Monthly Archives: September 2019

In spite of themselves

Holly Doyne Posted on by 1

Clearing off the baseball stuff first. Thanks to the records of other teams – the As will host the American League Wild Card game on Wednesday. Which is good considering that they lost the last two games of the season to the Mariners. Especially watching them today, I am not sure that their heads were really in the game. Best I can say is that they weren’t shut out.

Now, due to the fact that Tampa Bay is from the East Coast, the start time needed to be modified so that all those poor Floridians don’t have to stay up too much past their bedtimes. Rather that our usual 1905 first pitch, the game will start at 1700 PDT. That is right – 5 0’clock in the afternoon. Seriously. Not an afternoon game, not an evening game but a weird time in between. Personally, I think it has to do with sales of ads on the TV broadcasts, but what do I know?

Looking at Stub Hub, the only quantity of tickets are either on Mount Davis (upper deck in outfield) or plaza deck in outfield. But there are people who seem to think that their tickets are worth multiple hundreds of $$$. I wish them luck. Especially since you can buy tickets for Mt Davis directly from the As for less than ½ the Stub Hub asks..

In more important news, George is stable. Absolutely exhausted but holding his own.

My plans to take Alex (son-in-law) out for brunch on his birthday were partly thwarted by PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric) which treated us to a power outage this morning. Affecting a goodly portion of Berkeley, Albany, San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito, Kensington etc, all the places we enjoy going to for breakfast were without power. = no coffee….

We wound up in Emeryville as the nearest location that had power.

Needles and Rays

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

which in this case has absolutely nothing to do with trees or baseball.

Rather, it has to do with stem cell stimulation shots into College Guy which lead to him spending the day @ the infusion center hooked up to the pharesis machine so that his stem cells could be collected.

At the same time, George had the fun of having to hold still for a 30 minute session before turning over like a pancake to bake on the other side. TBI = total body irradiation in this case rather than traumatic brain injury.

Tonight the Bone Marrow Transplant lab will do their thing and the transplant is scheduled for sometime tomorrow.  Meanwhile, Noah, tired and with slightly sore arms from having to hold them straight all day was glad for the ride back to our side of the Bay.

 

No trees

Holly Doyne Posted on by 1

Right outside George’s window to vanish and reappear with the fog. His room this time (and the room he started in the last time) has a north facing window through which I can see that the construction of this spring is just about complete. All that remains is the shrouding and scaffolding at the end of the building section directly across. Gazing toward the east, portions of downtown San Francisco are visible. Provided, of course, that one enjoys gazing at those places which are off limits for the foreseeable future.

I will just mention, beyond some of the most fantastic nurses I have ever met, that one never gets much sleep in a hospital. Between frequent vital signs, beeps from the IVs which run continuously and traffic in the ward corridor, there isn’t much opportunity for rest. So catching short naps (i.e. drifting off) during the day is about the only option.

The protocol this time adds whole body radiation to the chemo regiment in order to essentially completely wipe out his immune system. It doesn’t look to be a whole lot more fun than the last time; so far he has been spared the nausea, but I suspect his hard won hair return will shortly depart.

On the positive side, when you don’t have any white blood cells of your own, you are at high risk for infection and are spared from having to share a room. No one to argue about the TV remote and the hospital Wifi means access to one’s daily dose of news programs.

Fantastic First Inning

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

Arranging to meet Noah at the Coliseum BART station from his flight from San Diego – I dragged him to the As game before releasing him to take a break.

It was a good game, with the As scoring an amazing number of runs in the first inning (7) and a final score of 12:3 over the Texas Rangers.

An up day is always good.

Admission

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

and another day that seems to drag on forever. To get admitted to the hospital (in this case, UCSF) one has to first show up at the clinic where blood is checked, vital signs are taken, a provider is seen. Then over to the actual hospital where the admission paperwork is completed. Then the idiots wanted, apparently, another chest x-ray. I am not sure what they expect to find considering that he had a CT last week.

And then waiting for a room. At least with a different view than before.  Looking north toward Marin, east toward downtown, down to Parnassus Avenue busy with traffic, buses and pedestrians.

The plan is for a second attempt at a bone marrow transplant. College Guy (aka Noah) will be back in town tomorrow. Sunday he checks in at the clinic and to begin a series of bone marrow/stem cell stimulating shots. If everything goes as planned, he will head back to San Diego next Saturday.

Walking on to the ward in the early afternoon, I am not sure if it is a good thing or not to recognize a fair number of the nursing staff. The good thing for me is avoiding the mind numbing drive to San Francisco and back on what was rapidly becoming a daily basis. Starting this coming week (due to the generosity of a friend) I will be camped out again in a guest room in the outer Sunset district and traveling back and forth on the N-Judah.

