Tip of the day

They now make invisible Kool-Aid. I don't think they had that when I was a kid.

You can find everything

I was randomly searching Amazon.com tonight, and I happened across a harakiri dagger. They didn't have any in stock, just one "New and used" item.

I couldn't resist. I clicked through to see if it was used.

A bit of context

Ok, I've been holding back this week. When the doc said that every stroke patient is their own control group, we were talking in a particular context. Every patient may be their own group, BUT among all the pontine strokes he has worked with, Linda requires less medication and is more functional than pretty much everyone else.

He suggested something that I never thought he would. He suggested that she try to reduce some of her medication by 1/3. It was surprising because he's been very specific that patients who had tried to reduce their medication had lost their skills (until they went back on their meds).

So starting Monday, Linda started taking 1/3 of two of her neurotransmitter drugs. He said she would know in about 48 hours if it was the wrong move (harder to get out of bed, hard to balance, etc.). It's Friday, so I think probably we can be pretty sure... once again, Linda is unlike everyone.

She initial described the change as feeling a bit more relaxed. Less tone (involuntary muscle contraction). At the 48 hr period, she said she had a bit of dizziness, but nothing drammatic, and nothing that unusual. Since then she's been pretty much normal.

So I guess we can mark that down as 1/3 less medication for the rest of her life. Probably a good thing.

What you should do

Today would be a great day to do some of that Home Depot shopping that you've been putting off. Trust me. I was there. I had so much help, I didn't know what to do.

Every place I was that sold flowers was insane. At first I thought it was cute. But after waiting in checkout forever, I decided it wasn't so cute.

See, the thing is. I'm not really a believer in the Valentine fairy. But I might buy some flowers next week if they're on sale.

Spoken like a statistician

We saw the physiatrist today, for Linda's 6-month check. He said something that I really enjoyed, Every stroke patient is their own control group.

A play in 0.1 acts

Setting: A young couple is waiting among various pieces of exercise equipment in a large gym. The woman is in a wheelchair and the man is standing. They are looking at a group of wheelchairs stored in a corner out of the way.

Linda: Wow, no arms. That must be nice.

Don: You don't have to have arms on your wheelchair. They come off.

Linda: They do?

Don: You don't need them any more?

Linda: No.

Don: I didn't realize you don't want them on. Do you want me to take them off?

Linda: That would be great!

2 years 2 days

Linda and I both totally missed the 2 year anniversary of her stoke. Maybe these things aren't really meant to be celebrated anyway.

Sunday will be the 17th anniversary of our first date. I was 18 when we started dating, so in 2 more years I'll have been with Linda longer than I've not.