Chapter Eleven: Phoebe Loves the Spa

It is Sunday afternoon and Nicole and Phoebe scheduled an afternoon "spa". Nicole explained that when she works with older young adults on the pediatric floor she schedules appointments with them. They like being in charge and there are no surprises. So, it's time for the spa and I need to beat a hasty retreat because this is definitely a girl thing. Carol and Nicole work to bath and manicure Phoebe. She especially liked having her hair washed. They've got some kind of really cool no rinse shampoo in a shower cap arrangement. Phoebe had been looking forward to this moment for at least a day. She is a bit quirky when it comes to water. She loves showers and will frequently receive scoldings for using up the contents of the entire hot water heater. She doesn't particularly like pools or the hot tub. She does, however, LOVE the ocean. She has no qualm about going to Myrtle, Wrightsville or Carolina Beach and getting in the water in late October or Early November. After all, it is the ocean.
We are worried about her nutrition. There is talk of being discharged on Monday. I can't believe it, but there is a distinct possibility. She has had little urge to eat or drink and we've had to monitor her intake closely in addition to the IV drip. Hopefully this won't be an issue down the road. Her sisters and their friends have come to the hospital to begin a regular family routine in the midst of the chaos. The plan is that they'll go home with me and I'll see them off to the bus. Carol will stay the night with Phoebe. The kids bring a surprise for Phoebe. Being the creative and technical geniuses that they are, they filmed a music video tribute for her. They chose to lip sync to Help, from the Beatles. Ooops, we'll have to postpone the world premier. There were some complications of the Mac video format and the Windows format on the computer in her room. "Hello, I'm a Mac and I'm a PC." "We don't like each other and we refuse to play nice - it doesn't matter who needed to see  what promised to be a Cannes Film Festival Palm D'Or prize winner." The talk migrated towards Phoebe's impending diet regimen. There has been a lot of discussion about what people are willing to eat in a liquified form just to eat food that they love. I've heard some tame stuff and some wild stuff. Phoebe had made my stomache queasy on Saturday morning when she suggested that she would love the bacon Carol and I were eating in a liquid shake - eeeewwwww yuck! To each his own. Kristin, never one to back down from a challenge, said, "Phoebe, what's your favorite food?" After a minute Carol and Phoebe both responded with, "Grilled cheese." Actually Carol said, "Grilled cheese" and Phoebe said, "Grrrrr Sheeesh" through her immobilized teeth. Ah, the gauntlet had been thrown! Kristin is now working on the secret formula for liquified grilled cheese sammiches. I'm sensing a cottage industry about to blossom. Stay tuned.