A Day in the Life of a Urinary Tract

Frustrating day with medical professionals.

1PM: We show up to NYU Tisch (after getting lost in that massive hospital - the worst elevators in all of health care) to procure a sonogram of Grace's kidney and bladder to show surgeon the stent in her that he will remove tomorrow. I had assumed that it was about a half an inch long. WRONG. It runs from the kidney, along the ureter, and through the bladder. It's a monster. Note to self: ask more questions. Grace is suffering from some kind of bug (100+ fever for over 24 hours - simply because she has surgery tomorow!) and is very irritible during the entire procedure, crying unconsolably.

3:30PM: we arrive at the pediatrician (after an idiotic subway ride) to get the pre-surgery okay. Doc notices some white "gunk" on her tonsils and is somewhat against the procedure tomorrow. She puts a urine bag on Grace to collect a specimen, and tells us to come back in 30 minutes or so. Grace cries most of the time. We leave, run a few errands, and I realize she has crapped herself.

4:30PM We go back, the docs declare the bag useless, they attach another one and we head out again for a break. Did I mention she cried the whole time?

5:30PM Grace is finally exhausted from all that emotion and falls fast asleep. We run a few more errands and head back to the doc's office. Luckily she is a one a day pooper so all is well. They get their specimen and it seems like there is no urine trouble. We call the surgeon who of course says that Grace must come in tomorrow and HE will decide if all is okay to perform the procedure to remove the stent. Grace cries for most of the time in the office.

Sarah & I agree this is one of those days that age us. We stop off at the liquor store for a nice bottle of wine.

We will awake at 4:45AM to have Sarah breastfeed Grace before going into the hospital. Just another day dealing with medical issues in our house. It sucks, but you just get used to it. It's simply what you do.

A Side of Democratic politicians I'm ashamed to show

I found these quotes on line today and I must say I'm ashamed to be a Democrat. I never knew our politicians were this feckless. Sure, Bush is bad, but these quotes really are beyond the pale.

1. "You can support the troops but not the president." --Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)

2. "Well, I just think it's a bad idea. What's going to happen is they're going to be over there for 10, 15, maybe 20 years." --Sen. Hillary Clinton (D - NY)

3. "Explain to the mothers and fathers of American servicemen that may come home in body bags why their son or daughter have to give up their life?" --Keith Olbermann - MSNBC Anchor

4. "[The] President . . . is once again releasing American military might on a foreign country with an ill-defined objective and no exit strategy. He has yet to tell the Congress how much this operation will cost. And he has not informed our nation's armed forces about how long they will be away from home. These strikes do not make for a sound foreign policy." --Rep. Barney Frank (D - Mass)

5. "American foreign policy is now one huge big mystery. Simply put, the administration is trying to lead the world with a feel-good foreign policy." --Gov. Howard Dean

6. "If we are going to commit American troops, we must be certain they have a clear mission, an achievable goal and an exit strategy." --Former President Bill Clinton

7. "I had doubts about the... campaign from the beginning . . I didn't think we had done enough in the diplomatic area." --Sen. Tom daschle (D - SD)

8. "I cannot support a failed foreign policy. History teaches us that it is often easier to make war than peace. This administration is just learning that lesson right now. The President began this mission with very vague objectives and lots of unanswered questions. A month later, these questions are still unanswered. There are no clarified rules of engagement. There is no timetable. There is no legitimate definition of victory. There is no contingency plan for mission creep. There is no clear funding program. There is no agenda to bolster our over-extended military. There is no explanation defining what vital national interests are at stake. There was no strategic plan for war when the President started this thing, and there still is no plan today" --Se. Harry Reid (D - Nev.)

9. "Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is." --Former Vice President Al Gore.

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Surprise! Here are the actual people who said those quotes about our involvement in Kosovo, an engagement where not one US soldier died.
1. Rep. Tom Delay
2. Former Rep. Joe Scarborough (now on MSNBC)
3. Sean Hannity
4. Sen. Rick Santorum
5. Tom Delay
6. Karen Hughes, speaking on behalf of George W. Bush
7. Sen. Trent Lott
8. Rep. Tom Delay
9. (then) Gov. George W. Bush

* All Quotes taken from Dailykos.com

Future Cover of the Palm Beach Post

I'm Starting to think "Fuck It!, I'm done with this blog shit!!"

Oh, boo hoo. Nobody seems to read my posts. Yeah, I know I need to put more time into them, but being a busy father is, well, busy.

So today I check the blog to see if anybody has commented on my recent posts, and lo and behold there is a comment on one!!!!! So exciting.

I click the comments section and it was... a Spam ad for a company currently trading a 3 cents a share.

Must...try...harder

A few of her Favorite things

Just wanted to let people know that Sarah & I thank you all profusely for all of the ppresents you have given her since she was born lo these 13+ months ago. If you recognize these as presents you gave her, be proud, as these are her absolute favorites:

Electrical cords
Cat food bowl
Cat water bowl (only when full)
mother's purse
Cat litter box
bookshelf (only as a way to pull down books)
mother's sandals
Dad's computer bag
all kitchen cabinets
Dad's bicycle

Welcome new readers

Nothing like sending out a note changing your email address to all your friends to get your blog views going up. So I guess I better post something.

In Grace news, we went on an extremely long wagon ride today (sorry, no photos yet). By the end of it, she was nodding off in the back just like my father in a La-z-boy. Truly a wonderful way to spend the day.

In political news, this country is a disaster. Bush refuses to go see the mother of the dead soldier. He's a fool. It would be so easy. All he has to do is go out there, offer her some lemonade, speak to her for 30 minutes with no microphones, and it would all blow over. But he's incapable of spending time with anybody in an unscripted environment for fear of looking like a moron.

Also, did you know OUR Dept. of Defense is organizing a "freedom march" to honor both victims of 9-11 and our soldiers. Bad enough tat the march ends with a rally and country music concert, but they are making people "sign up" to be allowed to participate. WTF???? What is "free" about having to give your name to the government to walk in a march? These folks get scarier by the minute. But somehow we just don't care.

Yet another update

Grace is doing fine, according to the surgeon. The incision is healing perfectly. Sorry, no photo of that. Here is a snap to prove that all is well.

I will add more content in the next day or so.