the one with the curious birthday

i wonder if people who think they will never find a partner for life, fear waking up on their 30th birthday alone. (not that 30 is old, certainly not “past it", but people sometimes just have funny ideas.) i have to say though i never thought it would happen to me, especially after a certain event a little over seven years ago. it is therefore a curious birthday. and later, how will one celebrate a birthday in a room primarily designed for dialysis?

lest you think bronwyn's condition has deteriorated rather abruptly, it transpires she is what is called a “medical outlier”. while this sounds like something you might delete in a statistical procedure, it refers to a patient who has been admitted under the “General Medicine” specialty, but who cannot fit in their wards and is thus physically housed in another part of the hospital. during their ward rounds the renal consultants breeze past bronwyn, while the more junior doctors look initially quizzical at this patient who seems 30 years too young. someone explains, “she's a medical patient.” ohhh... (bronwyn's own cache of doctors visit later, just for her.)

meanwhile, rest assured that even as an outlier bronwyn is receiving all your electronic greetings at her bedside, courtesy of portable technology. (i discovered today there is even a visible wifi network in the region, but unfortunately they require a password so unless i can identify the owner we won't be replying in real time...) she enjoys hearing from everyone, including people we haven't corresponded with in a while. it's like a little electronic reunion.

speaking of which, i'm planning a little something of that kind. it will be held in a couple of weeks time, when bronwyn is up to participating. it was going to be this sunday, the south pacific version of my 30ld bbq, but it'll have to wait. i'll let you know in coming weeks.

in a little while, when it is a decent hour, i'll be off to see bronwyn at the hospital. i slept for eight hours last night, a two-hour extension on the previous three slumbers. it was reassuring to see her clearly improving yesterday i think.

i'll update again late today when i have fresh news of her progress...