(that’s Todd on the right, with the kewl patch I sewed on his jacket.)

* Todd is awake and responsive mentally, aw yeah! Not so much with the physical yet. Got a great text today from Alex (from Todd’s phone, such a strange thing to see at first) saying they miss me and can’t wait to see me when they come home soon.

* When they get here, I’m going to read to Todd until he can physically make me stop. As I told Hacker Boy last night while walking through the Castro and discussing the concept of ‘deliberate family’ I said, “I made a vow to Todd — well, I made several when we got married. And that was to love him, no matter what, ’till death (and beyond, as we promised). The love has changed shape but the vow will never be broken. I’ll be here when he gets here.”

* Now here’s the hard part. Last week I talked to Todd’s stepmom while she was there (I love her very deeply). It was when they were trying to figure out why/where/what the infection was — in a panic I called and said, “You know he has amoebic dysentery, right? He got it in the tropics about ten years ago and still carries the bacteria.” (Todd often joked to me about the amoebas living in his tummy.) She didn’t know, and immediately wrote it down, answering in a raised, upset voice, “They didn’t even know he was allergic to penicillin!” I think I just repeated, oh my god. (Enterococcus, what the docs found as the source, is related to tropical dysentery. It is most commonly treated with penicillin.)

* If I had been at Robodock, the first thing I would have told the EMT’s was that he is allergic to penicillin. Of course — I knew that. When we were married, I always tried to get Todd to wear a bracelet.

* There is a benefit for Todd and Alex tonight and more in the future. Better yet, here’s the how to help page with PayPal donation info.