It's been brought to my attention...

That I haven't updated for quite some time. I'm sorry about that. First of all, we're busy. That's a true understatement, but it will have to suffice. Additionally, life is not real interesting over here. J.J. hasn't been to the doctor for a while now. Both the neurologist and cardiologist have discharged J.J. to our family doctor for monitoring of his medication. And since our family doctor apparently had a baby on Friday (congrats, Dr. Roberts!) we're hoping he won't need to see her for a while either. Probably the biggest medical issue J.J. is dealing with now is his gout. Indocin, the potent anti-inflammatory that is pretty much the only thing that touches his gout pain, interferes with cardiac function. After J.J.'s stroke, he was ordered to stay away from the stuff, since he was also in heart failure. Now that his cardiac function has improved so much, his orthopedist is going to talk to the cardiologist to see if J.J. can have it in a low dosage for short-term treatment. If we can get this ironed out, we'll be back on a level playing field.

Recovery wise, J.J. continues to make strides. I don't notice his aphasia very often anymore. I'm not sure if that speaks more to J.J.'s recovery or to mine, but it's noteworthy, I think. He's decided to take some classes in the spring focused on massage therapy. His goal is to be able to do some massage work with stroke survivors; we attended a conference a while back that focused on this topic and he's been very interested in it ever since. Since one of the first classes he'll have to take is Anatomy and Physiology (which just finished kicking my butt in the fall semester), I'm nervous about how this will work. I guess just like with everything else, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Kids are doing well. Eli has had a rough patch at school with getting bullied, but I think this comes along with growing up. We've talked to everyone at his school, and he's one step away from being a black belt in taekwondo for crying out loud, so I think he'll be fine. But it still stinks as his Mom to sit back and watch it play out. Luckily, Leah's her happy-go-lucky self. No problems there.

As for me? I'm still kind of a wreck. I haven't had time to slow down this year, and it's taking its toll on me. I'm hoping that the next couple of weeks, when I have some short weeks at work and no classes to take or teach, will help out.

So there you have it. I'll try not to be such a stranger. In the meantime, happy holidays, y'all!