A Walk in the Park

Ben had to go in to the hospital early this morning for lab tests and to check in with the doctors.  While he was gone, the doorbell rang.  I was in the shower, so Josh answered the door, and was greeted with a huge bouquet of balloons.  They were from my sister, Sonia.  Since I had advised everyone not to send flowers, as they pose a health risk to Ben, she sent balloons shaped like flowers (and, inexplicably, an owl).

That funny-looking balloon in the middle is actually Josh's head.

Speaking of balloons, Josh noticed a little bubble that had formed near one of his incisions, which didn't hurt or look infected, but still caused some concern.  He talked to his transplant nurse coordinator on the phone, and then we emailed her a photo.  Influenced by our archaeological backgrounds, we remembered to include a ruler to show scale.  Sorry if this grosses you out...

She emailed back to say that it was nothing to worry about and that it should eventually pop on its own, so just keep it clean and dry.  Ick.  Josh has a follow-up appointment on Thursday, so we can have someone look at it then if need be.

Ben and Lynne came back around noon with a bunch of groceries.  Ben said his meeting with the doctors went well, but they made some adjustments to his medications, so they had to make another trip to the pharmacy.  His recovery is more complicated than Josh's as he has to take a bunch of different medications to prevent rejection, most of which cause troublesome side effects.  He also has some complicated dietary requirements (lots of protein) and restrictions (limit salt and potassium) which don't necessarily help with the digestive processes.  Nevertheless, he did have some success in that area today, which was cause for more celebration.

After lunch, Josh and Ben and I went for a more ambitious walk then the one Josh and I took yesterday.  Ben's house is a block away from the Burke-Gilman Trail, so we walked down the hill to the trail and followed it a short distance to Matthews Beach Park, on the shores of Lake Washington.  It started snowing a little while we were walking, but it was nice to get out of the house and get some fresh air.  I got a good photo of the brothers down on the beach.

You can actually see a bit of Lake Washington from Ben & Laada's house.  Particularly at this time of year, when there are fewer leaves on the trees, they have a nice view from the back deck:

Oh, and I keep meaning to take a photo of this.  It's a toy kidney that our friends Rob & Diana gave us to give to Ben for Christmas.  It's the most adorable kidney I've ever seen -- although I didn't get to see Josh's during the surgery.

It came from this web site, which has a wide variety of internal-organ-related gifts.  Not sure if there's a big market for these, but they are kinda cute.

That's all I have for today.  The brothers get a little better every day, and enjoy hearing from family and friends.