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The King and I-Piper

13 Dec

There is a song that keeps running through my head (ok there are several, but one particularly is recurrent this week).  Deborah Kerr sang it in the movie, “The King and I”.  Well actually that is incorrect.  She was filmed singing it, though she was actually over-dubbed with the voice of Marni Nixon singing.  In fact, Marni Nixon’s voice was used for every movie in which Deborah Kerr sang, including “An Affair to Remember”.   But anyway,  the “it” to which I refer is the song, “Getting to know you”.  That song sums up my week with Piper.  I know, I know…you thought I would post about Cole’s progress second.  And of course your interest is truly focused on the effect of his intensive, rehabilitative treatment; however, if I give you the “goods” up front, then I will have no guarantee of your return for the third installment.  Hey, I’m no dummy…I know how marketing works–now if only I could get paid for my brilliance! HA!!

So onto Piper…

I confess, I’ve fallen in love with her.  She has converted me over to the doggy dark side!  What that means is that she is now in the house…she is currently sleeping on the living room floor!  OUTRAGEOUS!!!  Me, of all people, loving a dog…who could ever guess!  It’s not that I didn’t love animals prior.  I loved them.  You know, I would never want to see an animal mal-treated, or exploited in any way.  In fact, I love nature so much that it bothers me greatly when people feed wildlife, cage them, or put them on display.  Which is probably why I wasn’t such a pet lover before.  But she has won me over.  Piper and I went exploring together and spent a lot of time together while Cole was resting.  My discovery is that she is a beautiful animal, a sweet girl, a lover and cuddle-r, a devoted to her owner canine, and a super silly female.

In the beginning of our week together I was asking G-d why he didn’t send us a simple, basic dog.  The kind of dog that eats whatever you give it, pees and poops without thought (out of doors of course), and is just the “I’m a happy dog” mentality.  No, instead we received a sensitive and complicated bitch.  And by the end of the week I fully cherished all of her complexities.  And now, I am simply in love with her, and in love with her breed.  To that end I say, “HELP”!

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Have Flu, Will Travel II

14 Nov

OK, this time I contracted the flu BEFORE traveling, unlike getting it the day after returning home (from Catalina; see “Have Flu, Will Travel”).  It was a sad occasion…the stomach flu hit me at about 12:30a.m. which technically was Esther’s 16th birthday.  I began throwing up at 2:30 a.m. and my sister’s flight into Orange County was due at 8:10.  Well she arrived, though Brian had to pick her up, but the saddest news of all is that Esther also contracted the insidious bug, and her entire birthday celebration has been postponed.

My sister came and went like the wind, and I do believe I even caught a glimpse of my brother, bedside, for a few minutes.  Though our porcelain queens aren’t getting nearly the attention they did yesterday, our stomachs are still making sure to keep us close to their thrones.

Anyway, I leaving in the morning, as planned, with Cole.  But I leave YOU with a gorgeous photo of Esther on the eve of her birthday, with her new 1962 Mercury, and a smile still on her unsuspecting face (unsuspecting of the flu that is).  …please keep us in prayer for safe travels, and please PRAY FERVENTLY FOR A POSITIVE OUTCOME WITH THE ACUPUNCTURE TREATMENTS.  As always, I thank you!

My baby's got a Mercury!

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Have Flu, Will Travel

1 Nov

Well it didn’t happen as my title suggests.  I traveled, then returned home and awoke the next day with the flu.  That was yesterday.

Once a year my girlfriend and I take a weekend respite on the island of Santa Catalina.  Our weekend is typically planned one year in advance of our departure, so when the time comes rolling into view, our internal engines get revving for take off.  Or in this case, being it’s an island we are traveling to, our engines get ready to set sail.  Of course there have been a few years when circumstances on the home-front threaten to call off the voyage.  Such as when Brian’s mom was in the hospital in 2007, and such as this year when our family is still undergoing the recuperation of Cole Bent.  But alas, I needed this break so very much that I practically ran to the boat, luggage in hand, with the threatening promise to keep my phone off for the next three days (as well as the derogatory commentary which accidentally slipped through my lips that went something like this; “They’ll be lucky if I ever return!”).  And come Sunday, the last day of our Isla del Sol, I was seriously, though not wholeheartedly, considering taking myself up on the threat in parentheses.  Which is probably why I was punished the following morning with “Moctezuma’s Revenge” and had to spend most of the day connected to the latrine and when not in the bathroom, in the prone position.  Cole took over the candy duty for our neighborhood trick-or-treators last night as Brian had a gig, and Esther had other plans.  I remained on the couch, where I’m sure all the parents’ of excited children, were grateful to have me.

Today am feeling better, though a bit sluggish.

A strange occurrence happened to me while on the island this past weekend…I was plagued by hay-fever type allergies.  So much so that I actually bought allergy medicine for an exorbitant fee from the local store.  But the medicine did help stop the incessant sneezing.  It was strange for me to be in the shoes of an allergy sufferer because I have not been one in the past.  That was always my brother, Greg’s, familial position.  I was always the vocal bystander, the one who would point out to my brother how irritating his continuous sneezing was for all of us in his presence.  Anyway, I’m thinking my body chemistry is changing–which is something that has been “winking” at me for some time now.  An irritating reality!

Now the past two weeks or so, Cole has been asking me to find him an acupuncture doctor because he is interested in looking into the effects of acupuncture for his cranial nerve damage, more specifically, his face.  So while on Catalina, and because of my own personal health revelation, I mentioned the scenario to my friend.  She spoke of a doctor who came highly recommended in the arena of natural medicine, though she didn’t know much detail about her practice.  So today I followed up with the lead and learned this doctor is an MD who embraced holistic medicine because its benefits, she found, are more helpful to the patient on the long term.  Yet she still supports the influence of Western Medicine for acute scenarios, such as that of a brain tumor.  Anyway, her name is Dr. Connealy and her practice is in Irvine.  Turns out she has a broad range medical facility, with many medical partners and disciplines, including but not limited to, acupuncture.  I called and learned they do take many insurance plans, but not that of ours.  Dr. Connealy is not an Anthem Blue Cross provider which means we would have to cover the fee at time of consultation and then submit it to our insurance for “hopeful” reimbursement.  The fee?  A mere $425.00 per person.  Yes, I had hoped to go as well for my new found allergy issues as well as imbalanced hormone issues, but at $425- a pop, it’s not going to happen!

Here is where you come in…

Do any of you have a lead for Cole’s request specifically and firstly, as well as mine secondly.  I am hoping to find a naturalist doctor who is also an MD, who is in the Anthem Blue Cross network of providers.  I hope and pray you or someone you know will point us in the right direction; a direction we can afford preferably.  I look forward to your feedback.

Now back to my happy place I go, “Twenty six miles across the sea, Santa Catalina is a waiting for me…”

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