A Room with a View

Thing1 and I spent most of the day at Dartmouth- Hitchcock looking out the window of his room toward the great foggy north known as New Hampshire. The mountains disappeared and re-emerged from the clouds that has to around us all day, and they set the perfect view for our mood.Thing1's Ulcerative Colitis required him to be admitted to the hospital for treatment of a severe acute episode last night. The disease has escalated, and when we leave tomorrow, it will be with the knowledge that we need to decide between several long-term treatment options, each of which carry serious risks.My gentle giant hasn't shed any tears or wallowed in self-pity since his diagnosis a year and a half ago, but I could tell that the relapse and the treatment options presented had deflated his morale quite a bit.  Pep talks and platitudes are wasted on Thing1, so I steered the conversation back to his favorite topic - cars - until he was ready to talk about options. I worked my online day job while nurses came in and out with more medications and fluids, and the gray foggy day seemed to flow through the plate glass window.Late in the day, the sound of a snow plow in the parking lot 5 floors below pulled our attention back to our view."The mountains are too populated," said T1, "but they are beautiful."When the mountains disappeared into the night, I was able to do my own research into T1's options. Number crunching and phone calls to experts made us more optimistic, and a chance conversation with a nurse with the same disease helped T1 marshal his morale.  Tomorrow is supposed to be cold but sunny, and the view should get better as things become clearer.