Yes yes. How many times have I thrown up photos like this one before? Right? As I mentioned earlier this week, my Nike Plus sportband died on me, again. This is the third time it has happened. My cousin Liz suggested that I just abandon the sportband and go with the Garmin. I am almost to that point. I probably would have done just that, if it weren’t for the ever smooth and adept Nike customer service team. That, and the super cool staff at the running store in my building. I called Nike, who quickly trouble shot my watch with me and determined that it was a dud. They suggested that I try returning it where I bought it, before  sending it back to Nike. So I called Urban Athletics, who told me they would trade it straight across, for a new one. So, here we go. Sportband number 4 (pictured above). Treat me right, baby.

Switching gears completely, Reagan and I will be flying out west tomorrow. We have not been to the land of Deseret (yes that is Deseret, not desert), also know as the beehive state, since 2008 for my sister’s wedding. Since that time, one nephew and two nieces have joined the family. We have not met any of them yet. So, we have been anticipating this visit for quite a while.

Reagan and I were having a lot of anxiety about being able to go, because of Piper’s condition. But, it seems like she is on a pretty good plane, at the moment. God willing, things will continue that way, at least until we can return. Additionally, some of our amazing friends have agreed to take care of our car. Our lovely friends, the Alaska/Hofstra missies will be keeping an eye on our pad for us.

We will be taking a notebook computer with us (mostly so Reagan can play the cake building game). But I’m not sure how much posting we will get done over the next week. So, if it tends to be sparse, that is the reason.

We took a ride to Westchester pretty early Sunday, so that we could have an extra long visit with Piper. She was really mellow. This was a nice change from her  crazy behavior over the past couple of weeks. The doctors feel like they were trying to ween her too fast from the narcotics, so they bumped the methadone back up and are bringing it down more slowly, this time. Poor little squirt. She still doesn’t really seem like herself. Part of the reason, I’m sure, is because they are giving her muscle relaxers, to try to mitigate the violent cycles of the withdrawals.  She also seemed a bit puffy, today.

We ended up having a really great visit with her. Especially, I had a lot of good one-on-one time with her, since Reagan was taking a nap for part of the visit. It was nice for me, since normally I don’t get to have the kind of visits where I can just hog Piper the whole time. It is going to be tough, not to see her for so long, while we are away. But hopefully, she will be more like herself, when we return.

A few more (similar) shots over here.

I had a really fun day hanging out with my valentines. Reagan and I work up early, because she has been building pork barbacoa for the last day and a half. She has been making the stuff in the slow cooker, for some burritos tonight. It smells totally delicious. Before heading to Westchester, we took a quick jaunt out to Williamsburg, Brooklyn so that Reagan could pick up her Valentines Day present at Catbird.

We had a pretty nice visit with Piper. She was kind of rowdy. I think that it is just because she loves her mom so much, she can’t contain herself. She was kind of obsessed with my hat, today. She kept taking it almost all of the way off of my head, then putting it back on. Then, tapping the little button on the top. Silly little monkey.

I hope that everyone else had a great Valentines Day!!

We found out yesterday that Piper was going to be moving back to Blythedale this morning. Hahahaha. A little bit of short notice, but we are not going to complain. Everything went very smooth. Reagan and I both took the day off. We were hoping to be able to take advantage, and do something fun for Reagan’s birthday (also today), since we weren’t working. As it turned out, the move, coupled with retrieving her stuff from Wanaque ended up taking the whole day. Piper is still getting Adavan and Methadone, to help with the withdrawals. Other than that, she is totally back to normal. She was goofing off and smiling with Reagan, this morning while we were waiting for the transport guys to show up.

We could tell that Piper was happy to be back at Blythedale. She made herself right at home. Hahaha

Here are a couple more shots from this morning.

Reagan and I met up at the hospital today after work. Much to our joy, little Piper was awake, and still remembered who we are! Reagan arrived before I did. Apparently, when Piper saw her, she held her arms out right away. This can be a little bit dangerous, since Piper is still pretty wobbly. For the most part though, we can tell that Piper is on her way back to being herself. She got a new IV today, so that her center line can hopefully come out tomorrow. She is completely off the nitric today, and will hopefully be done with the morphine tomorrow. It seems like she is having some pretty serious withdrawals. She will be completely mellow for a stretch, then completely restless, the next. Poor little girl. We always worried about what to do if our kid became an addicted to narcotics. We just didn’t think that it would happen until at least the teens. Hehehe. Joking aside, Piper is one tough little cookie. It really was amazing to see her with her eyes open, playing with toys and tapping stuff. Her sense of humor hasn’t returned yet. But, I don’t really blame her. We are just happy that she is now doing as well as she is.

^_____Reagan, waiting for the A after our Piper visit on Sunday morning

Now that January is officially over, I’m starting to come to terms with the fact that 2010 is really here and well underway. February is going to be a big month for us. First of all, it is Reagan’s birthday is on Thursday. Woo hoo! Apparently, she is getting pissed off about people telling her that she is entering her “late twenties.” So, if you talk to her about, try to avoid that characterization.

