arrgh... but we're all fine now.

 Look, if you straighten out the horizon in this picture it only gets tiltier. Like my life...  Grandma went to the other daughter last Wednesday - still without the injections she needed, but it wasn't my fight. Not wanting to do without a fight I called Robert's Oxygen to pick up the auxillary tank (big, heavy, ugly and dangerous) and they said, "No." -they preferred to leave it here. I said, "No." They said, finally, they could pick it up - but if they did they wouldn't redeliver another tank later. I questioned their ethics and asked for the policy in writing. They said they'd pick it up. They changed their mind(s). I called to say I would leave it on the road with a large sign saying Roberts won't pick this up, followed by letters about their ethics. I was bluffing. They hung up on me. I called another number. They said they'd pick it up in a few days. I said you'll find it on the front porch. OK. I know...but I'll be dang-gummed if I will be Roberts' unpaid storage facility. Plus everytime I see it I wonder if my mom will make it back and I think of all the ERs and ICU's and hospital rooms with all their oxygen and all of my life spent maintaining medical stuff and I become extremely self-pitying. Can you imagine? Me? Self pitying? Sad, but true.

  Speaking of which when we returned from the sailing trip the eldest child (that term is so inappropriate) informed us of chest pains that had been constant and worsening all weekend. The neurosurgeon did not call back. Our friendly neighborhood (well, at least same county) nurse came and listened to his chest to rule out something respiratory so at close enough to midnight my exhausted husband headed to the ER. Given that the shunt drains into the heart this was not an over-reaction. The ER ruled out the shunt with xrays, then found bloodwork evidence of a possible pulmonary embolism - ruled that out with a CT scan, then admitted for a cardiac stress test. Meanwhile the good dad slept 3 hours in the car and then stayed all day waiting for the cardiac test which was done promptly the moment he left the hospital to get some lunch. Everything was ruled out but muscle sprain and home again with naproxen.
   Now if there was no shunt this would have been our first guess and there would have been no ER trip, but as, recently reminded, shunts can kill when malfunctioning so you do what you have to do. I supported the effort by texting people and feeling sorry for myself pretty much all day. It was exhausting.

Oh, and the neurosurgeon, who has been the neurosurgeon for almost 30 years now, called back at 8;30 am and said it "shouldn't" be the shunt and glad we got to talk because he wanted to tell us that this happened to be his last day practicing medicine in the U.S. because he was flying to Germany (today) to start a new job. He'd send us the medical records. He had no real suggestion for another doctor until pressed. So long and thanks for all the fish.