuge on the ice in background, shortly after a rogue Italian Greyhound Chihuahua flushed them off the grass, a few minutes ago.

No visible progress yet, on getting K back on the kidney-pancreas transplant list. One assumes the wheels are turning in the invisible background. We’re still wrestling with the question of where to have it done. That might be a no-brainer, if once they get going on this, they assume we want it done at Porter Hospital here in Denver, instead of at University of Chicago.

The "H" Word!

I just finished watching the Apple Keynote video where Steve Jobs introduces the iPad tablet computer. Seeing a picture in the newspaper this week, and reading some of the hype written by journalists, I had no sense of just how cool it really is!

Mandy and I had a nice walk down to Blueberry's Cafe for lunch with Ken and Freddie this morning. Mandy got to flush some geese. Here's a picture of Goose (and other) footprints on Sterne Lake, which has been frozen over for some time. We watched Equilibrium, with Christian Bale, this evening. What a dark film.

Oh. And did I mention... K's doc finally got up the courage to use the "H" word. She's pronounced K's foot "Healed" from the surgery months ago. She'll be wearing some huge protective boots to protect her feet for the foreseeable future. But here's the really exciting part: The wheels are being put into motion, to get her back on the PK transplant list!

Recap

I apologize to those who've been following this blog, for the lack of timely updates. I've been on Facebook quite a lot this year, since I found out everyone in my Family is there, and I'm afraid the blog has suffered a bit. Here's a quick summary of what's been going on...

We're doing pretty well overall, although life continues to be somewhat complicated.

You may recall that K's left foot got infected a few months back, and they had to amputate her big toe. The surgery wound didn't heal for a long time, and it was looking pretty dicey for a while, but it's finally getting around to healing now. She's had foot wounds continually since late 2007, just about the time her kidneys failed, and they've prevented her from getting a transplant. After going so long, always with one wound or another on one foot or the other, we're starting to think that she may actually be back on the transplant list soon. An exciting but scary thought. The current plan is for the University of Chicago to do a dual Kidney/Pancreas transplant, but she may opt to change that and have the local Porter hospital do it here in Denver, to avoid having to travel to Chicago for three months, and all the associated logistical complications.

I bought K an iPhone for her birthday last October, and I think that's partly why her foot's finally healing. With the help of all the distractions available on the phone, she's been able to successfully stay off her feet most of the time for the past few months. Of course I had to get one too, since I figured she'd be looking to me for help on figuring out how to use it. ;-) These phones are very fun and useful too.

My Sister and her husband came to visit for two weeks after Christmas, and I took off some extra vacation time to be with them. We had loads of fun, roaming as far as Rocky Mountain National Park for a short day hike around Bear and Nymph lakes, in light blowing snow. After three weeks off for the holiday, it was a little difficult going back to work on the 11th! Bob returned home on schedule on the 10th, but Mikele offered to stay two extra weeks, to help us with the overwhelming task of organizing everything that was thrown into boxes, in preparation for finishing our basement in 2008. She's been a godsend, and with her help, some amazing progress has been made. I can finally use my new workshop, which has been piled high with "stuff" for the past year and a half. We'll really miss her after she leaves on Saturday. I bought her an iPhone too, a couple of days ago. It feels like the least I can do, after all the progress she's helped us make, over the past few weeks. She's very excited about it, since she's been lusting after ours while she's been here.

I just heard that Kiyoshi Hamai will be in the Denver area on Tuesday! We're talking about trying to get together for lunch.

Visitors coming

Mikele and Bob are arriving tonight! We're looking forward to their company, and to dinner at The Melting Pot on Tuesday night!

Gorgeous Day

Woke up to a gorgeous sunny day! Of course, it was 5°F outside, but the few inches of snow on the driveway were pretty light and easy to shovel away.

I tried to take Mandy for a walk this morning. Knowing it was too cold for her little Chihuahua feet, I tried for the 2nd time, to get her to wear the little booties we got her over a year ago. Once again, they turned into anti-gravity boots, as she refused to keep them on the ground. We only got about 20 feet, before I had to take them off her and stuff them in my pocket. And sure enough, we only got another few hundred feet, before she was lifting her paws off the ground again, because they stung from the cold.

Wishing everyone the Merriest of Christmases tomorrow!

Snow Continues

It was snowing and 17 degrees F when I picked K up from dialysis this evening. The snow's been accumulating on the roads and it's very slippery. Kinda fun, when I only have a few miles to go, mostly on side streets, and not in a hurry. And it's *so* nice to have the CR-V, in these conditions. :-D

K's foot wound from the surgery is healing nicely, according to the nurse that came to the house today, to change the wound vac.

