Bill: Mon. Dec 2: Botox; news from Thanksgiving

First, Bill's 'little' brother turned 30 yesterday. A Very Happy Birthday to Ben! And their brother-in-law, Nate, will turn 34 tomorrow.

Second, Bill had his initial Botox injections today. The process was fairly complex, with probes attached to his arm and to the injection port, giving noise feedback on where the muscle activity was (the tension that needs to be relaxed, so he can regain flexibility and range of motion).  At least a half hour to inject several locations. Bill will have an appointment with his head RIO doctor in three weeks. They will look at the impact, prescribe some intense OT at that point, and look at further injections (if called for) in another month or so after that.

In all, it took a large part of the day. We all left the apartment about 11:00 to catch the streetcar for his noon appointment. Prepped with numbing agent, waiting, waiting; out of the office 1:30 or so, lunch, and back at the apartment 3:00. We took care of three administrative things.  In case you're wondering how the war on paper versus non-paper is coming, today's score was 2-1.

Ayn called at 7:30, letting me know he had a gentle slide to the floor. Some difficulties getting back up, but with daughter C's help, they were able to manage. Eventually.

I won't see them tomorrow. Luckily their PT and OT appointments are after lunch, so they won't have to deal with the predicted cold weather early in the morning.

On another note, we had news on Thanksgiving that a relative will have surgery a week from today. We have tons of relatives, and those who should hear the details have already been informed -- I won't go into that here. There is every reason to expect a positive outcome. Ayn's comment when I told her was, "Gawd, I hate 2013." Ditto that. But we are emerging stronger, focused on and valuing our family and friend connections.  Here's giving thanks to each and every one of you.