Year: 2016

This is the second time in four years that my body has rebelled against me. The first time was nearly four years ago when I had a stroke in Florida that shut down the right half of my body, an event that has residual effects to this day.

This time around, even a week later, I am still a bit uncertain as to what happened. First my left ankle was wracked with pain, and then my right, and then I could no longer stand up. It was as if I was going dead from the waist down, but this time the work of some virus rather than my brain turning against me. Seven days and a buttload of antibiotics later, I am now able to stand up and walk with the aid of a walker that I’ve nicknamed Imperial because really what else are you going to call a walker?

I would like to thank all of you for your well wishes and support for Kathleen and Caroline during these trying times, and my legs are getting stronger every day, so that’s improvement. I’m hoping to be back to normal within another week.

In the meantime, keep buying my books because the hospital bills are going to start flooding in and we could use the help.

PAD

Kath here-

He’s home. He was released from the hospital yesterday and is very happy to be back home.

It was basically a massive infection that he needed hospital grade antibiotics to kick.

His legs are feeling stronger each day. He said he felt no pain this morning while walking around the house so what they did worked.

Now he has to work on getting his legs back into good order. Right now he is good to go around the house. He is working up to getting to a convention in mid January.

Thank you one and all for your words of support and encouragement. We appreciate each and every one of you.

For Caroline and me, the best gift this morning was having Peter home. Although I got a pretty kicking Dr. Strange statue and my parents gave me a copy of the new Labyrinth game.

Hugs your friends and family. Tell people you love that you do love them. Life can change so quickly and regret leaves a bitter taste.

Merry Christmas-
Kathleen O David

I saw Peter yesterday and he was able to stand and take a few steps. This is monumental to getting him home. He is still in pain but nothing compared to that he was even the day before. We know this because he hasn’t taken any painkillers since Wednesday so again a good sign.

So the nebulous might be date is rapidly turning into Saturday, which will mean that he will be home for Chrismas/Hanukkah.

Once we get him home, there will be things that still need to be dealt with but he won’t be in a hospital. And since he has been in the hospital since Monday, he is so looking forward to getting home and back to his routine.

So thank you all for your positive thoughts, prayers, and good wishes. It does help in ways we cannot even imagine.

In other news about the house, the first issue of Artful the comic adaptation by Action Labs is in your local comic book stores this. And Peter has a story entitled Franklinstein in the current issue (Winter2016) of Space and Time magazine.

Caroline and I know we have some more questions to answer in the Ask Us entry and we will be getting to them after we get things sorted out here so probably this weekend.

I can’t tell you how much it means to know that we are working our way back to normal around here. Hug your loved ones a little extra this holiday season because life can change in an instant.

Hi there, remember me? I’m Kathleen, Peter’s wife. You may remember hearing from me almost 4 years ago after Peter had a stroke.

Well this time it is not a stroke or a heart attack. Right now we are eliminating things rather than getting a diagnosis because every time we think we know what is going on, we get another curve that sets us back to figuring out what is going on.

What we do know that Peter is in the hospital with severe leg weakness. He can’t walk and even standing is dicey.

This all started this past Saturday when he had to go to the hospital because he could not stand on his left foot due to ankle pain. It was diagnosed as a sprain. It was wrapped up and he was sent home with crutches.

Sunday he could barely move and standing was agony for him.

Monday he couldn’t even stand and that’s when he went back to the hospital where he has been the past couple of days where the Doctors are doing their best House impressions trying to figure out what is going on.

Currently we do not know when he will be back home.

He did point out that at least this time he had the good grace of collapse at home rather than out on the road like last time. His sense of humor is unaffected.

He said for me to remind you that you can still purchase his books in time for Christmas. There is a new Apropos novel available among other things. Personally I am still a fan of Fearless.

So I will be updating as I know things. I am getting some serious flashbacks to four years ago but this time there is no stroke just a mystery that really needs to be solved.

Caroline is holding up and dealing with what is happening and what will not be happening this Christmas which will be the first one I have not spent with my parents in my lifetime and her first without spending it at her grandparents. We have plans for the day to make it Christmas for us. We are hoping that Peter will be home by that point but it is not looking too likely. (EDIT: Clarification here. Peter is Jewish and I am Catholic. We mutually decided to raise Caroline as a Catholic and she had her confirmation this past October. So we celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah and since Caroline’s birthday is in December, she makes out like a bandit this month)

So think good thoughts for Peter. He could really use them as could we.

Since Peter is in Argentina for the week and since he just did a ask me anything and since Caroline just turned 14, we thought it would be fun to do an ask me anything for us.

So feel free to do so. Please remember that Caroline will be reading this as well.

Kath
(Update: We have seen the questions so far and will be answering you this weekend. Keep them coming)

So for Caroline’s birthday dinner (she’s 14 today) we took her out for dinner at our local Outbacks. In the course of the evening, I was recalling an incident at another restaurant many years ago. There was a guy sitting near me who was out on a date with a girl, and he was trying to entertain her by telling her a series of lightbulb jokes.

And she wasn’t laughing, possibly because none of them were funny.

I paid my check and as I got up to leave, I saw a resigned expression on the girl’s face. I paused at their table and said, “How many Surrealists does it take to change a lightbulb?”

Surprised, she looked up and said, “How many?”

I replied, “The fish.”

And she broke up. She thought it was hysterical. And the poor guy glared at me because he’d been coming up empty and I had her laughing with one joke. I got out of there as fast as possible.

And in relating that bit of humor from many years gone, we discovered that Caroline was wholly unfamiliar with light bulb jokes. We were horrified that we had omitted that bit of education from her life.

So we want to tell her light bulb jokes.

So hit us with your favorite light bulb jokes.

Don’t go google it; we already did that. My favorite from that one was:

“One.”
“How many psychics does it take to change a lightbulb?”

So wrack your memories and tell us the lightbulb jokes that have stuck with you all this time and we will tell Caroline.

PAD

So Future Ex-President Through Impeachment Donald Trump recently declared on Twitter that there should be punishments for flag burning. Perhaps losing your citizenship or spending a year in jail.

The question is not, “Why is he attacking the First Amendment?” The question is not, “Doesn’t he know the Supreme Court has already upheld this right?”

No, the question is, “What is he trying to distract from now?” Because that’s what he has done and always does. When something is coming up or has even arrived that is potentially embarrassing/criminal/destructive, he says something remarkably stupid and inane and the news cycle immediately zeroes in on that and overlooks the more important stuff.

At this point, I’m losing track. What’s the criminal thing that was just revealed that he’s trying to distract from this time?

PAD