Sept 1 (Saturday) - 1030pm

It has been a rainy day here in Alaska, but even so I managed a visit into Anchorage to see Jeannette, and then a later afternoon flight out to Willow to say "hi" to Rich.   Jeannette was looking good to me; and those all important "numbers" were getting better and that was a nice trend for the weekend.   Her white blood cell count was dropping, which is a good thing,  and her red blood cell was holding, which is also a good thing,  so all in all those all important numbers were all "in the green" from this pilot perspective, and that made for a quite and uneventful day.   When I was there with Sully, Joyce and Sam were also there, and together we had a few laughs and told some stories that had Jeannette laughing too.    

My thought as I left was that I think yesterday wore her out a little; and she seemed pretty tired when I saw her, but the nurse said they had given her some anti-nausea medicine and that tends to make anyone tired.   Jeanette was moving both of her arms, and she is sharp and focused and clearly is on top of things.  She no longer has any ventilation support, and it appears to me she has said "goodbye" to those respirators and ventilators.   What I noticed was that the entire time I was there I didnt hear any "beeps" or "alarms" or any of that; just a nice quiet afternoon in the ICU.   On occasion, Jeannette's super fancy star trek "socks" puff up and massaged her feet---pretty high tech and I guess they keep the blood moving.  A foot massage all day long--what will they think of next?   

I really enjoyed talking with Jeannette, and I could understand her well and we had a "real" one on one conversation.    She told me "I want out of here" and I had to agree, and she agreed with me that the healing deal is just too slow but as she said with a sigh, "what can you do?"    I had to agree, and it's so hard to be patient and take it one day at a time.   She wanted to know what I had been up to, and when I told her we were going to head out to visit with Rich she was concerned about the "drive to Willow" and she wanted me to be "extra careful."     In this case, Jeannette has a very unique perspective, and so I'll pass on that advice to the rest of you---drive safe everywhere you go!

In summary, I guess the "big news" from my perspective is that all in all she looked pretty good to me, her spirits up and bright, and clearly not too uncomfortable.    Sam, as always, is a fantastic advocate, spending countless hours in that room, and I think she probably is getting close to earning a honorary "masters degree" in nursing, perhaps with a minor in sainthood on the side.  

As for Rich, I drove home and then Sully and I flew the Supercub out to his lake, and taxied up to his semi-floating dock, which exactly meets the Alaskan tradition of what a floating dock is all about.  (he will laugh when he reads this)   It wasn't raining in Willow, but the air was cooler and the fall colors have started their turn that signifies we are moving towards winter.   As for Rich, he's ready---he had the heat cranked up in the house, and his grandson Matt, who is staying there with him, had all the windows open to compensate.   I had to laugh--it was a "nice and toasty" 75+ degrees in there and his oil heater was purring along keeping winter at bay.   Rich was on his PC laptop, and was busy also programming a new iPad he had purchased for Jeannette's birthday, which I imagine he will deliver in the next few days when he makes his next visit.   I had to laugh as Rich was playing with the iPad, because it wasn't all that many years ago that I picked up an iPhone and after that it was OH WOW for me.   If you have the Apple bug then you know what I'm talking about--no matter what device it is once you pick it up then it sort of grabs you and doesn't let go, and my thought as I watched Rich enjoying Jeannette's new iPad was that I think if he's not too careful he will end up with a lot more than one iPad in the family.   I know---my PC desk computer I used to have is gone, as is my old Nokia cell phone, and my old Dell laptop.   Ahhh....Rich said: "This Apple stuff is pretty neat...yeah, wow...this is great!"  (Another Apple convert in the making?)   He's discovered  "Facetime" and I think he's hoping to get Jeannette hooked up so the two of them can see each other and chat "face-to-face", even if he is in Willow and she is in the ICU in Anchorage.    

Of course, the real reason for the iPad was that Jeannette loves to read, and this will allow her to download any books she wants and read them when she feels like it.   I wasn't at Rich's all that long, as I needed to fly home before it got too dark, but we played with his computer, worked on setting up the Apple iPad for Jeannette, and had some technical fun that included calling MTA to get some internet advice to get the mail account settings right.  

Yeah, he and I would have made  any nerd proud, but somehow we got it all done.     And when all of the programming was finished, Matt insisted I try a bite of the most awesome Chocolate Mousse that I've ever tasted---WOW!  I forgot to ask who had made it, but if you're reading this you know who you are, and I can tell you Rich has a real treat there!  Speaking of treats, I noticed his refrigerator was a lot fuller than when I saw it last, and  I have the impression his neighbors and friends are keeping him well fed with the great best tastes from everything.   Without question, the Alaska State Fair food has nothing on what Rich has in his frig right now! -- John