McElf GlassWorks

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Captain's Log

Captain’s Log: Day 216

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As requested by certain amazing medical staff: Day 216.  (Guess what? I didn’t even have to count. You can Google that.)   Mom sounds AWESOME this morning… almost totally normal! Through the weekend she had still sounded really loopy… She still sounds tired, but that’s new normal for now. The slurring is gone, she’s conversing with me instead of just rambling down crazy-lane… awesome-sauce. I would say that “The boredom continues…” … except for this weird thing when she got lost in the library?!?! (There is… no… library… mom…) And that she’s having techni-colored dreams… And Bonnie charged up her… Read More »

Captain’s Log: “They of the Fine Behinds”

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I don’t know. Maybe mom just missed their butts. Mom’s yesterday was boring. Mom… behaved? I mean… we’re just waiting to make sure the swelling goes down so that everything can get moving again so… we’re just… sitting around. Today should be… boring. WHICH IS GREAT! WHICH IS SPECTACULAR! This is exactly what the doctor wants! He wants her to be bored to tears with no headache. OH THE DOCTOR! That’s all I hear about when I call… “Dr. Easy-on-the-Eyes” and the other Doctor that always comes with him, who is also “Not-so-Bad.” Yes, indeed. They have nice bums, I’ve… Read More »

Captain’s Log: Here we go… Again.

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So up until Saturday morning things were über-hunky-dory… then we very suddenly got hit by a mega-oopsie-daisy… About 24 hours ago — Saturday night, 9PM-ish — very suddenly, Mom’s headache came raging back, the drug-drunkness got a out-of-control, and it very suddenly felt like December 16th all over again. There are a lot of similarities to beginning of each “event” in fact; just change the AMs to PMs and it’s crazy how identical things go: There’s some noises and… a thud? Bonnie and Heidi respond. (Again.) 9-1-1 is called. (Again.) Ambulance to Mary Wash Fredericksburg. (Again.) CT scan. Brain looks… Read More »

Captain’s Log: The Day After the Glue Job

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I would post a picture of Mom, but she kind of looks like a crazy bird right now. (Appropriate, perhaps, as a chief of Bluebird Glass Studio?) A wild bird on REALLY good drugs, ha! Mom did great last night. I guess we forgot-to-ask/didn’t-think-about the fact that going in and mucking around in the brain, rerouting essentially all of your body’s blood flow in the area directly over your spinal column, might cause a wee headache. So, um, Mom had a literal killer headache last night. She’s on some sweet painkillers though, so she’s much better now. Despite the massive… Read More »

Captain’s Log: Surgery Day Part 2

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6:59PM UPDATE: MOM OUT OF SURGERY!! HUGE SUCCESS!!! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!! Mom is out of surgery. The surgeon says that the fistula is completely successfully shut. This reroutes a lot of blood and Mom’s brain to go a different direction (the CORRECT direction!) so they’re putting her in the ICU and they’re going to watch her carefully for a while. But all in all, an enormously successful surgery, very happy with the results and how mom did!! Consider the mission accomplished!!!! 5:30pm UPDATE: They took her back AN HOUR ago but the nurse called out to say that they JUST STARTED!!… Read More »

Captain’s Log: Surgery Day Part 1

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Well… she’s back in pre-op now… Mom had an early start this morning. She had to shower using special soap before they even left the house, so 6:30am was her wake up call!! (She hasn’t been up that early intentionally since pre-collapse!) So special shower, almost 2 hour car ride, into the hospital… then you guys know how it goes… sit and wait! We killed the time reminiscing… Last time we were sitting around waiting for surgery together was… 2007… and I was the one going in for special treatment. We’re in our little curtained area of the pre-op room…… Read More »

Captain’s Log: Administrative Hell Continues…

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I think the one of the most difficult things to deal with in regards to Mom’s recovery is how vigilant we must be for the minutiae. Minutiae is actually become a favorite word of mine lately… There are always a ton of odds and ends to do in one’s life, but this entire thing has really taken it to an entirely different, almost professional level of b***s***. I went through some of this with pops when he first moved in with us. It quickly became evident that there were elements of his life — administratively speaking — that had seen… Read More »

Captain’s Log: Notes to Self

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Today is a holiday so… I’m actually enjoying a little peace and quiet! I’ve just finished cleaning off my desk and I found a few notes that I’d jotted down over the last few months. (They gather under my stapler… when my stapler topples off my desk, that’s my signal that it’s time to spiff up!) So this one note — which to the best of my detective abilities is from the week of January 1, 2017 — is full of silly things my mom was uttering in her incredibly brain-addled state. (She’s now only slightly addled. And next week… Read More »

Captain’s Log at 6 months: How to Prepare for “Minor” Brain Surgery

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June 30, 2017 I know it’s been all quiet on the Western Front for a while… I thought I just needed a week or so to get back on track and, well… that’s a different story. But here we are. Two months later. To catch up as efficiently as possible: Mom was here in Buffalo with me for all of April, then she returned to Stafford, VA where she has continued recovery and gaining strength. Her progress has been remarkable by any available metric! She’s walking every day (and often up to two miles!) with company, but without assistance. At… Read More »

THE I-95.

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Having lived on the I-95 corridor, learning to drive inside the Corridor of Hell otherwise known as the Capital Beltway… when I first moved to Buffalo, all of the road names sounded really bizarre to me.  And it wasn’t because they were long and had too many consonants (you try pronouncing Scajaquada your first day in town!)  It was because they all came with THE in front of them.  And there were so many different TYPES of “highways” — THE thruway, THE expressway, THE highway, THE skyway, THE, THE, THE. But there was also none of THE traffic that I had… Read More »

Life's too short for decaf coffee or annoying emails.

What I can't promise is regular, weekly emails. What I can promise is sporadic, humorous updates with a serious amount of gorgeous glassy adventures inside. Occasionally, there might even be a chance to join me for a cup o' coffee. (The really caffeinated kind!)

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