synergy

Catching Up

As you may have gathered, things have been busy for us lately. Last weekend, we drove cross-country to visit the new baby. This week, I spent a week in training. The class finished up around noon on Friday, so I've had the afternoon to play. Right now, I'm sitting in a cafe with a mug of tea and taking the opportunity to do a bit of writing.

K and I went through a rough patch with her work attendance in December and earlier this month. Finally, it reached a point, when the two of us were unable to discuss the issue together. K felt incredibly guilty and I was angry, as my previous posts have made clear. When we became unable to discuss the problem, it was time for us to head off to K's therapist to help us communicate. I know some therapists won't treat the couple if they are treating the individual, but Dr. M has made it clear that I am welcome to sit in if K and I consider it necessary.

The result was the I was able to express my frustration with K's inability to go to the office and I gained a better insight on why it is so difficult for her to make it in at times. I knew that K was having a difficult time listening to the discussion. As soon as her job attendance is broached as a topic, her preference is to withdraw and tune out the discussion. She did concentrate and listen to what I had to say and my concerns. I also acknowledge that my anger with her struggle isn't helpful to either one of us. The result was that Dr. M believes that K is still battling with the depression that she's had most of her life. We also discussed some ways that K may make it to the office for partial days, if she's feeling too tired in the morning to go in. We didn't reach a complete solution, but we began working towards one. The result from that session is that K has made it in to the office for the past 2 weeks without missing a day.

The only other humorous thing to report is that K went to the doctor yesterday. She's somewhat overweight, has had a heart attack, and takes blood pressure lowering meds. Besides those things, she eats salt constantly. However, due to her lithium intake, her salt tests low in her blood tests. The resident suggested to her that she eat a bag of chips to help her salt levels. Somehow, that doesn't seem quite like the right answer. I could see saying "Perhaps you want to eat some nuts or add more salt to your food." But the idea of a doctor recommending high calorie, high fat chips seems unbelievable.

I'm feeling good. My 33rd birthday is on the 28th and K has already begun planning for it. Nothing else happening.

posted by synergy @ 2:39 PM