BR's iBOT takes a licking and keeps on ticking.

The iBOT repair man arrived on the 22nd to assess the damage to the iBOT after BR's fall down the front steps. I had noted that the headrest was bent, and that a cast aluminum panel that held the right leg rest in place had cracked, leaving the leg rest usable but unstable. After describing the incident to the repair man, he gave the chair a once-over. To his surprise, the two items I noted for repair were the only things he could find wrong as well. Whew! That thing is really built like a tank! He ordered the parts and returned the following Wednesday to make the repairs -- just in time for us to load up in the minivan and head to Louisiana for Nanny's memorial service.

BR with Sarah-Beth in Belcher.


Jordan and Steve on the couch.


It was great to spend the weekend with family. Jordan joined us for the road trip, and got to experience first hand the brand of love grown only in Belcher. Food and drink were plentiful, and I took time to perform some routine maintenance on BR's mother's and uncle's computers. Uncle Mickey's had gotten into a state where antivirus protection failed to start, and Windows patches failed to install. I found the solution in Microsoft's knowledge base, and after a few hours of downloads, ACL resets, and Service Pack installations, the computer rebooted without any errors and protected with antivirus.

When we returned to Austin, we were greeted by our friend Jeanne. She had flown in from Oakland to spend some of her spring break with us. We love Jeanne, and hadn't seen her since her 50th birthday celebration at Jazz Fest in New Orleans last year. She was a delight as usual, and we took advantage of the beautiful weather by spending Tuesday walking in the neighborhood park, and eating a Polynesian-Mexican meal at the Hula Hut on Lake Austin.

Jeanne and BR at the greenway waterfall


I return to work tomorrow, so I spent today planning our Easter Chapeau party on Sunday. I also made a run to the Home Depot to pick up a 6"x6"x8' post to protect BR from the front steps when he's on the porch. With the post in place, BR will be able to spend time unsupervised on the porch once again. Yippee!

Front steps before ...


... and with the post in place.

BR's world just shrank a bit

I was upstairs in a teleconference for work, when I heard a whole lot of commotion and yelling from down stairs. BR was down there with some friends making dinner, so at first I just assumed they were having a good time and "getting happy." In the second wave of shouts, I could make out my name and a sense of urgency. I stuck my head out the office door to see what was going on. "Bobrobert has fallen off the porch! Get down here quick!" A choice expletive and a quick good-bye to the conference, and I was flying down the stairs.

BR was laying on the sidewalk at the foot of the porch stairs, his iBOT on its side and partially on top of him, sounding the all too familiar "red alarm." I powered off the chair, and tried to lift it out of the way, but it was good and wedged on the railing. So I turned my focus to BR.

"Are you OK?"

"Yes." He sounded a little shaken up.

"Did you hit your head?"

"No, sir." Whew. I felt around his scalp just to make sure.

There was no blood and only a few noticeable scrapes on his elbow. At this point, I wanted to ask, "How did this happen?" but realized there would be plenty of time to play Monday morning quarterback later.

Given BR's recent osteoporosis diagnosis, we were all a bit concerned that he may have broken some bones. Without moving him too much, we got him comfortable on the sidewalk with a blanket and the wheelchair cushion for his head, then called the hospice after-hours nurse for help. He took our information, then advised us to call 911, because BR would likely require x-rays in the ER. While a neighbor called, I had Jordan gather all his medication, and I grabbed his DNR. The ambulance arrived and soon he was on a stretcher and on his way to the hospital.

BR hates the ER. His medications give him intense dry mouth, and he's never seen without a bottle of water. So it irks him to no end that from the moment the EMTs arrive until he's seen by the ER doctor, he's not allowed a drop of water. But that doesn't stop him from asking, begging, and pleading. All told, he was without water for a little over an hour, and very happy when he was finally given some.

The doctor ordered some x-rays and a Dilaudid injection. We just laughed, as previous experience with Dilaudid has shown it to have absolutely zero effect on BR. He got Demerol instead.

They took the x-rays, which didn't show any fractures. The doctor wanted to order a CAT scan, but we decided against it. All told, we were in the ER for three hours and left with peace of mind that his bones were still intact.

