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#24 (12Aug00) Paarty

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Subject: Jen wellness update #24 (12Aug00) Party
From:      Karl Horton

Jen Watchers,

this hasn't happened in awhile: it's late on a Saturday night, and Jen & I have just returned from a party.

Paolo & Michelle had a Bay Area celebration of their wedding tonight - just a few friends around to sample their most excellent cooking.

I went - and Jen came too! It was Jen's first "outing" since her operation. I'd have found it a bit grim to see the champagne, and smell the food, but have to retire to a bedroom to be injected with "goop" and water - but Jen seemed happy enough - someone nice came and chatted to us whilst she ate.

Jen got to show her face to friends who've been "watching" her progress via email, and to talk too much. You can tell if she talks too much, because she has to use her  portable suction device to vacuum the excess saliva more frequently.

She got home completely shattered and went straight to sleep. It's funny how a relatively ordinary thing like a social  gathering seems like an immense privilege at the moment.

Medical news: the trachea-tube with emphysema debacle was  indeed a setback for Jen. Her neck wound took awhile to heal and is still very stiff. She isn't yet mobile enough to be able to squeeze her head into the scaffolding that's needed to apply the radiation, so the radiation oncologist (Mrs. Popsicle, remember?) has delayed treatment start for  a week.

This is a good thing, because Jen's friend Paige is coming to be her guardian next week. Unfortunately Paige,  a dyed-in-the-wool New Yorker, doesn't drive and seriously  damaged her knee last week. Let's just hope the cat doesn't escape out onto the deck ... I have a wicked image of Jen trying to help Paige climb the deck ladder to rescue Echo the cat. (It's a British thing, right? to find that idea tragic and amusing at the same time.)

regards, Karl

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Page last updated: Monday, 05 March 2001 18:05:15 Eastern Time.