Whistle While You Walk

When I arrived at Merrie’s room this morning, she was in her lounge chair and about to walk, assisted, to the bathroom, for the first time in more than a week. Then, after a rest, the nurse took her on a short walk around the nurse’s station.

As she was walking, Merrie said she felt like she should either sing or hug all the nurses. (They could probably use a hug. They have a rough job.) I gotta say I felt like singing myself. But if I did that, alarms would be going off all over the ICU.

Tomorrow is a crucial and pivotal day. Merrie will be taken to Scripps Hospital in La Jolla for an all-day procedure. Then we’ll have a clearer idea what the treatment options and risks are.

Merrie is still quite weak, and we both know we face some hard choices and a long recovery. There surely will be bad days and some rough sledding ahead. But we have enjoyed today, and we are thankful for that.

Thanks to everyone who has sent their good wishes to us. It means more than we can say. Your generous thoughts and prayers make a difference.

Remember that flowers are not allowed in the ICU, and I am home very little (which means the only ones enjoying the flowers will be the cats, and they like how flowers taste, not how they look). If you have sent flowers, rest assured they have not gone to waste. We pass them along to other patients, many of whom have no one to send them flowers.