Up and Down with Erin Buenger

February 22, 2009

Despite advice to the contrary, Erin chose the bus ride to Houston over the personal day on Friday. She thought it was great to go to Houston and not have to go to clinic or the hospital. The 8th graders went to the Body Worlds exhibit. She, Sandy Schwalen, and I had seen that show in December. Really weird! The 6th graders looked at the other exhibits at the Natural Science Museum (most of which Erin has viewed numerous times. She saw one new one called the "Wonders of the World," which was a photography show.

Luckily, I made the decision to follow the bus down to Houston (just in case). This gave me the chance to have lunch with Davis in a non-hospital setting. By 2:00, Erin had burned her wick down pretty far and opted to ride home with me in her usual, luxury-appointed captain's chair with City of Ember audio book playing in the van rather than seated on a vinyl bench seat of a district bus with "100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" as the audio accompaniment on the ride home. Beyond the obvious reasons this was a good call, her bus didn't leave for home until the exact high tide of Houston traffic (a student on the trip had to make a trip to the ER for a very minor injury, but most of you reading realize that "minor" in the ER often translates into a long stay because more "major" traumas get pushed ahead of you). We got home in time to walk the dogs, have some dinner, and get on with the evening. Everyone else on her bus arrived home two and a half hours later (at around 7:00).

Erin had little steam left most of the day on Saturday. She did manage to make it to Barnes & Noble to spend some gift cards, so she wouldn't have to be totally bored as she lay about the house. This is likely to become a more common occurrence. Erin's lung is doing her no favors. The pleural effusion on the bottom right side has persisted. It hasn't spread too much, but it has developed some crackles (at night, when everything has gone quiet, it's like sleeping with someone holding a bowl of Rice Crispies). She has also developed some pressure higher up on the same side, most likely from tumor progression. This is new and is causing her some labored breathing and coughs.

With forced rest much of the day, Erin had enough steam to host a Wii party for Jackson, Aaron, and Jesse and their folks. The kids Wii Played, Wii Sported, and Wii Fit for about five hours, while the adults ate, chatted, ate some more, drank, and beaded lanyards. Don't despair if you have heard nothing from me about your lanyard order. We are picking up steam, it's just that Erin can't work marathon sessions, so we have to pace ourselves.

Folks, we have hit a rough patch again, as evidenced by the number of times per day we have to visit The Erin Project for affirmations. If you meant to join the project, but thought too much time has past, please consider this your personal invitation.