That lurking fin turns out to be nothing more than another evil, waterlogged edition of your Transplant Trib. So come back to the beach, don't be afraid, and put those harpoons down before you hurt somebody. OK, that's better..
DR. YY COMES THROUGH AGAIN
Many times during our Travels in Transplantland, I have come face-to-face with a truly mazing interventional cardiologist generally known as Dr. YY. Since he hangs out in the cath lab at UCSF, I have been his supine patient there for most of my pre-transplant invasive heart procedures. His was the first face I recognized as I was violently resuscitated from my famous Code Blue episode, and on several occasions he would come by my room on his way home after a long day to chat and ensure my well-being.
Now that heart problems are thankfully behind me, the focus has shifted to peripheral vascular disease. I have had a bypass on my right leg, courtesy of Drs. Eddie R and Charles E four years ago. Shifting over to the left side, Dr. E did discover major blockage behind the knee requiring angioplasty and placement of a bendable stent. This procedure is somewhat difficult due to the location, but as always Dr. YY was "The Man" and it went very well.
The images of before and after were dramatic. "Before" looked like a tiny creek with a beaver dam in it. "After" looked like the Mighty Mississippi in comparison. I have had instant results in lower leg fatigue and even the burning sensation I had in my foot is better. The blockage had been developing so long that it was literally as hard as a rock and required skillful "drilling" to avoid a disastrous arterial rupture. Thanks again to Dr. YY and all my good buds in the cath lab...you guys ROCK, as usual. After one night's respite on 10 Long (AND French toast!) we were hairy flatters back to the 'burbs.
HEY, NOW I AM A "SPEAKER"
I am putting my hand up for every CTDN opportunity I can. Last week I did three, starting with the Run to the Lake put on by Eden Hospital in Castro Valley. This marked the one-year mark for our participation, as the last Run was our very first event for CTDN. An annual nursing education class on organ procurement takes place at VA Hospital, Palo Alto, and I addressed three sessions on the experiences of a recipient
I spoke to a group of high school students attending a Summer conference at UC Berkeley along with Laura S. and my good buddy, young Alphonso G. Laura is a clinical liaison, who is alerted by nursing when a donor situation may be imminent, at which time she evaluates the patient and coordinates the process should organs become available. Very incredible job, and she is a seriously knowledgeable and capable part of the transplant process at a most crucial stage.
Alphonso is 17, and had an emergency liver transplant two years ago due to a rare ailment that causes failure from excessive copper in the liver. He was told if an organ wasn't procured in 48 hours, he would die. Imagine being 15 and having this prognosis. Thankfully, the transplant did happen and now he is involved with CTDN. We have jointly done several educational sessions, and it is magical to see him talk to groups of kids about his experiences. Great guy, and he will be throwing out the first pitch at AT&T this week before the Giants maul the Dodgers. We'll be there too with several info booths. Should be a pretty cool day (literally, that's Summer in The City!) and we look forward to being at the Old Ball Game.
Hey, by the way, here's some baseball trivia: know how the Dodgers got their name? Well, back at the turn of the century (the 20th, that is) seems the Brooklyn baseball club was called the Trolley Dodgers due to the many streetcars in that city. Later the Trolley part kinda dropped off and hence, the Brooklyn Dodgers! And you thought I didn't know anything about baseball, eh? And no, I knew that, I didn't Google it just to show off. So there.
WAIT, BOB/IRV; WHAT ABOUT THE BEACH BOYS??
Oh yeah, nearly forgot about that. You might recall we had some unusual weather late last month, and the day of the concert was the most unusual with pretty serious rain all day. Wente Vineyard's concert policy is "rain or shine", and for the first time in 25 years it was, in fact, "rain". As we proved years ago with our completely soaked Rolling Stones adventure at the Colisseum, we are true fans. While many of the snobby wine-sipping weenies bolted for the comfort of the champagne cellars, we held fast to our wide open position in the Peanut Gallery. Neither rain, nor hail, nor dark of night could deter us from massively enjoying the Boys, uh, or rather, the Boy since only Mike Love remains from the original Wilson brothers (and cousin Al Jardine) who we loved back in The Day.
A pleasant surprise was the presence of actor John Stamos, a truly talented drummer, guitarist and singer who regularly tours with the Beach Boys. The rest of the band was awesome and totally expert at producing those incredible sounds. All the great tunes were done, and we screamed out Help Me Rhonda at the top of our lungs while rain water filled our open mouths. While as a youth I never surfed (can't swim, hate the beach), had a hot rod (I took the bus), or engaged in any meaningful romance (sorry Gina), it didn't stop me from being a big fan then and now. Very fun evening despite all the mud in the parking lot.
After five years of desperate anticipation, the world has been blessed with the debut of Cars 2. Our nephew Will Caples is a dedicated fan, who can identify all the characters and quote pretty much the entire script. So it seemed a cinch to accompany him and his parents to this new one. Well, he was quite skeptical of his ol' Uncle Irv, but after a small bit of motherly/fatherly explanation, I was given Will's blessing.
We chose to experience the film at the Dublin Imax 3D mega-theater (see accompanying photo). Initially, Will was a bit overwhelmed by the THX sound, the 3D and the huge Imax image. He got used to everything but the 3D glasses, so no permanent harm was done (I hope). As for the movie, it was somewhat "angrier" than Number One and the story was more complex. The visuals were spectacular and the references to real motoring facts were sometimes fairly subtle but quite clever nonetheless. It was very cool to see and hear a few real racers, like Lewis Hamilton, Jeff Gordon, Darrell Waltrip and David Hobbs doing their things. The movie and the subsequent BBQ at the Grandparents' home made for a great Sunday.
SO, WHASSUP NEXT?
This week I will take on my exersize physio and F1 fan buddy Kyle at the indoor go-kart place for a bit of friendly dicing on the track. Cheryl and I will happily provide donor information at the ball game as mentioned, followed the next day by a viewing of the Picasso exhibit at the DeYoung. I will join three of my former California Pacific cohorts for a mini-reunion, and the next week we are excited to be seeing Los Lonely Boys at the Mountain Winery. And finally, after over a year of intense negotiations with the powers that be, Cheryl and I will be able to appear at our very own Livermore Farmer's Market with a donor info table. So another busy month, to be sure.
Sure hope you have enjoyed this little July Edition of the Trib. No cellphone taps were used in the production of this blog, and no animals were harmed. And, oh yeah, this post was manufactured on equipment shared with peanuts. You've been suitably warned.
Bob/Irv
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