Hi Donna,

Three kinds of recent progress:

Back on the pills for muscle spasms and "nerve pain" (what other kind is there?) after my foolish attempt to stop taking them, which lasted one night. Maybe they aren't the placebos that I took them for?

Swift review and denial of our routine appeal of Kaiser's 4th attempt to discharge me. Now we're in the "reconsideration" step, where they have to explain why they want to discharge me. It takes longer, but is more entertaining.. (It's sort of like a traffic cop stopping you and handing you a ticket that doesn't say why he's ticketing you, your first request to dismiss the ticket is denied without any explanation, and then you go to court and they finally have to explain that your offense was speeding when your car was parked, which leads the judge to laugh and dismiss the ticket.)

More weight-bearing at 40 pounds on my right leg is wonderfully easy after I simply raised the hospital bed much higher so that the leg is almost straight instead of being bent. The button to raise the bed is hidden from the patient on the other side of the control panel, but I learned months ago how to feel for it.

Cheers,

Carl