Merry Christmas!

Tom was discharged yesterday afternoon! It was determined that Tom had a seizure. He seems be "back to normal" whatever that means. He has become somewhat of a mystery patient over the past 30 months - he gives the doctors an ongoing challenge, which they need once in a while. His medicine regimen was altered slightly to counteract any possibility of another seizure. If that was in fact a seizure, it was the strangest one I've ever witnessed - no jerking, no slurred speech, no loss of consciousness, and plus he was able to eat dinner. I still think the symptoms he suffered are warning signs of an impending stroke.

I picked him up from the hospital, took him home to shower, and then the three of us went to my mom's house to spend the night. We have always spent the night at my mom's every Christmas Eve with my siblings, however we weren't able to do so for the last two Christmases because of Tom's condition. We had a good time - ate a delicious, authentic Italian bolognese with homemade pasta, fresh baked bread, and lots of wine. We listened to Christmas music, while some of us played games, others looked at slide shows, all amongst lots of laughing and merriment and the warm feel of the woodburning stove nearby. Very healthy for the soul.

Last night around 11:00, Tom's legs started feeling very weak and he developed a mild headache. I helped him to bed and he was ok until the onset of a severe stomache ache in the middle of the night. That was probably due to the combination of a rich dinner, followed by cannoli, and maybe the one glass of wine he had.

We were looking forward to a trip to the mountains today to spend time with our family on Tom's side. He stems from a large family - about 31 of us to date - and it's impossible not to have a great time when we all get together. We always add plenty to our ongoing collection of fond memories. Unfortunately, Tom's legs became very weak once again and his head began to hurt pretty bad. It's very difficult for him to walk when his legs do this, and he searches quickly for the nearest chair. He looked at me and said, "I'm not going to be able to go to the Hilltop today". That's the place were everyone was meeting. We were all bummed about this.

We're back home now, in our pajamas, with a fire burning in the fireplace, snacking on fudge, tuning into the background periodically to watch the funny parts of A Christmas Story, and fiddling with our various new Christmas gadgets.

I'm in desperate need of a nap. We are never allowed to sleep late on Christmas - my parents wake us up before the sun rises to open gifts....proof that we are all kids at heart. :-)