Quote of the Day

Christy: "It helps with kitty love....so we don't scream when she touches us."

Ben: "PLEASE rephrase that!"

---------------------------------------

(For the record, she was referring to nail clippers, which we use to clip Marley's claws so they don't get stuck on stuff. That's loving our cat. Also, it helps us since Marley's an aggressively playful kitty who likes to bop us with her paws as we walk by. It hurts a lot less when her claws are clipped. So you see it's all perfectly innocent.)

(Nevertheless, my wife used the phrase "kitty love.")

I Guess I Got Smart

It's hard to find a movie that can please me, Christy, and Christy's Mom (visiting from out of town). (Which is why I wasn't enraptured watching The Dark Knight this weekend.) Get Smart did the trick. The trailers don't do it justice.

Having never seen the original TV show, the only thing I knew to expect was a shoe phone, catchy theme music, and a spy spoof. The trailers made it look pretty stupid, but Ebert's 3.5 star review made me hopeful. And Steve Carrell, as we all know, rocks. Also, I'm a fan of The Rock/Dwayne Johnson. He's actually got great comic timing. And Anne Hathaway....well, she's got the charm of a girl next door who would, of course, never actually live next door to you, personally. So I expected a good comedy.

I got what I expected. What I didn't expect was that the movie also functions very well as an action movie (Steve Carrell the action star!) and even a bit of a romance. It's a genuine crowd-pleaser. And, hey, we're all a part of the crowd. You should go see it.

Mayo Update 2

Another week, another battery of tests. This past week Christy had 2 CAT scans, an MRI, 2 urine tests, a blood test, a mammogram and lots of consultations.

Bottom Line: We still haven't found what's causing Christy's heart palpitations or why those palpitations lead to dizziness and/or pain. And Christy has run out of sick and vacation time, so we have come home for now. BUT we have fast-forwarded the process a lot. We got maybe 6 months' worth of tests done in 2 weeks. And we've pretty much ruled out neurological problems and cancer. We've also ruled out any problems with the structure of the heart (i.e. leakage of blood from the heart or within chambers).

We're torn between relief that it isn't any one of the serious problems we were testing for...and massive frustration that we still haven't found the answer while these symptoms continue to afflict Christy.

The plan from here? Mayo's sending a 24-hour heart monitor to test more thoroughly whether there's some sort of electrical problem in her heart. If that doesn't show anything, we may look at whether there's a hormonal problem causing the heart to go haywire.

We arrived back in Atlanta late Friday night. Saturday we spent celebrating Christy's birthday by shopping at random places, hanging around the Chattahoochee River, and trying and (with some difficulty) succeeding at ordering authentic Mexican food at a place where hardly anybody speaks English. It was good to remember there's more to life than illness.

Thanks again, everybody, for your support, prayers and love. They made a huge difference in our ability to soldier on through the week. We're back in town now and will be continuing with our lives for the time being while thinking about our next plan of attack. If there's anything else to report, I'll let you know.

Mayo Update

Wow, I leave this blog alone for one week, and I find a full-fledged rhetorical war on my hands. While it's entertaining to watch the sparks fly, I don't have the heart to join the fray right now. It's been a long week.

So, Christy's been through an alphabet soup of tests: EKG, EEG, ECG, MRI, Halter monitor. We've met with a neurologist and a cardiologist (2 of the latter, actually). My Dad - a saint - came down with us this past week to provide moral support and a "grown-up" presence that these doctors may be more likely to respect than us "kids." (Said the 27-year-old.)

Bottom Line: The heart tests didn't find any problems with the heart. The neurological tests didn't find any problems with the brain. (All comforting....and frustrating. After 5 months, we want some ANSWERS!) The MRI did find a few anomalies re: lymph nodes and the blood system which could range from "absolutely nothing" to "serious problem."

.....Meaning we are going back to Jacksonville next week. We'll be seeing a hematologist and also doing some tests to see if sleep apnea (sp?) is causing all these problems. The thing the MRI discovered could be nothing, or it could be something unrelated to all the problems Christy's been experiencing, or it could be the cause of the problems. We just don't know at this point.

It hasn't been all gloom and doom and tests. I got to see a couple of my cousins: Amanda (newly engaged!) and Tiffany, along with my grandmother and various aunts and uncles. We ate some of the best seafood I've ever had. We came back to Atlanta for the 4th and enjoyed the best hot dogs I've ever had. Then we came to Birmingham to hang with Ronda and Jere and their two unreasonably adorable children. We watched fireworks (and a reading of the Declaration of Independence) at American Village. And we found time to watch two movies: Hancock (fun) and WALL-E (everything you've come to expect from the folks at Pixar). (Actually, Christy went to see that American Girl movie with the surprisingly good reviews while I saw WALL-E with Jere and my nephew, Drew.) In other words, there have been some good things. Also, the folks at Mayo have been nothing but kind, friendly, understanding, and flexible.

So this has been a time of ups and downs, frustration and uncertainty, gnawing fear and comfort from friends. And there's more to come.

A last note: This past week we've been deluged with kind thoughts, prayers, and words of encouragement from friends and family. Thank you! I can't tell you how much that means to us. Your kindness and support helps sustain us.

Oh, and Christy wants me to tell you that she says "hi".