All the News that's Fit to Post

Max is doing better today. His fever seems to be under control and he ate some solid food: bacon! He may get off the continuous IV soon. This would be nice as the better he feels, the more he becomes like a rodeo bull about to be released from his pen. Instead of frightened-but-hiding-it, chaw-chewin' cowboys, Max has heart-broken and easily manipulated parents. It would also be good, because the brief moments when he's walking solo with his IV stand, the bag swaying up top, the tubes and the pump massed around the middle and the wheels rattling softly on the floor. In those moments, Max in his little hospital gown and his little socked feet poking out the bottom. . . well, he just looks like a very, very small old man. And the sound you make when you see this is exactly what it sounds like when your face tries to laugh and cry at the same time.

How bad was it? Well, in a nutshell: there's a number. This number is a good indicator of the amount of infection your body is fighting. When you're 100 percent healthy, sittin' on your couch, eatin' a pretzel and watchin' your Elmo-stories, the munber should be around .5. That's point five. Max's number when he was admitted? Are you wearing your diaper? 23. Twenty-three.