FAQs: An Update

Well, we have been here a lot longer than any of us have anticipated…so, it’s time for a quick revisit to the answers to see if they have changed or been rethought at all.

Where are you sleeping? On the same crappy bed, but it seems to have gotten a lot crappier over the past several weeks. We are still both staying each and every night here (also meaning that our parents are still shouldering the load of watching Ezra – and doing it beautifully, if I might add). Unfortunately, beds don’t seem to grow over time – no matter how much you wish for it. The good news is that our oft-wondered question has been answered in the affirmative: If you through-hike the Appalachian Trail, do you think you could stand months on end of sleeping on a thermarest? Ok, that has never been a question that has seriously been asked, but still the answer remains the same…and the thermarest might even be more comfortable.

How is the cafeteria food? Although the ketchup situation resolved itself with the help of friends from Ohio, the overall food situation hasn’t improved. We have broken out of here for a few meals, and we have had family bring us some stuff; but 7 weeks of eating away from home is getting really old no matter how you cut it. We have found some ways to cope by bringing stuff in (cereal, snacks, etc), but we are still often limited to the offers from the kitchen staff downstairs – I can confirm that they have a very limited vegetarian selection….and I know that both of our digestive systems have undergone a reconditioning that will hopefully make them tough enough to handle the most remote food options after this.

How’s the drive? Well, you’ll have to ask our parents that question. Due to a combination of Liam’s condition and the weather over the past two weeks, we haven’t gone home. We just don’t want to end up that far away if we are needed here…and a lot of snow on the roads have really hampered any thoughts of going somewhere other than the occasional local Target run (it isn’t the snow that we are concerned about, but the fact that we would end up 35 miles away with slow driving people in our way). Since we haven’t been able to go home, our folks have been more than accommodating in figuring out a way to get themselves and Ezra up here almost everyday – which is always a remarkable bright spot in the day.

Showers? I think that we have figured out that the earlier you go, the warmer your shower is likely to be…which is somewhat confusing to me since we are in a 24-hr hospital. It’s bizarre that they are apparently on a limited water supply that would rival most residential home systems. When we were still going home pretty often, it was nice to be able to shower there and do the things that take more time and space (good clean of hair – for Ahna…the jokes about me are too obvious, a shave, etc); but since we are showering here, we are forced to make due with what we have…and Ahna can confirm that blow drying a head full of hair in a steamroom is annoying at best; and I can confirm that trying to shave using a sink with an automatic faucet that times out and stops working after a little while will make you want to say a lot of four letter words.

Do you get sick on those elevators? Still no, but we are completely sick of the elevators. There seems to be one that breaks down fairly often, leaving the vast majority of people fighting for space on the other one….and because of this, you can count on stopping at each and every floor each and every trip up and down. We do try to take the stairs when we can (even though they are completely out of the way…very poor design), but sometimes after that cafeteria food it just isn’t that good of an idea.

How are you doing? If you’ve been keeping up with the blog, you could probably come up with the appropriate answer to this question. Still mostly the same, but really stir crazy right now…and really wanting to be back home. We have found a game that we have been playing back and forth to occupy some of our time (Words With Friends…do you have the app? If not, go get it…and let me know your username…maybe we can play sometime).

Update on the nurses and the pumps….not really an update to a FAQ, but an update none-the-less. A few days ago I did a posting about the pumps in the rooms and mentioned how it seemed that the alarms would inevitably sound whenever our nurse was unavailable. Since then, it was nicely brought to my attention (insert throat-clearing noise and sneaky look to another person here) that perception doesn’t always meet up with reality….and that the majority of the time the nurses are really and willing as soon as that alarm sounds. Because we truly have the best nurses available, it’s time to smile and not insert the sarcastic humor that would normally go here.