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

Amazing Surprise

I had a very cool ending to the bumpy week I posted about in my last update. Saturday morning started out as a normal weekend but that changed in a quick hurry. I was planning on Dustin's family coming for the afternoon to visit, so imagine my surprise when my mom came into my bedroom. Then our friend Jeri and my sister made their way into the house too. I was pretty speechless, which many of you know is pretty rare for me :-) Everybody managed to keep this secret well and it made for a special moment.

After the intitial shock wore off, I dressed and got up for the day. I needed to head in to the hospital for my blood draw and my surprise company thought they would drive me in for it. We went to Wendy's afterward and did a bit of catching up with each other. They dropped me off back at the house so we could get ready for dinner. We all drove out to the Nine Mile House for a nice dinner with Dustin's family. Was great for everybody to meet Dustin's grandma, aunt, cousins, and of course little baby Trent. Trent was so cute and Dustin was pretty excited to see him. Dinner was real good and we all had lots of fun.

Some of the things we wanted to visit were closed Sunday, so we decided to visit Southgate mall and take a bit of a drive. We had some great gyros for lunch and it was nice browsing through the mall. We left the mall and decided to drive south and see some of the Bitterroot valley. It was kinda foggy and rainy but it was awesome to see the snow capped mountains of southwestern Montana. On the way back to the house, we stopped into the Iron Horse pub for a few drinks. The Iron Horse is a cool place and one of my favorite stops in downtown Missoula. We ended the night with some great Mexican food at ElCazador. Theresa's son Doug came along and it was nice for everyone to meet him.

Monday was the last day of their visit and we packed alot of stops in. We started the day by driving out to the Missoula Harley Davidson dealership. The store they have is huge and full of the newest cycles and Harley merchandise. We next headed over to Big Sky Brewing to check their place out. Big Sky Brewing is famous for making Moose Drool ale and other assorted brews. It was great fun hanging out there and chatting with the bartender/beer guide. The next stop on our journey was the Lolo Peak Winery for a little wine tasting. Lolo Peak only makes their wine from fruit grown here in western Montana. Their wines were excellent and I especially liked the apple and plum wines. The gal at Lolo Peak was informative and we learned lots about the winemaking process. The last stop of the afternoon was to Missoula's Bayern Brewery. Bayern Brewing makes a variety of German lagers and they have a very nice tasting room and lounge area. We also had to order some of their pretzels and mustard. It was a fitting end to a relaxing afternoon.

We ended the evening by celebrating Dustin's birthday at Shadow's Keep. Shadow's Keep is a unique dining experience and it overlooks the city lights of the Missoula valley. The food was outstanding and we had a good time talking and laughing the evening away. My mom, sister and Jeri had to depart for the hotel to get some sleep for their early morning flight home. We said our goodbyes on a very high note and I was so happy they had fun out here in Missoula. Their time here was brief but they will be back for another visit very soon. My dad wasn't able to make the trip this time because of the busy tax season but there's always next time around. This surprise visit was an incredible experience and one that I won't ever forget.

We are heading upto Helena Friday to testify on some legislation that Dustin had introduced for this session. The bill deals with institutional funding following people with developmental disabilities into the community. I look forward to giving my testimony and making a difference in the progress of this bill.

Take care and I'll be back soon with another edition of my blog.

Mark