The Most Wonderful Time....

Tuesday morning dawns rainy and wet. the start of several days of expected rain. Oh well, it is December, after all. It is curious to me that Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Yule and holidays from all the religions fall in the coldest time of the year, at least in the Northern Hemisphere. Many attend church services only this time of year when everyone is coughing and sick. Talk about sharing at Christmastime! "Hello sir, peace be with you, have some germs."

I understand that all these holiday are rooted in tradition and each brings hope and light at the darkest time of the year. I'm just saying, the darkest time of the year is also cold and flu season. Keeping Maggie healthy this time of year is particularly challenging. It always has been, but especially so since she's had the tracheostomy tube. It's like a germ superhighway into her lungs.  We are fighting off infection left and right. My hands are raw from washing.

Maggie seems somewhat healthier today. Perhaps this medication that is causing such problems for her gastrostomy tube is actually working. I had to change the tube four times last week and it's not very comfortable for her. (Usually the tube lasts more than a month). Even though we flush the tube after giving the medication, the residue seems to harden inside the tube and it becomes totally blocked. That means no food can get in and we have to fix it. Obviously I don't have that many clean tubes, so I've been washing them and re-using them, which is not cool. New tubes are on the way. Maggie has another week of this medication to go, too

Though changing the gastrostomy tube is a hassle for me and uncomfortable for Maggie I am glad the medication seems to be working. Maggie has this chronic condition that rears its ugly head periodically. There doesn't seem to be a thing we can do to fix it and the medication is simply a band-aid. We have tried various medications and not all of them work. Dealing with a blocked tube is a small price to pay if it works. Let's hope it keeps the symptoms at bay until after Christmas, at least. I'm so overwhelmed with all the holiday madness I don't think I can squeeze in an afternoon at UCSF.

Of course if we have to go, we have to go, but I would prefer if we did NOT, thank you very much. The hospital clinics are the worst place to be if you're sick. All that coughing and sneezing, it's worse than church.

Stay healthy, my friends.



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