Taylor has not been allowed to go outside for about a week now.  The beta blocker for her heart got changed from propanolol to atenolol, and on one of the first nights after this switch, her heart rate went up to 130 beats/min, probably from a bad dream or something.  The atenolol dose got adjusted, and her heart rate has been fine since, but because of this incident, none of the doctors or nurses will allow her to be outside anymore, even if she stays on the hospital grounds.  She is on a heart monitor, but they don’t know how good the signal is from her wireless monitor to the nurse’s station.  The speech therapist even suggested that maybe a nurse could come out with us, if just for 30 minutes, but they said, “No.”  Unfortunately, the senior neurologist on Taylor’s medical team, who would have a say on this, has been on vacation for 2 weeks.  Taylor will eventually get a defibrilator, but the logistics of this have not been worked out yet, and until she gets one, she has to wear a heart monitor 24/7.

Thus, we have been indoors all weekend, despite the beautiful Colorado Spring weather.  However, we were able to pass the time with visits from family and listening to the 2nd book of “The Hunger Games” triology, “Catching Fire.”  On Saturday night, Cousin Tracy and her husband, Michael, came to visit with homemade shrimp and chicken dumplings and clam chowder (yum!).  On Sunday, Uncle Hung came to visit with his ukelele and sang us some songs.  We also worked on a crossword puzzle.  The rest of the time, we listened to “Catching Fire,” (and finished it), and we are now listening to the 3rd book, “Mocking Jay.”  Tomorrow, the therapy sessions start up again.