Kicking the tires - Jul 7, 2008 - Chicago, Illinois, United States

Besides getting to know Laura's family and visiting with Adam and Laura, the other goal of our trip was to get Jeff checked out with all his doctors. We began that journey today with a trip to the podiatrist,ophthalmologist, and audiologist.

The podiatrist is not happy with Jeff's feet and has put his right foot in a big "Frankenstein" boot which he will need to wear until his bones quit moving around.

Today, we drove the car we had rented for the week when we went to Michigan to the VA, and the traffic was tremendous because of construction (Adam says there are only two seasons in Chicago - winter and construction.)

We turned the car in on Tuesday - one day early - because we had no place to park it overnight. Adam is so close to Wrigley Field, you can see the stadium lights from their sun porch. The only way you can park overnight which there's a Cubs' game is to have a permanent parking sticker. We had a temporary one, but it won't do during a Cubs' game. So, for the next five weeks, we will be relying on public transportation to get us where we need to go.

For my birthday, we went to a great Chicago place called the Duke of Perth. Adam had told us about this place several years ago, but we had never eaten there. They have great fish and chips and a huge selection of whiskys. I had fish and chips and decided to try a whisky - not being a huge drinker, I wasn't too sure how I would feel about it, but it was really quite good. Drinking 18 year old single malt is not so much about the alcohol, but more about the experience.

On Thursday, we were back at the VA - this time we had to take a cab to the Metra station, the Metra to Great Lakes, a cab to the VA and then do it all over again in the afternoon. Jeff saw his primary care doctor and is supposed to see an orthopedic guy for his carpal tunnel problems, but that has been moved to August 4th. Friday, we did it again this time with the endocrinologist. The gears have been set in action for the insulin pump for which we are anxiously awaiting.

It's little more difficult to get around as Adam and Laura live on the 3rd floor. In order for Jeff to go somewhere other than just getting in a cab, we have to carry the wheelchair down the stairs, then carry it back up when we return. Therefore, Jeff doesn't go to many places. Everyday, I walk down to the grocery store and buy what groceries we need for the day that I can also carry in the backpack. It's tough climbing all those stairs with a lot of groceries.

If we go somewhere like the movies, Jeff gets down the stairs and gets into the cab, then is able to walk into the theatre, but sometimes it's just a little bit too long for him.

We saw "The Dark Knight" which was filmed in Chicago and really enjoyed that, but for just plain old entertainment, we loved "Mamma Mia" the most.

The laundry in the building is in the basement, so doing laundry requires walking down four flights of stairs and back up - and doing that three times! Luckily we don't have much laundry to do. These apartments are made for much younger people.