KC? Really

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

I mean. Seriously.

I returned the rental car this morning at San Diego Airport. Picked up a physical boarding pass from Southwest Airlines and worked my way through the usual disorder of TSA. Of note is that the USO is at Terminal 2 (which makes sense as the “International Terminal). I decided it just wasn’t worth the hike over and back. My flight was on time and I arrived in Oakland with more than enough time that I could have gone home.

But since there was about 3 hours to this evening’s game; the final homestand of the 2019 season it just didn’t seem worth the effort. Instead, I hung out in the terminal long enough to make sure that my phone was charged before heading on the mono-rail to the Coliseum BART station and the overpass to the Stadium with plenty of time to locate both food and drink.

I lasted till about 2100 when it was obvious that this game was going to take forever. Two hours in and we were not even out of the 5th inning. Managing to miss the Richmond train by seconds (I just love people who block stairs, escalators with their intense conversations or cell-phone huddles) so had to wait 25 minutes for the next train.

I was home in time to watch the 9th inning. To watch the As lose to the Royals, perhaps the second worst team in the league. In good news – the Twins won. If the A’s can get it together, they actually may hang on to their wild card slot.

And tomorrow is another day. Another drive to UCSF.

Box Stores

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

Costco, IKEA, Target.

Probably three of the most frequently visited stores by parents of those setting up life at school or job in a new area of the country. We started with Target for some kitchen/bathroom needs, then moved on to Costco for anything that required volume (or discount). My son is practical. He can live without furniture but really wanted a decent vacuum cleaner. Our final stop on the run was IKEA (where we also found the second Costco which means that we did more driving than was absolutely necessary).

He now has a bed, some food in the kitchen, a kettle, a french press, cutting boards, knives, and a temporary desk so that he can get his computer set up.

Still on his list are tackling the rental agency about the cleaning that wasn’t done, getting his internet access, dropping off paperwork at school, grabbing his textbooks end of the week and otherwise settling in.

His location is good – 15 min walk from school. From the looks of the complex, there are a number in his age group. I am betting as well the tenants include house staff from the near by Jacobs Medical Center. Being across the street from a decent shopping center affords fast food and three grocery stores within reasonable walk (Vons, Ralph’s, Whole Foods). Oh, yes, Trader Joe’s as well.

We grabbed an early supper. I was more than interested in another nap. I am headed back to the Bay Area tomorrow, Noah flies back on Saturday for a week.

La Jolla

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

as it turns out is home to University of California, San Diego, Go figure. Anyway – not San Diego State University which is a completely different institution.

We arrived on site in the early afternoon. Dealing with traffic on I-5 has seriously moved up on my list of “things that never need to be repeated in this life time.” The portion around San Diego isn’t that bad, but we had to get past L.A. and its sprawl before being able to relax at all. The only positive thing I can say about LA freeways is that they define HOV as 2 people in a vehicle.

20 minutes worth of frustration and fussing around finally liberated Noah’s apartment keys from the lock box. The one which was neither on the end of the row, nor marked with red tape. And, even better, there was an elevator from the garage up to the third level where he will be living. Helping with the first load or so, I proceeded to take a short nap while he finished unloading the car.

Not being up for much more (something about 4 hours total of sleep in the last 36+, we elected to find food and call it an early night.

Two places at once

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

And it was back to UCSF this morning, followed by getting organized this afternoon. Probably the only thing at all easy about the day was the fact that the As are still out of town.

Otherwise, picked up a renta-beast (vehicle large enough to haul College Guy’s stuff including his desk chair) in preparation for tomorrow’s drive to San Diego. I left the packing to him, I went and took a nap. My first inclination had been to leave late this evening and stop somewhere along the drive. Reconsidering, I have elected to leave early in the morning and just drive through.

Early = about 0300 in the morning figuring that there isn’t going to be all the much traffic for the first 3-4 hours of the drive but having full daylight for the ugly portion (being LA and environs). Wisely, I had talked myself out of driving both ways, instead opting for the car and a flight back on Monday.

Another day, another drive

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

Instead of driving to Parnassus (UCSF) this morning we had to head to UCSF Mission Bay. No biggie, right? Wrong. We were given an arrival time of 0715 which meant absolutely zero chance of adding a passenger to make use of the HOV lane. Instead, we wound up in that mess called “the Maze” where I-80, I-580 and other assorted freeway entrance ramps combine to approach the Bay Bridge Toll Plaza. Twelve minutes to get from home to the Maze (including the coffee stop). 35 minutes to get through the Maze and Toll Plaza, less than 15 after that to get to Mission Bay including getting off an exit too early.