But things won't be the same. The front porch was BR's place to be social with the neighbors -- one of the few daily social opportunities he has apart from Jordan and myself. He will now require supervision when on the porch. An extra set of eyes to make sure this type of thing doesn't happen again. A little less independence.

Dude, where's my car?

Whoa. What the hell just happened?

One minute we are driving back from Houston, discussing how wonderful the doctor at M.D. Anderson was. He spent at least 45 minutes with us, and explaining how Prialt works, listening to our concerns, and being honest about the chances of success. He let us know that between 60 and 70 percent of people who try Prialt find the "sweet spot" where pain is relieved, and the nasty side effects don't take hold. He tells us to expect to spend a week in Houston while the proper dosage is tuned in through experimentation.

The remaining 30 to 40 percent are unable to achieve pain relief without the drug affecting their memory and ability to reason. He assured us that in this unlikely event, the side effects will go away completely within three hours of stopping the medication.

Given BR's history of failure with exotic pain treatments, we took time to discuss our options should Prialt follow suit. Unlike the Which Doctor, this doctor was not afraid to discuss how intractable pain crosses into palliative care, and finally into hospice. He felt that BR would best be served by a local palliative care doctor instead of a pain management doctor, and they will be providing a referral.

Ding! Dong! The Which is dead.

After a couple celebratory drinks at a Houston watering hole, we started making our way back to Austin. About 45 miles from home, I felt a strong vibration from the van. Thinking it was just rough pavement, I changed lanes, but the vibration persisted. Then the "check engine" light started flashing and we started losing power. Crap.

Now when BR and I travel, we are a lot like the Beverly Hillbillies. The van is packed with an entire hospital bed complete with mattress and rails, a shower chair, BR in his iBOT, a cooler, and a couple large suitcases. The van breaking down just completes the picture.

We rolled into a small convenience store on the edge of nowhere, where the clerk was quick to join me under the hood looking for the source of the problem. Nothing obvious was out of place, but I knew we weren't going to make it the final 45 miles. The clerk offered to call a friend, who just happened to have a garage right across the street. The mechanic friend was working late and agreed to take a look.

The diagnostic computer said that "the MAP readings were not changing from start to run" and that "cylinder 4 was misfiring". The friend changed the spark plug on cylinder 4, but it didn't help. We were stuck.

I thought through our options. How was I going to get BR and all our stuff home? Wheelchair minivan taxis are difficult to come by in downtown Austin, much less the edge of nowhere. It became obvious that the iBOT would not be leaving with us.

Once that decision was made, I called the neighbors from across the street, and they agreed to come fetch us in their SUV. During the 45 minutes it took for them to arrive, I realized that BR's hospital bed would also be spending the night at the edge of nowhere. The only piece of equipment that joined us was the shower chair.

So as BR sits in his shower chair in the living room, completely unable to do anything for himself, I'm working on the plan to retrieve the bed and iBOT in the morning. The mechanic friend will be digging further into the engine problems, but BR's independence and comfort can't wait for a repair. In the mean time, we will be sharing a bed tonight for the first time since we moved to Austin.

Live on, iBOT!

Hear Hear!

BP MS 150 rolls into Austin

This past Sunday, BR and I set up an unofficial community pit stop at the edge of the Mueller Southwest Greenway. Several neighbors, as well as Cathy and Todd from Dallas, joined us in cheering in the 11,000 riders, who raised over $12 million for the Lone Star Chapter of the National MS Society.

Lazy Saturday

BR's iBot was in dire need of a "deep discharge", so he and I spent the day relaxing in bed, catching up on TV shows in the TiVo. I also made biscuits and sausage gravy from scratch for breakfast. My previous attempts at sausage gravy didn't turn out so well, so today I used a recipe from The Frugal Gourmet. The gravy turned out great! The biscuits were a little tough, but not bad for my first try.

While Gina was here, I set her up with a blog where she can show off her fantastic pieces of Batik art. Today, I noticed that she had started uploading images, so I gave her a call. We talked a bit about the blog, and then I spent some time adding a few more elements for her. I hope she likes the result.