Temp 102.4, Lumbar puncture, Movie date

Last night's temp went to 102.4, but today's temp hasn't crossed the 100 mark.
Lumbar puncture was performed last night. I got to help keep Denise in a little ball shape so that the needle could more easily get between her vertibrae. The first vial was a little pink from some blood, the other three vials were crystal-clear. If they were cloudy, that'd indicate the presence of white blood cells (and infection). Today the ID doctor said that she had 3 white blood cells. That's apparently on the upper end of being OK. More WBCs means bigger infection in the spinal/brain fluid. (Yes, a "lumbar puncture" is the same as a "spinal tap." Fortunately, Denise only went to three, and not to eleven). :O)
She's been having trouble holding food down, so g-tube feedings will resume again. Tonight she was really in the mood for Thai food. The closest offering on the menu was tofu & rice stir fry. She puked it right back up, then called me to see if I could bring her some tamales, because those sounded good, too. She wants to eat, alright. You name the cuisine, and we probably have some component of it in the fridge, freezer, or pantry. Being us, of course we have tamales in the freezer. So I warmed one up and sent it over to her with her folks. As I'm writing this, I'm waiting to hear how that went. Her best meal seems to be lunch. She's been sitting at the edge of her bed for meals, which is also "exercise." After a while, she gets tired and needs to lay down. It's possible that she doesn't have enough "upright" time after eating. We might try moving her to a chair with armrests & a high back, or just sit the bed up, for meals. Those canned nutrition drinks gross her out. But we did find that if we mix one drop of peppermint oil to a can of chocolate Ensure and pour it into a cup of ice, it's almost like getting a mint-chocolate Frappuccino from Starbucks. Almost.
We finally went on a "date to the movies" this afternoon. We've been borrowing a portable DVD player so she can see the home video of the kids, and she got the idea to watch a regular movie. She picked the Lord of the Rings movies. Neither of us have read the books, but we've heard that they're very good, and the movie previews looked incredible. Sadly, as detailed as the movie is so far, I have no clue what's going on or why (maybe I'll read the book yet... or at least hear the audiobook). I can, however, relate to the fixation on finding a ring... we've not been able to find Denise's wedding ring for over a year. It went missing about the time that Gracie not only started playing dress-up (yes, Denise let her try on her ring), but also started to be very "helpful" by putting things in the trash can, down the sink, the toilet... You get the picture. Anyway, we did get Denise a "placeholder" ring, but it's nowhere near as powerful as the ring from the movie we're watching.

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