Piper will most likely be moving back to Blythedale in the next couple of weeks (possibly next week). We are pretty excited about that, and what it represents, as far as her recovery from this illness that she has had.

Mercedes Benz Fashion week is also this month, starting next week. I’m already booked for one event, but hoping to get a couple more things lined up. There are a few possibilities in the works, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

At the end of the month, assuming that Piper is in good shape again by then, we are planning to make a stop out west, to visit our new little nieces and nephew. It will be a really huge thing for us, since my entire family will be there (except Piper ), even the ones from Alaska.

Finally, for something completely random: Check out this slide that I found on the sidewalk, over the weekend. I haven’t seen a slide in ages! Some people pick up change. I pick up this (someone’s trash). Hehehe.

We were able to see Piper in real life, this morning, for the first time in over a week. She definitely looked like she is doing better. It was tough for us to get a real sense of how she is feeling though, since she slept during the entire time that we were there. Her nurse said that she thinks Piper has her days and nights mixed up. I don’t blame you, lil’ Pip. If I had been drugged into a coma like they had you, I probably would have a lot more than my days and nights mixed up. Even though we were kind of bummed that we couldn’t see her awake, it was really really nice to see her, at all.

Reagan and I still aren’t feeling 100% better. But we just threw on some face masks and called it “good enough.” Although, Reagan wouldn’t wear her’s over her nose– hahaha.

Piper’s A-line is now out. So, the only remaining inter venous line is her center line. She is still getting a pretty stiff cocktail of meds through it, but in each case the dose is much smaller. Her nurse also told us that they are going to try to get her completely off of the nitric this week, as well as the morphine. She didn’t say anything about the NG tube (the one going into her nose), but hopefully that will be coming out soon, too. I’m sure that it drives Piper completely crazy. Such a tough little girl.

I thought about just putting in a stock photo of Piper, for this post. But, Reagan and I are still just having to use our imaginations to guess what she looks like, right now. So, I guess everyone else will too.

Yes, Reagan and I have still been too sick to be allowed into the ICU. We are both starting to feel a lot better, though. What is more important, is that, apparently so is Piper.

From what we have been told, she has still been back and forth on her vent settings. But, there has been a general trend in the right direction. The doctors have also been coming down on the nitric, as well as most of her other (non-daily) meds. Apparently Piper was pretty rowdy last night. Her doctors interpreted this to be most likely caused by withdrawals from the morphine. As a result, they are giving her a bit of extra methadone to help her cope.

She still has her A-line and C-line, but that didn’t stop her nurse from ordering some physical and occupational therapy for Piper. That makes me super, super happy. If Piper is well enough to goof off with therapists, and possibly start getting back to practicing sitting/standing, then she is definitely making strides.

We also learned today that she has already successfully been referred back to Blythedale, and will be going back there when she has recovered enough to safely move. As for lining up new long term care, it is all still in the works. I’m finding it to be a bit like how I would imagine herding cats while trying to catch a fly with chopsticks. I mean, I know that social workers are busy people. But, then, so are we.

To be completely honest, I don’t have any complaints, right now– Only gratitude. Our little family has been so incredibly blessed, throughout this entire ordeal, in both tangible and metaphysical ways. All I can say is: Thank you, thank you, thank you, to all of those who have been kind enough to keep Piper in their thoughts and prayers over the past several weeks. As she has done so many times in the past, Piper has made it pretty apparent to me, that there is someone out there listening to those thoughts and prayers.

YAPFMDC=”yet another photo from my desk chair.” Yes, that was the best I could come up with, tonight. Apple drops an iPad, I serve up this. I haven’t been feeling particularly creative or motivated for the last couple of days. So, there it is.

Reagan and I are both still too sick to see Piper, which is a total bummer. Of course she is comatose for days, when we are at her bedside the entire time. Then as soon as she starts to make some progress, we are both out of commission. I know it sounds like I’m complaining. But I promise, I’m not. From my discussions with Piper’s nurse, she did have some problems during the night with her saturation, but was doing better again in the morning. She is now conscious for extended periods of time, and apparently not getting too upset about it. They have given her enough slack in her restraints, so that she can poke her own face, which I’m sure she is pleased with. I’m really really really hoping that at least one of us is over this bug convincingly enough , that we can pay a personal visit Thursday.

In other news– there are some very important dates coming up. First of all: Sunday is the third anniversary of Reagan and I making nuptials. Hehehe, is there really any nerdier way to write that? Doubt it. Thennnnnaaaahhhhh: Next Thursday is Reagan’s B-day!!!!!

Although Reagan and I have both been too sick for the past couple of days to see Piper in person, we received a pretty optimistic report from her nurse today. She told us that Piper has been able to come down a bit more on her vent settings, despite the fact that she is no longer on the paralytic. In addition to the improvement of the vent settings, Piper’s nurse reported that the X-ray appears to be looking better. This was pretty huge news for us. We are hoping like crazy to be well enough tomorrow to pay a visit.