Snow Starting

Slept in late, on the last day of my pre-Christmas vacation. Walked Mandy down to Blueberry's for lunch, and met several very nice people, hurrying into the postal annex for those last minute mailings, who stopped by to say hi to Mandy. K and I went in for our annual eye exams this afternoon, and closed them down. I decided to try testing some of the iPhone ad hype, and searched the Map application for "indian food". The search produced two nearby restaurants. I asked it to find the route to the nearest one, India's Clay Oven, and we found ourselves sitting down to a very pleasant dinner in just a few minutes. I tellya, I'm sold on this cool phone. The snow started while we were having dinner, and we came out to a delightful scene of snowflakes lightly falling. Overall, a very pleasant day...

Fluffy Forecast

I just heard the weather forecast for the rest of the week: snow, snow, and snow... it sounds like we're heading for a white Christmas!

A Little Warmer

It's been a bit warmer this week, up into the 40s and 50s most days. K's been having difficulty with nausea and gurgly stomach lately. She couldn't imagine being trapped in the dialysis chair for four hours on Friday, so she skipped that session, hoping to make it up Saturday morning, but didn't feel much better then, so she skipped Saturday too. The plan is to try for her regular Monday evening slot. Mandy and I went for a nice walk around Johnson reservoir with our neighbors Ken and Freddie, then us humans drove over to nearby Hops for lunch. I brought K home some french onion soup, which she seemed to like quite a bit. Then Freddie did K a favor, and unpacked our garlands from some boxes in the basement, and decorated our staircase, which now looks wonderfully festive.

D-346 Launched!

We successfully launched D-346, a Delta IV rocket carrying the WGS-3 payload this morning.

AV-024 launched!

We successfully launched AV-024, an Atlas V rocket carrying the Intelsat-14 payload, today.

Launch scrubbed

We scrubbed our first attempt at launching IntelSat-14 early this morning. Something wrong with an electrical component. See SpaceFlightNow for info. This was a late night countdown, so my sleep cycle for the weekend is turned a little bit upside-down.

Fire Grill

We had dinner at Fire Grill, in the "Streets of SouthGlenn". I had a very tasty sweet and sour chicken dish, over fried rice. Mandy enjoyed exploring the North side of Streets. We'd go back here, too!

Tasty food at Saj

Had dinner with K at Saj, a Mediterranean restaurant in the new Streets of SouthGlenn. I really liked the Shawarma dish!

After dinner we sat at our table and played with our new iPhones for too long. I wonder if "there's an App" to remind us to get up and go home! ;-)

Broken Toe

Took K to urgent care on Sunday night. Her toe and foot were swollen and red, and we feared the worst - another infection - but it turned out to be yet another twist: somehow the remaining 2nd toe has gotten broken. That put a bit of a damper on our supposed-to-be-fun visit to the Apple store that night.

She went to see the Ortho doc today. They think maybe the redistributed load (from the great toe being missing) was a factor in why it fractured - basically, it got overloaded. Still not ruling out the possibility that an infection in the bone might've weakened it. Still considering additional amputation options. Apparently thinking those remaining toes are just in the way. Heavy sigh...

Chilly Walk

Went on a chilly 4 mile walk in the dark with Ken and Mandy Friday night, in search of dinner with outdoor seating. We were disappointed to find Abe's was closed for a private party, Merle's didn't have their patio door open, and BB O'Reilly's has closed permanently. So we went home, and drove to good ol' Marie Callendar's. I warmed up with a piping hot broccoli chicken Alfredo entrée, and a hot cherry pie. Yum!

Halloween

Fun day, Halloween, although a bit more action-packed than I'm used to. Shoveled what was left of that foot of snow off the front walk. Went and got the shared snowblower from our neighbor, and used it on the driveway, then knocked down the snowbanks in the road in front of our house and a few others. Walked the dog around the neighborhoods. Had breakfast with Ken at IHOP. Went hunting for Halloween candy, and had a bit of an adventure, trying to find everything on K's grocery list in a Super Target I rarely visit. Brought the Halloween decorations out of the back of the crawl space, and got everything setup by sunset. Walked Mandy down through the icy path in Lee Gulch. Cooked up a couple of pizzas, and enjoyed handing out treats to 30+ kids. Wound down with a cup of tea, then packed up the all decorations, and stashed them back in the crawl space. Now, what to do with that friggin' dragon?!

Snow day

It snowed most of the day today, but hardly any of it stuck, at least around our neighborhood. It was a fun atmosphere.

Recovering

K was in good spirits today, all things considered. They haven't unwrapped her foot yet, maybe tomorrow. Her brother visited in the morning, before heading off on I-70 for parts West. We watched a VCR movie this evening - "Lovely and Amazing" - and slept through part of it. Mandy waited patiently outside in the car, all snuggled up under her blanket in the back seat.

Out of Surgery

K got out of surgery late this morning. She's minus her big toe. The Ortho doc says he had to take quite a bit around the toe as well.