Joe Broccoli and other oddities

A lot has been happening, which is why I have been away.

Today I have no time. There are, for instance, five loads of laundry backed up in my laundry room. So I should not be here, and I shall need to try to keep things concise.

Poor DJ came down with Bell's Palsy on Tuesday, May 25 (a week ago), after being sick for five months. Bell's Palsy causes half of your face to be paralyzed, so he can't play saxophone right now, and it could be as long as a year before he is able to again.

This is all quite distressing for a student majoring in saxophone with a scholarship linked to his major, not to mention the seven hours we spent at the emergency room last Tuesday evening. There we sat--did I mention seven hours?--in the waiting room with a homeless man who thought his name was Joe Broccoli. He had diarrhea really bad and no concept of, uh, using the rest room. He moved from chair to chair throughout the waiting area, staining each place he sat. By the time we got out of there, I was as traumatized by my lack of Christian love as I was by my son's condition ("I don't even care if that man is going to hell, I just don't want to be in a waiting room with him any more... so am I even a Christian?")

After we got home at midnight and stripped off our reeking clothes and showered and finally got something to eat, I sat across the table from David with our delicious wraps filled with warm scrambled eggs and ham and melted cheese, and then I was finally able to feel sorry for Joe Broccoli. I realized that a hot shower, clean towels, clean pajamas and warm, fresh, delicious homemade food are things Joe Broccoli probably never has, possibly never had, and my heart did break a little for him once I wasn't being assaulted by his frightening wolf-eyed visage and his fresh-diarrhea-over-stale-urine stench. Of course, my husband was on a business trip to CA all week last week, but that's the way it goes.

DJ may have a very long road to travel. His condition is not dangerous, and he has a mild case, so his face doesn't look odd or anything. The only problem is that he can't play his saxophone, but for him that is a very big problem. Only God knows what the future holds; we are in a waiting mode right now. The "normal" course of the illness is 3 weeks of paralysis followed by 3 months of rehabilitation. Since he is a saxophone performance major, and since his scholarship is linked to his major, it remains to be seen what will happen if he still can't play once school starts. I pray and pray and pray and try not to worry, which is easier if I guard myself from getting overtired.

I could also write a bunch about antiviral drugs and the differences between doctors who prescribe them and the prices at pharmacies that distribute them, but my time's up.