Hello, and Happy New Year. I know I'm a little slow.
First of all, an update on my patient that I wrote about last time. Some crazy stuff has happened to her since I last wrote. Basically she was on death's door about a week before Christmas. I came to work that Monday morning and was called by the nurse practitioner to come to the room and say goodbye. She wasn't expected to make it through the day. Well, she's still alive! She has had one thing go wrong after another, and yet she is still fighting. It is really amazing. She has healed in some ways that I wouldn't have thought were possible in her condition, and as she heals, something else goes wrong. She is still in a coma, and still has a very poor prognosis. Even if she survives this, she will never be the same. Her brain has basically been fried from the extreme amounts of seizure activity in the past 2-3 months. She is still having seizure activity despite attempts to stop it with different medications. It's very sad. She is a sweet beautiful girl, and it is also hard to see her family struggling through this. I still try to go visit and just spend some time with them a few times a week, which the mom really appreciates. She is seeming so strong, and yet looks very weary. My heart goes out to them.
Speaking of brain damage, I am struck this week by the fact that not only is this patient of mine in a precarious situation with unknown outcome as far as brain/mental capacity, but also Gabby Giffords, the Arizona congresswoman who was shot last weekend, and Joanne Heim, a woman whose blog I have followed for a little while who had a stroke this week. Very tragic situations. Both Gabby and Joanne are far from old age and both totally unexpectedly fighting for life and return of normal brain function. God help them and their families.
Regarding the New Year...
I have reflected some on 2010. There was a lot of newness. A new relationship which brought me a lot of joy and helped me grow as a person. A new apartment in June, which has been a great move for me. I have a much more hospitable place to host friends, and even host overnight guests. I had the pleasure of hosting my cousin and her husband in summer, as well as my parents in fall. It's nice to be a hostess! I also got a new car.
There was also heartbreak. But I guess heartbreak means there was love and something precious to lose, and those are not bad things. My life is better for it.
I also got to see many, many of my extended family members in Saskatchewan in August, both mom's side and dad's side, and that was great. Time with my grandparents is particularly treasured these days, as they turned 95 and 90 in 2010, and celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary, and are still functioning remarkably well!
Speaking of family, I also traveled with some dear relatives to Costa Rica last March. Two aunts, a cousin, both sisters, and brother-in-law, and I all met up there and had a great time together. And there was also the wedding of friends in Costa Rica, which was also a fantastic time.
Traveling to New Jersey and to New York City was a highlight in fall. I went to visit friends who moved from Seattle to NJ in summer. It was great to see my friends again, and be a tourist. I could go back to NYC many times and not get bored with it, I'm sure.
Oh yeah, and work. In addition to my usual pediatric nutrition duties, I started working with patients on the ketogenic diet, which is a treatment for epilepsy, which I have written about a few times before. It's been challenging and fun and stressful and interesting and hard and rewarding. I have learned so much. It is great to see good results from the diet (decreased or no seizure activity) in most of our kids, and I also like the aspect of getting to know these families well through frequent communication and follow-up appointments.
Now it is 2011. That sounds so futuristic. I'm looking forward to the coming year. There are bound to be more changes. Who knows what all! I'm hoping it is really my year for love. Seriously. This is getting ridiculous. I am looking forward to a trip to Korea and Japan in two months. My friend Amy and her family are in Seoul for a year, so I will go visit them, and then go to Japan just because I want to! Might as well make the most of a flight across the ocean! I'm not sure about where else I might end up going in the next year (Saskatchewan?). Of course, looking forward to more family and friend bonding times. More babies in the extended family and friend family. I'm hoping for a warm summer. I just decided on the first weekend of this year that I want to make earrings.... so I went to the store and bought some basic supplies to make some basic earrings, and I loved it. I am excited to have a new hobby! We'll see how well it works out.
And that is all for now.... I want to write on here more often in 2011 again though!
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