Paging Dr. Supermodel

February 18th, or as I like to call it, meet Dr. Supermodel day. Yes, I'm aware this seems a little lighthearted but the somber and heavy mood surrounding us was beginning to suffocate and, just as Trouper would do, we looked for humor wherever we could find it. Enter Dr. Supermodel, or as the nurses in Piedmont CCU like to call him, Dr. Tight Pants. Dr. Supermodel is a Nephrotologist, or in layman's terms, a kidney doctor. They usherd us out of the room so he could evaluate Trouper, then sent for us to discuss his worsening kidney functions.

 Dr. Supermodel is one of those "touch your shoulder" while he talks kind of doctor and honestly, it was hard to concentrate on what he was saying. Just kidding, I fully heard everything, including his creatinine levels being too high and the possibility of his kidneys shutting down. He decided it best to place Trouper on slow moving dialysis, probably for only a few days, to help his kidneys filter all the fluid being built up. His poor kidneys just couldn't keep up so they added another line in his neck, and started dialysis. Slow acting is a little different then the kind people get every few days at their local dialysis clinic, and it's continuous 24/7. It's easier on the body and in Trouper's current situation, we needed any and all treatments to be as smooth as possible. At Piedmont, they name all their dialysis machines and Troup got Britney Spears. Her picture showed the young, 18 year old  "Hit Me One More Time" Britney and not the crazy, shave your head Britney. I figured Trouper would have thought it was funnier if it had been crazy Britney machine but at least he didn't have the Michael Jackson unit, that's just sad and depressing. The machine was big and a little noisy, and the nurses were constantly having to change out the bags and adjust settings. We saw Dr. Supermodel several times a day, and I noticed it wasn't just the females in our group that were enchanted by him, the nurses swooned, yes swooned, when he walked in.

My sister, Emily, Jake, Ryan, Mom and I went down the street to our favorite Atlanta Mexican restaurant, Uncle Julios. It was started in Texas and to date, after 14 years of searching, is the closest we have found to home in Georgia. It was nice to get out of the hospital, but a little sad to be at Trouper's favorite place. He is mesmerized by a painting of a little Chihuahua wearing a sombrero and has asked to buy it many times. I have no idea what his fascination with this paining is but it makes him happy so I have searched high and low for it and can never find a reprint. Mom has a friend whose a painter, so we took pictures on the off chance she could recreate it. It was fun, talking and laughing about his strange connection to that little dog and reminded us that laughter truly is the best medicine!