Sunny Springtime

Spring has officially sprung here in Missoula and it's great to have the days getting longer. Tomorrow it's supposed to be near 70 and I plan to spend the afternoon outside. I'm sure the Pugs will be enjoying the sunshine with me.

Today my little Harley got spayed and had some nasal surgery. She did great and is at home resting comfortably. I'm very attached to her and I missed her a bunch last night.

I recently finished up the paperwork for ordering my new chair. It's a relief to have this step done and hopefully my chair will be here in 6-8 weeks. I've had some great folks helping me get every detail just right and I'm grateful for their assistance.

My trach situation is about the same but last Friday we did try my new Bivona trach. The Bivona trach is made out of flexible silicone and it will be much more comfortable for me. Changing my new trach went just fine but it leaked really bad so we had to go back to the other one. The main problem I believe was that the new trach was too small and/or curved at an awkward angle. Anywho I'm scheduled to see my ENT in early April to get the kinks worked out.

I celebrated my first St. Patrick's Day here in Missoula and it was very enjoyable. We went to the Home & Garden show which was at the University fieldhouse. There was some neat stuff but alot of it was the standard home improvement fare. The coolest thing at the show was these custom hand hammered sinks which came in a variety of styles. After the show we went out the Blue Canyon for a few drinks. Was very nice and relaxing. We then came home and had the traditional corn beef for dinner.

Before I end this weeks post I wanted to share Dustin's blog page. You can see his Speaking for the Dead blog at http://speaking4thedead.blogspot.com/

That's all for this week. Enjoy these recent Pug pictures and take care.

Mark

6 months and counting!

It's a beautiful sunny day in Missoula but the wind is blowing like crazy. This afternoon I had an intake meeting with my Vocational Rehabilitation counselor. Things went really good and we should be able to start putting together a vocational plan sometime in early April. I'm hoping to attend the University of Montana in the fall with a possible major in Journalism.

I have surpassed a major milestone out here in western Montana. I've been in Missoula for 6 months as of the 10th of March. It doesn't quite seem possible but it has been an awesome ride. My freedom from the nursing home has been liberating beyond words and there have been absolutely no regrets. A year is on the horizon next and I'm excited for all that is yet to come.

The Montana weather has taken a very nice turn towards spring. Last week we hit near 65 and it was so nice to sit out and catch some rays. The Pugs loved the sunshine too and we took Ugga and Daisy for a walk. Daisy wasn't sure what to think but Ugga was busy sniffing and barking at all the dogs in the neighborhood. I look forward to many more walks with the Pugs as the weather gets better.

Sometime this week I'll be switching over to my new silicone trach. This will hopefully make my changes much more comfortable and also take care of my bleeding issues.

That's about it for now but I had to put a couple pictures on this weeks post. The one is of Ugga when she decided to scale my headrest. She always has to be the center of attention. The second picture is me snuggling with our old guy and of course my sweetie Harley.

Mark

Sweet Freedom

I've been kinda lax in my updates lately but I've been busy doctoring and tending to the everyday goings on. Hard to believe March is here and that Spring is almost here. It's been snowing like crazy back in North Dakota and I can't say that I'm real envious :-) Winter here has been fairly mild and they are forecasting near 50 for the weekend.

Things have been going pretty good healthwise and my Coumadin levels have been nice and stable. I'm happy that my blood draws are only weekly now. There also has been some bleeding around my trach recently and on Tuesday I had a bronchoscopy done. The doctor put a camera scope down my airway to check things out. Turns out that my cuffless trach has caused an ulceration on my windpipe. My pulmonologist ordered in some trachs that are made of a softer and more flexible material. They should be in next week and I look forward to this problem getting resolved.

I have some awesome news to share about my friend Lori B. Lori has been trapped for the past 4 years in the North Dakota State Development Center. After a long hard fight, she recently was able to leave the institution and move to Minneapolis to live independently. I'm so thrilled for Lori and wish her all the best in this new endeavor. I'm disgusted though at how little North Dakota cares about it's citizens with disabilities. Lori and I have been forced to leave our home state to have any shot at living in freedom. We are like modern day pioneers pursuing a new homeland where we can lives the way we choose. This weeks picture is from the summer of 2005 when Lori came to Jamestown to visit me.

That's all for this update but I'll return sooner with the next edition. Take care and stay well.

Mark