As it turns out, the CV Center in Mission Bay doesn’t even open till 0730 so I have no clue as to why we were instructed to be there so early. The only advantage that I found was that lovely on street FREE parking spot about a block away. Of course, the meters don’t operate till 0900, but still. Free parking in SF? Totally amazing. I had never driven into Mission Bay before. I don’t get it. Two tiny bridges across the estuary. Tons of new buildings, densely packed. UCSF, Warriors Stadium, inadequate public transportation. Not an area which I would willingly visit or work in.

Tests went fine and we were home right about 0900 including a stop at Acme Bread for fresh Peach Puff Pastries. Yum. I spent most of the rest of the day with brain in idle. Watched part of the As manage to sneak past the Astro’s in Houston before they head to Arlington tomorrow. For the moment, they are actually ½ a game up in the Wild Card race.  Shana kindly volunteered to pick up Noah from the airport late tonight. Home for a day before we head to San Diego to get him set before school….

today? or 18 years

Holly Doyne Posted on by

My children at home were 8, 10, 12 when the Twin Towers fell, when the Pentagon was plane bombed, when I lost friends and colleagues. The repercussions are still with us today. In the Xenophobia & anti-immigrant policies that are being espoused by a certain group that is scared of losing its grip on what it considers its “rightful superiority.” By people who can say, with a straight face (and believe it) that the words on the Statue of Liberty only apply to those with wealth who are coming from white Europe and were never meant to include any other group.

By those who have never served, as I have, in the military along side individuals from multiple nations, from multiple backgrounds, all united for a common cause. Along side those who feel an obligation to the country which gave them opportunity, not those who take for granted that their background and privilege exempt them from the service shown by the military, the fire fighters, the police. All those who risk their lives on a daily basis.

By those who have a problem recognizing that the majority of whites in the US don’t have ties going back centuries, only decades. Who ignore the fact that Spanish were here hundreds of years before most Northern Europeans. That every last person immigrating from Central and South America can trace ancestry in the Western Hemisphere back thousands of years.

I spent more than a minute of silence and reflection. Noting as I was driving George too and from UCSF, that there were flags not at half-mast. I don’t know the custom overall, but when I think of the lives immediately lost, all those who died that day in rescue attempts whether NYC or Pentagon, those who sacrificed their lives which ended in a field in Pennsylvania, and all those who have died since then as a result of their involvement – it is the least we can do for respect.

Be grateful on a daily basis for those in uniform, be it fire, police, military. They all serve our country, putting their lives on the line on a daily, weekly,  monthly basis. They do it out of honor, responsibility, personal obligation.

You could just thank all of them for their service, in remembrance.

Tuesday – 41 years

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

This is the only day this week that we don’t have to go to UCSF. I should be dancing around the house. Instead, what I really want to do is sleep. The days have been long, the nights pretty short; and I am feeling mildly guilty about whining since my exhaustion is nothing compared to what George is going through.

It is a day to get whatever possible done around the house – grocery shopping. laundry, sweeping the back porch.

However, we throughly enjoyed watching the As throughly trounce the Astros – in fact they did as good a job as the Astro’s did to us the previous night. Now – if the As continue on the same road – they will get at least as far as the Wild Card slot – and maybe a chance to play the Yankees again (who they have defeated 4:2 this season).

Probably the most significant thing to note – today is our 41st wedding anniversary. Reasonable number of years, I think. Covers Minnesota-Germany-DC-Germany-NY-DC-Germany-UK-Germany-California (with side detours for me into the Balkans, Korea, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan) and multiple moves inside Germany. Also our four off-spring, multiple jobs, lots of travel, uncountable good times and memories.

It will be good to look back at this fall from next year, five years, ten years down the road. Knowing that we have survived yet another challenge.

I am planning on it.

Transfusions

Holly Doyne Posted on by  

The trip across the Bay Bridge is becoming both extremely aggravating and boring. We have the routine down pretty well. Head out of the house, pick up lattes at Peet’s to make the ride bearable, swing by NB ride share to pick up a couple of passengers before heading to the freeway, the Bay Bridge and the SF side of the Bay.

Once again, George didn’t have much for blood, so it was platelets, two units of packed red cells  We didn’t even get on the road till 1830 so it, again, was a really long day. More so for him than me, but still. When the highlight of your day is pizza for lunch, you know you are in spinning-your-wheels-mode.

Add on top the As pitcher totally blowing up, resulting in the Astro’s wiping the As 15:0. Not fun. actually sad. And a testament to the fact that somedays, they just don’t have it.