Officer Wes and Tom's 2005

January

The year started off interesting: Wes got notice of a major comprehensive review of his disability status. Previously, concise two-page annual update questionnaire forms were submitted to Wes and his doctor. This year, it expanded to a 13-page questionnaire and a request for copies of all tax returns from the previous four years. Interesting.

February

...started off with a bang: PNEUMONIA.

Later in the month Officer Wes started pursuing a life-long dream: Establishing a relationship with a leather daddy.

March

March was another interesting month for the entire family:

Officer Wes had a rough patch. His antidepressant stopped working and it took a couple of tries before finding a replacement that worked. Plus, with the pneumonia in February, he'd lost 12 pounds of lean body mass and it once again became painful to sit. It was time for another anabolic cycle to rebuild butt cushion.

Tom went to visit his dad. A widower at 81, he'd proposed to a long-time family friend and she accepted. We're happy for them both.

slave jay bumped his elbow. Sounds simple enough. But it got very serious very quickly. That elbow bump irritated the bursa (small cushioning fluid sacs at joints), which abscessed and required hospitalization and surgery all within 48 hours. A course of IV antibiotics at home followed.

April - May

This was a bright time for Officer Wes. Lean body mass was put back on much more easily than in previous years with this different, stronger, anabolic medication. It also messed up his sleep pattern, as it usually does. So, he spent those otherwise-lost hours organizing his vintage dance music, which started creating a disk space crunch. The family invested in a larger hard drive and matching backup drive for the expanding digitized collection. We also had a sweet visit with Sister Alice, who was in town at a business seminar. And, for the first time ever, we bought a rider seat so that slave jay could ride behind Officer Wes on the motorcycle.

Conversely this was a challenging time for Tom. The Texas trip exhausted his physical and emotional resources. And with Officer Wes putting on lean body mass as a backdrop, Tom felt increasingly self-conscious about the side-effects of his protease inhibitor on his appearance.

Meanwhile, slave jay had a joyful trip to see his youngest daughter graduate from college. And his dentist reported that, at 54, a tooth supporting a bridge was cracking. Our preferred approach was to replace it with an implant. We started researching medical tourism -- Tijuana oral surgeons to be specific -- to make it feasible. More as we know.

June, July & August

June was about health, family and friends, and process.

Tom got in to see a physican about lipodystrophy, and we learned more through the group PozHealth ("Share information and ask other members questions about HIV related lipodystrophy, facial wasting, nutrition, side effects, exercise, latest treatments and metabolic disorders and other emerging HIV health issues.")

After the initial information-gathering trip about Tijuana dentistry in late May, we created a budget that mates slave jay's means with his dental and car needs. We were very pleased with the first dental appointment; thankful that this gentle, mindful dentistry was within reach. Sweet leatherboi Mickey accompanied jay to look after him during an extraction trip to help navigate the trolley, border, taxi, appointment, pharmacy trip, and safe return.

Meanwhile, Officer Wes went through a light bit of physical downtime, and all the usual physician appointments.

Later, we got to watch Deputy marry Chris. We love them so, and they are so in love it was very tender to watch.

While June brought its cool and gray period -- locally called "June gloom" -- we had jay start clearing out a storage unit to let it go and save more money for the dental work. And Disneyworld in October!

July brought a visit from pup boy john and a petition from a leatherslave interested in joining the family. That interest grew after a trial period. Later in August whimper the dogslave was collared in an intimate ceremony above the Pacific.

In other news, the car got backed into and repaired in one of the least-hassle transactions like this we've ever experienced. When the other person's insurance (State Farm) processed the claim, a rental was automatically lined up. We used Enterprise because they'll pick up and deliver. Enterprise had the paperwork electronically. When the car was repaired and the rental returned, payment also happened electronically. We were never out "float" money.

The last weekend in July is also when San Diego Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Pride is held. Tom showed some art that was well-received.

August found slave jay and Officer Wes in the emergency room: slave jay had had a routine prostate biopsy the day before (never schedule these things on a Friday) and then had what turned out to be a fairly common reaction -- the inability to piss due to little blood clots clogging the throughway. he was in great discomfort, and when the catheter finally went in 1.6 liters were drained with a slow, great sigh of relief. Officer Wes underwent a sleep study a few floors away the next week.

In other family news, Deputy came to see Tom's art, Tom had a spiritual experience in Palm Springs, Daddy Barry and Officer Wes celebrated Daddy Barry's birthday, and the slaves nurtured their warm relationship as slavebrothers.

September - December

September brought the annual trip to Inferno. This time we sent whimper. The family also took in a slew of movies using a Netflix-like service; seeing The Contender (pretty good), Latter Days (very good), Nashville (offbeat), After Hours (offbeat), and The Last of the Dogmen (visually strong). And Officer Wes worked on a surprise for winter solstice called ManDance II. (Shhh. Don't tell.)

In other family news, Deputy had a severe bicycle accident and whumped his face hard. He got a concussion, broke his jaw, and had oral surgeons working to save front teeth. He feels his helmet -- now with an inch gash in the front -- saved his life. We were deeply concerned, and glad the healing began quickly.

Health stuff continued in different directions during October. Officer Wes got an eye infection in his left eye, which spread to his sinuses, and down into his lungs. Meanwhile, slave jay found a small lipodystrophy study at Clinic'estetica and both he and Tom got some handsome face work done by very sweet folk.

Two other particularly notable things happened during the month. One was Tom got an AirPort Express to send his iTunes music over to the main stereo using the computer's wireless networking. The AirPort is just the coolest thing. (It did, however, take forever to get configured using 128-bit security.) Getting the iPod last December has revolutionized the way we listen to music -- but not in the way that might sound: The related move of our music collection from CD to computer via iTunes made enjoying music so much more accessible; spontaneous, and sometimes random. It's the best software tool we've seen in years. The other fun happening was a sibling reunion at Disneyworld, accompanied by slave jay.

November found Officer Wes at his most INTENSELY sick that he's been in quite a long time. Meanwhile, two other projects long in gestation starting coming to fruition: Changing over to HDTV, and getting a puppy.

It has been a full year. Here are Tom & Officer Wes with Opa as 2005 comes to a close:

Tom and Opa

Officer Wes and Opa

We are thankful.

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