Day 6 of Brain Surgery ~ Living Against Multiple Sclerosis

I've seen ONE dog in Seattle. It seems like a dog-less world here. Besides Annie. And I've never seen or met so many people who are afraid of dogs. They see Annie and jump away like they've been bitten by a snake.

The hospital, the apartment where I'm staying and the shuttle service are amazing. Such nice people and not one word about Annie as a Service Dog. She gets the respect she deserves.

As I said in Facebook, Kim's not doing as well as they would like him to. He's in severe pain, or too medicated to respond, and very, very lethargic. He was taken out of ICU yesterday (Sunday) morning, to Acute Care, and today, they took him back to ICU.

These are the new listings in my cell phone: Acute Care, Dr. Shaker, First Hill Apts, Harborview, Kim's brother, sister, son and mother. Patient Care Coordinator, Apt Shuttle, Hospital Shuttle, Kim's Case Worker, Hospital Social Worker, Transportation, and various nurses and doctors.

I have a long post wanting to be written, but I'm trying to rest and not over do. I feel like I should be at the hospital, but he's not aware of me being there as far as REMEMBERING I was there. He made me Durable Power Of Attorney for Medical Issues, and I'm starting to feel the weight of that responsibility. It's amazing how exhausting being out of your own routine is.

... Course, my normal routine is ... bed resting. I'm a pro at that.

Annie is my saving grace. She is such a goofball, but then I put on her vest, and she's seriously serious. Yesterday, Kim was extremely agitated, in pain, cause the pain meds from surgery were wearing off. I put his hand on Annie's head, and he calmed down almost immediately as Annie licked his hand. He stayed calm for about 10 minutes. It gave me chills how powerful that bond is. She truly missed her calling as a Service Dog, because she'd rather be a Therapy Dog - the kind the visits patients in hospitals and nursing homes. Another thing she's doing that I didn't teach her is tucking herself in the farthest corner out of the way of everyone coming and going in his room. She's even doing it in the apartment.