ALL BETS ARE OFF WHEN YOU'RE GOIN' TO UCSF
Silly me. Look how quickly I have forgotten that there is no such thing as a "schedule" when it comes to appointments at the Big House on the Hill. Last Thursday it was supposed to be a simple ol' Heart Clinic visit at 9;30 am, then Kidney Clinic at 11:00 am. If everything went as planned, I could comfortably do the Heart/Lung Transplant Support Group at 1:00 pm, then head on out. Sure thing, and did I mention monkeys can fly?
Buoyed by my dizzying success of the previous week, I chose to excuse My Cheryl, and go it solo in the S2000. The scheme was to go top-up on the way in, and take it down for the return to Leslie and Chris' house in Berkeley. There I would snatch my wife from BART and we would all dine, then return happily to Nueva Livermora. Fat chance. And I shoulda known this from the outset. My inward journey was defined by horrible traffic, all the way up to Parnassus. I pity my poor clutch.
While waiting for the heart docs, my pre-transplant coordinator Celia asked me to visit a heart/kidney transplant candidate in 10 ICU since he was rather worried about the procedure. Of course I agreed. I figured I could easily do that between my kidney appointment and the support group. Naturally, heart was running late, and so was kidney. The heart folks gave me a lab slip to do right away, The lab was a total zoo, worse I have seen. So I gobbled a paninni (yum) and hustled up to 10 Long for the support group.
After many greetings and short conversations with the fine staff on 10 Long, the meeting got under way. The subject was caregiver burnout, a perfect subject had my expert caregiver, the ever-attentive Cheryl L. Moss, been present. It was a fine presentation anyway, and I strode quickly down the hall to the 10Th floor Intensive Care Unit.
The patient in question, we shall refer to him as Mr. E., was fast asleep. His nurse asked me to come back in say, an hour. Good, as I went across the street to the lab and discharged my duties there quickly. I did my truthful best when I returned to the unit, and it seemed to cheer him up a bit. He did not look particularly good to me, and he said he "came to the ED in pieces". I did not pursue that, since I felt way better telling him how great he will feel afterwards. He has been in ICU for about six weeks, and is not able to eat real food. He told me his daughter will be his main support person post-transplant. The need for serious care in the weeks following the surgery is extremely crucial. I left him all my contact information and urged him to call me anytime. I plan to visit him on my next voyage to UCSF.
As with the morning commute, it was now main evening traffic time. Once again it was stop-and-go getting onto the Bay Bridge, and Emeryville was ridiculous. The weather prohibited topless driving, so the fun part of the drive was suddenly gone. I did successfully arrive at the Chaw's, picked up Cheryl, and we all had a very nice meal at Corso. So it turned out well in the end.
BUT BOB/IRV, WHAT ABOUT THE MEDICAL NOOZ?
Oh, right, after all it was medically-oriented. Basically, the heart docs are still trippin' about my pulmonary pressures. They looked at my neck and my ankles and decided I was still holding onto too much fluid. They want me to continue the Bumex (makes you pee like a race horse) and invited me back this Wednesday for another right-heart catheratization. Excess pressure can cause rejection, so they need to get the numbers again and do a biopsy to determine if in fact I am rejecting the heart. Nothing of consequence from my visit to the kidney folks.
THE TRANSPLANT TRIBUNE SOCIAL SECTION
There are numerous reports that three elderly escaped couples were seen enjoying themselves in downtown Martinez on Saturday night. TMZ states that all six allegedly dined at Louie Bertola's, a well-known haunt known for its simple, tasty, and extremely reasonable food. Paparazzi dashed to Armando's on a tip a bit later, and it is believed this geriatric group were enjoying a blues presentation consisting of harmonica and guitar. Both artists sang as well, and played to rave reviews in all the trades. Soon the bus arrived and gathered the elusive group for the ride back to Shady Acres Senior Assisted Living.
SO BOB/IRV, WHAT CAN WE LOOK FORWARD TO NEXT TIME?
I soon will be able to release some long-awaited nooz about the future of the Transplant Tribune staff, so Watch This Space! And until then, keep it REAL!
Bob/Irv
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