On March 17th, Jim and I went to San Francisco. We left the house at 4:30 for my 7:00 check-in. The sky was just turning light as we dropped into the city.
 |
| The sky getting light over Palace of Fine Arts. |
I went up, got past checkpoint 1 just fine with my dandy OR pass.
I found the elevators, and made it through checkpoint 2 with my wristband.
The waiting room was really quite nice. There were frosted panels throughout that looked like they had the universe's largest flowers pressed in them, and new carpet and furniture. I got to take in for just a little too long. Because I sat there for an hour and 28 freaking minutes!!! I was totally losing my cool, I'll admit it. I was so angry--WHY do I have to check in at seven freaking a.m. if you're going to make me sit there forever??!!? Why won't my keyboard let my type an interrobang here?! Can I copy and paste an image from the internet--nope. Darn.
 |
| I tried my hardest to let these beautiful panels keep me zen and calm, but at 58 minutes they failed to do that. |
Then some dude came out at 1 hr 5 min: "Cleveland?" and I grabbed my purse. Oh no. No no no, missy, sit back down because get this--he says "I was just checking that you're out here" and he turned around and went back to wherever he'd just come from. The things that went through my mind at that point. Good thing I didn't have my bow and arrow, is all I'll say about that! Of course, I finally got called back, peed in a cup (why?), got gowned and flopped on the gurney.
 |
| This is me just before I flopped on the gurney. |
The surgical team was very nice. Actually, everyone I dealt with that day was super nice and they all wished me luck and hoped to see my soon to take out the port. Brian Bronzo was in charge of putting in the port. We had a discussion about my overall treatment plan so he decided to put the port high up on the left side. I enjoyed the benefits of "conscious sedation" and at one point was laughing, wondering what the heck they were doing (I had a drape between my face and that port site). Brian asked "what are you giggling about?" I said "I am just wondering what the heck you're doing because I thought putting in a port was delicate business and it feels like you're thumping my thoracic area pretty good. And it just struck me as funny that I am wondering if you know what you're doing!" They all laughed. But you know what? He never did answer me... Ha! And I still don't know for sure because it's all covered by bandages!! Well, I got wheeled to a recovery room and asked the nurse for my phone. I snapped some pictures and sent this to Jim:  |
| My new alien baby is hiding under that bandage!! |
Jim's reply? Are you a borg now? Which really freaked me out because guess what I was watching? Star Trek: The Next Generation, the episode with Hugh!!!! And I had already snapped a pic of the TV before Jim sent that reply. I sent the picture of Hug to Jim. Maybe resistance is futile...
 |
| I meant to get a picture of Picard, but it switched to Hugh just as I snapped. Perfect timing, as it turns out, because maybe I'm becoming a borg. |
I made sure to tell everyone that I had an 11:00 appointment in cardiology for an echocardiogram. Most were like "well, you might make it," but some said "you won't make that appointment--you should call now to reschedule." Once I was wheeled into recovery, I told that nurse. And guess what he said? "They might be able to come here to you--those units are mobile." Seriously? So he went to check and along came Julio with the rolling cart filled with echocardiogram equipment! Hallelujah!!
 |
| Here comes Julio! |
 |
| Hooked up to the machine. |
 |
| Hey, that's my heart up there! Julio ended up not totally happy with the images so he went to get orders for contrast injection. Then he and the nurse got that done and I was on my way. Thank goodness because I was starving by that point! Jim made it just fine to the patient discharge area and off we went to Chinatown. It was so great to eat inside the restaurant!!! It feels like it has been a VERY long time since we got to be inside Hunan Homes. Everything tasted so good that I had to order extra to go!! |
 |
| Jim and I at Hunan Homes in Chinatown. |
While we were eating, I got a great message from Barry. Spot on, Barry!! Thank you for that message!
 |
| I tried to nap in the back, but was just too uncomfortable so I climbed back to the front. Good thing we were in stop-and-go traffic in wonky Novato area! |
While we were driving home, I was cleaning out email messages. There was a message from Sutter saying I had new test results. Hmmm, I didn't realize I had any outstanding tests. So I logged in to check out these results. Ha ha haaaaaa!!! I laughed so hard that I snorted!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment