Here's to Health

By Mary

Wow…we just got home from the Torchlight Parade. This is the nighttime Oktoberfest Parade and is held on the Northside of the city. Luckily Heather lives one block off the parade route so it is easy to have a meeting place for everyone. The parade was ok…but Rex, Nikki, and I snuck off to sit in a local pub and have a relaxing drink and visit.
I got back to LaCrosse this morning after spending the earlier part of the week at my Mother’s. I got gas in Lansing on the way to LaCrosse for 2.14. Iowa is great!!

Yesterday I had the opportunity to go with my sister-in-law to her dialysis treatment. She goes to dialysis three days a week at Platteville which is an hour away from where she lives and the treatment itself takes 4 hours. For anyone that is unaware of the fact, my sister-in-law had the transplanted kidney removed this past spring. Anyway it was an interesting day for me and for my poor sister-in-law it was like any other dialysis day she has to endure. While it is a true miracle that we live in a period of history that can help someone with total kidney failure live….it is definitely not a cakewalk. Kitty has a bruise on her arm that is about 8 inches long and 5 or 6 inches wide. It looks sore and I am sure it is sore. The dialysis center itself is a pretty interesting place. The place in Platteville is owned and operated by a doctor that has a practice in Dubuque. This is room to put 12 patients at a time on the dialysis machines, they start scheduling at 6 AM and the last appointment is at 2:45 PM. My sister-in-law said her 12 treatments per month cost $4,000. Do the math….this place has quite a monthly billing total!! They are open 6 days a week…

Rex just read my blog entry and wants me to end on a positive note….the weather today was perfect for fall. Bright, sunny, and 70 degrees…can’t get any more positive than that for October 5th!!