Shin Splints

There aren't any real changes to report tonight. For the last few days Cora has been very much the same, with the exception that for some reason she didn't sleep at all last night or for more than ten minutes today. She wasn't angry, just a little bit feisty and not restful at all.

This morning I got to hold her for a while and that made her happy. She didn't sleep but she studied me and Grammie and Papa, who were visiting, intently, with those inquisitive eyes. At least it made her content for a while. The rest of the day was filled with her normal meds, and lots of chest treatments and suctioning to clean out the junk in her lungs, mixed in with visits from friends.

All of Cora's medications and support mechanisms have been unchanged the last few days. She is still on a hefty dose of diuretics to dry out her lungs, as well as various heart medications and all manner of other things. And still on the hi flow oxygen; still working pretty hard with her breathing. She is periodically spiking a fever on top of everything so she is also continuing antibiotics. They are especially cautious of infections since Cora has "hardware" in her now.

This weekend Jason and I will step away from the hospital duty and let some of or friends and family sit with Cora. Every year for the past nine years we have participated in a running relay race which spans 200 miles of the Bay Area. We do the relay as part of a team called Shin Splints, which should indicate about how serious we are about the competition. We may not be fierce competition, but what we lack in athleticism we make up for in fun. Ironically, the relay benefits an organ donation non-profit organization. We figured that of all the years we've participated, given everything we're going through, it would only be right to keep the tradition alive. Plus it might be nice for us to get some fresh air.

This year our team will run in honor of Cora, and we will pass that Cora Lion bracelet, the one that Liz wore when she did the Escape From Alcatraz race earlier this year, from runner to runner all the way from Calistoga to Santa Cruz. I'm sure the entire time I'm running I will be dreaming of a day when Cora can see things and do things beyond the walls of a hospital. But I also know we all will be drawing strength and inspiration from her, and the resolved way she keeps on going, no matter how much pain or how difficult the road.