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Poor Cyrus got locked in the garage last night. He spent the day recovering. Doesn’t he look traumatized?

In October, I served on a jury for a medical malpractice case in which two doctors were being accused of negligence in their care of a 67-year old gentlemen who died after having a surgical procedure called an anastomosis. An anastomosis is when a segment of intestine is resected and the two remaining ends are sewn or stapled together.

For three days, we heard testimony from loads of expert witnesses — internal medicine doctors, infectious disease specialists, surgeons, and gastroenterologists who explained the INs and OUTs (literally) of the gut. I learned more than I ever wanted to know. I remember feeling like I was watching a medical drama on television, but couldn’t change the channel. In fact, I had to pay very close attention 100% of the time because these doctors’ careers depended on it. Little did I know, I’d be putting all that newly acquired knowledge to use.

On Thursday, October 9th, we, the jury, found the doctors innocent. Not only did we find them innocent, in the jury room, we talked about the fact that we were so impressed with their skill and care that we would gladly have either of them operate on our loved ones, in the event of necessary surgery. How prophetic those words turned out to be.

Ten hours after the trial ended, at about 1:30AM, I was awakened by a phone call from my mom in Lexington, who explained that my dad was running a fever and she thought she better take him to the emergency room. Rather than drive to Brenham, or to MD Anderson in Houston where my dad has been treated for malignant melonoma for the last 5 years, she drove him into Austin. I met her there and soon after, he was admitted to the hospital.

I remember thinking what a coincidence it was that after a week of hearing about about medical procedures at this very hospital, here I was. As the elevator doors opened to the 3rd floor, I recognized the doctor’s name on the glass wall in front of me. It was the primary doctor who had been on trial — the one we had just found innocent. What a coincidence that my dad was admitted to a room on the same floor as this doctor’s office!

It took several days to determine what was wrong with my dad. His blood count was so low, he needed 2 blood transfusions. During a diagnostic colonoscopy, they found he had been bleeding from ulcers on the colon wall, likely caused, or at least exacerbated by the latest experimental chemo treatment he’d undergone at MD Anderson. They also found a polyp in his colon that they suspected to be cancerous.

During that week in the hospital, I was able to visit with the doctor from the trial. The first thing he did was give me a big hug and thank me for my vote of confidence which resulted in the not-guilty verdict. He came to see me and my family frequently, and offered to provide any consultation in the event that one was needed. It was comforting to me, and even to my dad, to know that we had a “special connection” to one of the doctors.

Within a week from Dad’s hospital discharge, we were in the gastroenterologist’s office for a surgery consult. He suggested dad get the polyp removed. He asked if we had a preference for surgeon, and when Dad said we were friends with a particular surgeon, the gastroenterologist said, “Oh good, I was going to recommend him anyway!” It was scary knowing that my dad would undergo the same surgery discussed in the trial, but how lucky were we, to know, in great detail, the qualifications and character of the surgeon!

On December 3rd, my father had a hemicolectomy with an anastomosis, removing the polyp and stitching back together the healthy sections of his colon. Throughout my dad’s ordeal, I’ve been able to fully understand all the medical jargon, diagnostics and even decipher the “shorthand” in his medical chart, thanks to the crash course I received in the 53rd district court in October. The polyp turned out to be malignant, but only in the innermost layer, so they believe they removed all of the tissue in question.

My dad is currently recovering from surgery and getting stronger every day. We’ve been on the cancer rollercoaster for many years now and understand there are good days, but also many dark days. We also know the great and wonderful miracles that remind us someone much more powerful is in charge. We thank God for bringing this very special doctor into our lives, for that little reminder.

I inherited a piano when my parents down-sized about 20 years ago. It is a beautiful walnut Fischer upright which my grandparents had given my mom in the 1950s. I have wonderful memories of my mom playing Debussy’s Clair de Lune as well as her self-composed Awakening of Spring. My grandmother (the one who turned 100 in July) hand-stitched the needlepoint cover on the piano bench, and I remember sitting on that bench with my grandpa while he played Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata.

Try as I might, I just couldn’t catch on to playing piano as a kid or young adult. I do better with one note at a time, so being a flutist is perfect for me. The thought of getting rid of the piano always made me sad, but I knew it was a shame for it to go unplayed for so long. Alas, I decided recently that I should let it go and benefit from the added space in my home office. I posted a free-to-good-home ad on craigslist.org and within 15 minutes I had 5 “takers.” The first person who called was a lovely woman who has played piano her whole life but hasn’t been able to get one while her husband finishes grad school. She says she cried with happiness when she told her husband about the piano. Well, I also cried after I got off the phone with her and had to call my mom to cheer me up. My mom assured me that Grandpa would be happy that the piano was being given to someone who would make beautiful music with it. Afterall, I can’t bring it to heaven…nevermind the fact that the pianos up there are much nicer! (That is EXACTLY what my grandpa would have said!)

So, today I said “goodbye” to my piano, but my new friend has promised to send me recordings of her playing music on it, so that is wonderful consolation. Below are pictures I took to document the “goodbye.” Sniff, sniff….

On April 12, 2008 I reached a career milestone……15 years with IBM/Lotus. I was in one of the early Lotus Development hire groups that got grandfathered in to have two sabbaticals. I spent my first sabbatical at home with two small chicken-poxed children. My second (and last) sabbatical will be spent celebrating my grandmother’s 100th birthday with her in Michigan. Below is my countdown!

This recipe was enclosed with my Rival 6-cup rice cooker, but it’s not on the web, so I thought I’d share it here (I also shared with the Rice Cooker Yahoo group that I just joined!). I made this tonight for dinner and I really liked it…although I would recommend more salt than it calls for in the recipe. Also, I used tilapia instead of salmon. Enjoy!

1 1/4 cups jasmine rice

1 can unsweetened coconut milk

1 tbsp. water pinch salt

Cooking spray

2 salmon steaks, approximately 6 ozs.

1/2 orange, zested and juiced

1/2 lemon, zested and juiced

2 in fresh ginger root, peeled & grated

1 tbsp. soy sauce

1. Place rice, coconut milk, water and rice into rice bowl. Spray steamer basket with cooking spray and arrange salmon.
2. In a separate bowl, combine orange zest and juice, lemon zest and juice, ginger, and soy sauce. Brush both sides of salmon. Place cover on unit. Turn Rice Cooker to COOK.
3. Every 5 minutes, baste top of fish with marinade. At end of cycle, test rice and cut into salmon to see if opaque.

I just had a flashback of my Grandpa Steele this morning as I was making waffles for my daughter.  I had dripped a bit of syrup on my finger and licked it off.  Suddenly, I remembered when I was a little girl and sucked my thumb.  My grandpa was great.  He used to pretend-scold me in front of my parents and Grandma, then he’d take me into the kitchen and secretly pour Karo syrup on my thumb.  He’d say, “Well, if you’re going to suck your thumb, it might as well taste good!”  Here’s a picture from when I was about 2 years old, right before one of the trips to the kitchen.

(picture taken with one of the early Polaroid cameras)

We had a blast eating, visiting, playing games and just generally having a good time. Click on the picture below to see more photos.

Click the picture below to view a very special movie I created for my parents to help celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.

Today we went to Central Market to celebrate Mother’s Day. Click on the picture below to see the Flickr picture set.