It's been awhile since I've posted. Justin's situation is hard to write about, but I know there are people who want to know what's going on with Justin, my son. In truth, he is getting sicker and weaker. For awhile,he made great progress, talking, eating, and getting back into his power wheelchair. Then he started getting weaker. His left lung became covered with secretions, and he needed surgery to scrape things out. Then a CT scan revealed more new spine fractures (total of 7). After that, he just hasn't been able to get over the hump. This week, Justin decided to discontinue the weaning from the ventilator. He is on full breath support and can no longer use the voice valve to talk without dangerous oxygen drops. Pain medication has been significantly increased to help him deal with the pain. It's a tough thing for a 23-year-old to confront one's mortality. We will continue this journey with Justin to the end to the best of our abilities. We
It's amazing how fast the world has changed in the past few weeks. The stock market has tanked. Countries are closing borders. Schools are closing. Crowds are a bad thing. Social distancing is a thing...a good thing. Honestly, I didn't need social distancing to be a trend.
If it was just up to me, I would be heading out west in early April with the Scamp. Unfortunately, it is not meant to be.
Justin has a great semester going at UW-Whitewater. He has new friends. He is doing well in school. Additionally, he found a new passion: sports broadcasting. One of Justin's new friends is a communications major and participates on the campus television station. Justin auditioned and is now is part of the broadcasting team.
Each week, they do a sports talk show, covering a wide range of local, regional and national sports topics. Also, for college team broadcasts, they provide play-by-play, color and sideline reporting. Justin loves spectator sports, talking and the limelight, so the fit is perfect.
Unfortunately, the corona virus has thrown a wrench into the continuation of the semester. UW-Whitewater, along with many other colleges, is closing early for an extended spring break, and the future of the semester is unclear. Justin is coming home tomorrow. We are planning for the probability that he will need to complete the semester from home with his classes offered only online.
While the situation is fluid, his care giving agency has advised that care giving will not be available in the dorms when online classes resume. That means that Julia and I will likely share care giving responsibilities at home for the foreseeable future. There is a possibility that Allie might be able to help out some too. Anyway, I'm 99% sure that I won't be making any long trips this spring. I will need to stay closer to home for awhile.
One scary thing is that Justin has weak lungs due to his muscular dystrophy. He already needs a bipap machine at night for breathing assistance. Justin rarely catches viruses, so we're hoping that continues.
Glacial Drumlin
Today, Julia and I celebrated our last day of the empty nest by hiking the Glacial Drumlin Trail near Lake Mills, Wisconsin. We did an in/out hike of about eight miles. Spring is in the air.
Robins literally arrived just a few days ago. They are fat and sassy after a trip north. On the trail today, we saw another sign of spring: the return of the sandhill cranes.
After the hike, we went to Lewis Station Winery, where we sampled several red wines (ok) and dined on wood-fired pizza (really good).
On a final note, I ordered 25 lbs of green coffee beans to get me through the zombie apocalypse. I'll let other people stock up on toilet paper.
Tag, you're it! We get those Robins twice a year as they pass through, in great numbers, (They apparently know nothing about Social Distancing) swarming our place for a couple weeks each way, and frankly they are a bit messy! So I'm kinda glad you have them now.
Too bad about your trip plans, but there are those who claim successful evolution doesn't really favor the fittest so much as it does those that are the most adaptable.
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Too bad about your trip plans, but there are those who claim successful evolution doesn't really favor the fittest so much as it does those that are the most adaptable.