#3

So, it would be bad enough for my dad to have rare autoimmune disease and...

• have it go on for 10 years
• have a stem cell transplant
• catch the flu post-transplant
• happen to have swine flu
• is having such a hard time holding down food my mom bought a blender (mmmm... the milkshake diet?)

But did it have to be the rare version of swine flu that is immune to the regular swine flu meds?  There have been 9 documented cases in the world- 2 prior cases in the USA, and my dad makes number 3.  He is now officially an international health hazard.  Impressive.

Maybe it isn't a good idea to ask what happen to cases 1 and 2.... Because the answer was, "One survived."  Of course, my dad had and important medical call to take, so I had to wait another 10 minutes before finding out that the 'non-survivor' was already terminally ill.  (Yeah, not post-transplant, no-immune system ill - I asked.)

Dad Sent Us All This Photo, Sums Things Up...

It does make finding balance a bit of a struggle.  Finding joy in the everyday wonderfulness of life.  Going to work, and school, and hanging out with friends, and how does one enjoy that knowing all this is going on?  Shouldn't I feel like crap about it?  

Well NO!  Or at least, not when I can help it.  Sure, there are times it sucks that he is so ill (ok, it sucks all the time), but if I've learned one thing through all this, it's that I can't let it control my life.  Of course, far easier said than done.  And I've spend my fair share of mopping time wondering how to balance it all.  Still trying to figure that one out.  But it's not something I'm giving up on.

So for all those wondering how Steve is doing, that sums it up.  

A Few Of My Favorite (Tiny) Things

Despite, or perhaps due to, the current things stressing me out, it's always good to remember why life rocks.  A few of my favorite things...

...are tiny!  Maybe it's cliche, but I love tiny foods, animals, and people.  

Tapas, hors d'oeuvres, prix fix menus, and especially sliders - I love small foods!  I think it's because I fill up fast, but love to try different foods.  A friend once said he figured out women, and that they love tapas and sangria, and that is pretty true. 

So small and so tasty!

And kittens!  Especially my kitten.  I don't have much to say here- but I wanted an excuse to post a video of Curie.  It's from right after we got her.  My roommate found her in the street, and she's a tiny, dirty 5-week old kitty.  But she was so sweet, even then.  I instantly melted and let Craig know we had another member of the family.

And babies!  I don't have time/money/maturity to care for a tiny person, so I do the next best thing.  I play with friend's babies!  A bunch of us went to see our friends Jessica and Zach's new baby, William.  He was 6 weeks old, and quite a bit bigger than Curie when she was that age (he's also less furry- is it unusual to compare a kitten to a baby?).  Us girls played 'pass the baby' while the boys played video games.  My favorite part was giving him a baby mohawk.  And he totally rocked it!

The Baby-hawk

Ahh yes, life is good.

Hospital TV

There's a TV in the hospital room, and apparently there is a 'zen out' channel.  Probably really great if you're on lots of drugs, but not too bad when you're just sober and tired.  It just plays non-confrontational shots of nature.  It's nine at night, and I'm almost dozing in a chair while watching this channel and listening to Barenaked Ladies on my computer.  It's a really comfy chair.  The kind where you can kick up your legs.

Barenaked Ladies not on hospital TV.

I think I've just watched various angles of waterfalls and bird of paradise flowers for the last five minutes.  It's a nice channel.  Whenever I'm really stressed, I can usually decompress with some sort of wildlife channel.  This channel has all the wildlife, but no carnage.  No circle of life, just life.  Waterfall

Trees.  A hummingbird.  

Some flamingos.

  A flower.  Another flower. 

Oceans.  A beach.  A sunset.  Clouds.  

Another waterfall.  

A lot like this.

I have no idea if there is sound, since my dad doesn't play it with sound.  But I imagine Enya would probably be singing something soothing.  Probably about a boat or the rain, or boating in the rain.

Enya is not on hospital TV, but maybe she should be.