Duke Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina

Many of you know that my niece, Cece, has cystic fibrosis and recently underwent lung transplant surgery at Duke Medical Center. At 23 years of age she has endured more than most of us will in a lifetime. We were fortunate to be able to spend three days with her and my brother Dirk in Durham, and I'm pleased to report she is doing remarkably well, especially given what she has been through. It is fantastic to see her without an oxygen bottle or gasping for breath! Unfortunately she had to go back into the hospital for three days to treat an issue with lung rejection (apparently a common issue with transplants). She is obviously discouraged as this will likely push back their return trip to Helena, although in the grand scheme of things, appears to be a minor bump on her road to recovery.

We enjoyed playing multiple rousing games of “Catch Phrase”. I think the boys won more often than the girls, but somehow managed to lose the last battle for championship of the known universe. Oh well, there is still the unknown universe to play for. We also had a lengthy game of trivial pursuit. The questions were from the 1980s and 1990s, which apparently we all must have slept through! Finally the boys put an end to the agony.

We enjoyed eating out several times with Dirk (and once with Cece). The last evening we ate at Maggiano’s, an excellent Italian restaurant in the big Southpoint mall in Durham. By chance we met the manager of the restaurant, an Irish immigrant who has been in the US for 20 years. When he found out Dirk was from Montana we were immediately his new best friends! It turns out he spent a Saint Patrick’s Day in Butte a few years back, and thinks all Montanans are friendly folks. It was a great dinner and a great visit. We are really hoping that Dirk and Cece make it home to Montana to spend Christmas with the rest of their family (they have been in an apartment in Durham for six months).