Stabilization

I spent all day yesterday with Kevin. He was in good spirits. He even called me at 7:30am before nurses came by to prick and prod him some more. He couldn't sleep, he said, because of the hourly blood tests nurses gave him.

"How are the dogs?" he eventually asked. The dogs are fine, I replied, but anxious to go for a long walk again. They sit bored right next to my feet and eagerly await my movements:

Mom's getting up from her damn computer table. Keep an eye on her...
Oh look, she's putting her shoes on. Oh boy!
Now she's grabbing her Cool-Max hiking cap. Oh boy oh boy.
She's grabbing her keys...we're going outside. Ohboyohboyohboy...
And now she's grabbing her camera YIPPIE!!!

And by then the dogs are usually pushing each other out of the way to get to the front door. Sammy and Sadie always fight to be the first Alpha Dog outside.

Unfortunately, it hasn't been this exciting for them these last three days.

"Guys, I owe you a rain check" I keep telling them.

Kevin has been stabilized. I asked a doctor working on his stats if there was anything else wrong with him. He assured me there wasn't other than high blood pressure and high cholesterol. This is the news I was hoping to hear, and apparently this relieved Kevin as well. As soon as I came by he gave me a hug which he hasn't given me in a few years.

He was alert and interested in watching the Superbore Playoffs. (This is more exciting than listening to more news about last Tuesday's 7.0 earthquake in Haiti) Yesterday the Arizona Cardinals played against the New Orleans Saints. The Saints quickly took the upper hand and the Cards were never able to recover. Gary came by with his wife Jeanne shortly into the first quarter and said "The Cards aren't going to make it to the Superbowl. They need a good defense and they don't have defense!" His presence was like a bad omen, because when I left in the 3rd quarter the Cards were losing 14-34 and Kevin had lost interest in the game.

I left when the nurse was ready to bring by his dinner and do more tests. He was also getting tired, so by 5pm I was back home with three anxious dogs wanting to hit the trails. It was already getting dark and all I did was walk Sadie for the 2.2 miles around the neighborhood. I would have taken all three dogs but all three dogs together are too powerful for me to restrain should another dog appear menacing to them.

It was a moonless night, and the Milky Way seemed to streak across the sky, from Tucson in the northwest to Sonora in the southeast.

Another bad winter storm is due Monday night, with rains (5-10") in the Phoenix valleys that may stretch down our way. For us that normally means snow in the peaks.