We listen to books when we go to bed. It helps Carmen turn off the whirlwind of thoughts and impending obligations spinning around in her head. Our favorite, by far, is the seven Harry Potter books, read in their entirety by the best reader we've ever heard, Jim Dale. We've heard all seven probably twelve times or more. Harry and his friends risk everything to stand against the evil Voldemort. Right now we're on book two of The Hunger Games series. She risks everything to stand against the Capital. And just last week we watched the TV miniseries of Stephen King's The Stand again. It really came as no surprise to me when she came to me last night and told me that the UUA has called for clergy to go to Ferguson, Missouri to stand against the evil there, and that she felt compelled to go.
Twelve years ago we began this journey, throwing all of our considerable talent and tenacity into a quest to leave behind the plush life of the paralegal and jump out of the airplane to soar as a UU minister. Perhaps I knew better than she did that this journey would require enormous grit. I definitely knew better than she did that she has grit enough and plenty to spare. She will go to Ferguson.
I understand that there is risk involved in this choice. There is risk involved in driving to Erie, too, which she is doing right this minute. I am an unabashed atheist, but I always tell her in times of doubt and anxiety, "Have a little faith!" I don't mean faith in a supernatural being who will keep her safe. I mean faith in her own intelligence, resourcefulness and instincts to keep herself in the right place to be, whatever that might mean.
I have faith that her going to Ferguson to stand against evil will mean something far more important than anything else she might do instead. Laundry was one thing I she might have done if she stayed home. Important, yes. Imperative? No.
Stand.
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Saturday, August 9, 2014
Take Me Out
Two members of Carmen's congregation, Kathy and Doug, go to Pittsburgh to see Pirates games fairly frequently. They learned that I have been watching their games on TV as often as I can, so they invited us to join them. We were excited about the prospect of a fun trip to Pittsburgh, so we jumped at it.
Knowing that the game would likely end around 10:00, and possibly much later, we decided to spend the night. Kathy is a Groupon whiz, so she got us a great deal on two rooms at the Wyndham, in addition to discount game tickets.An overnight stay meant making some sort of arrangements for Grace. As members of the Conneaut Lake Bark Park, we knew that we could put her up in their kennel and that she would be well cared for. We had done that for two nights while I was having my hip replaced, and she had survived it just fine.
So Wednesday morning we made ready for our first great fun adventure in many years. To start with, I let Grace take me over to her best friend Mocha's house, where they played and ran and wrestled for nearly an hour. This always puts her in a good mood, and helps her to sleep through the day. I showered up and dressed in clean jeans and one of the Pirates tee shirts scored for us by Kathy. We loaded the car with our overnight bags, one for Carmen, one for Grace and one for me, and off we went.
It's hard to leave our little girl with strangers. Grace looked reproachful as she watched us walk away. But we soldiered on back to the car and drove away with a mixture of sadness and feeling free. A two hour drive, guided by Hermione the GPS, brought us to the front door of the Wyndham. Kathy was out front having a smoke when we pulled up. We checked in and took our bags up to the room, then hurried back down to their car. They had scoped out a Mexican restaurant earlier that day, and made reservations for four of us. As it turned out, we were the only ones there at 5:00. After a very yummy dinner, we hurried back to the hotel to catch the shuttle van to PNC Park.
It turned out to be a long wait for the van. She had just left for PNC a few minutes before we got back. But we waited. Of course, the game was under way when we were dropped at the near end of Roberto Clemente Bridge. We joined the crowd walking across. The bridge is closed to vehicles on game nights. We walked around to the far side of the stadium, to section 108, waited for a break in the action, and made our way down to row D. Excellent seats.
Things have changed in baseball stadia since 1973, the last time I attended a major league game. At Memorial Stadium in Baltimore there were lights, speakers and a mechanical scoreboard. Now it's all about electronics. The scoreboard is a huge screen that shows pictures of the batters, pitchers and whoever else they want to show, runs replays in slow motion and includes stats and bios. Between half-innings there are goofy things going on, such as air-powered bazookas that shoot hot dogs or tee shirts into the crowd. Potato Pete won the pierogie race, narrowly beating Oliver Onion, Chester Cheese and Jalapeno Hanna. Oh yes, and there was a baseball game going on as well.
Our favorite player, Andrew McCutchen was still out with a cracked rib, and Kathy's favorite, Neil Walker, was still out with lower back pain and tightness, but Gregory Polonco and Josh Harrison both continued to take up the slack and drive the Pirates to a 7-3 victory. A good time was had by all!
Then we had to get back to the hotel. The plan was to take a cab, since the hotel shuttle van's last run of the night was at 9:30. We were unsuccessful snagging one on the traffic-clogged streets behind the stadium, but a policeman directing traffic suggested we try the nearby hotel driveway. We walked over there and asked the valet parking guy if taxis came through here. He got on the phone and called his buddy, who drives a Cranberry cab. Twenty minutes was his buddy's ETA, and we said that was fine. We stood around/sat around chatting for about an hour. A couple of times he had to go inside, and he begged us to please wait for his buddy. Several cabs came and went, and even a pizza delivery vehicle came asking if we needed a ride someplace. We turned them all down. Finally,after an hour or so, he called his buddy again. When he disconnected, he apologized and said that we should get back however we can. Traffic was much better by then, and Doug just walked out to the street and snagged a cab. Minutes later, we were back at the Wyndham.
There was a doorknob-hanging breakfast menu in the room. If we hung it on the outside of the door before midnight, breakfast would be delivered to our room at the time we specified. We marked up our order to be delivered between 9 and 9:30. We were awakened at 9:00 by a call letting us know that breakfast was on its way up. It was very yummy and the coffee was extra good. We showered and dressed and slipped out of town before lunch time traffic started up.
Two hours later, a forlorn little dog saw me through the glass of the daycare room.We took her for a nice long walk around the Bark Park, and headed home, twenty four hours and many fun memories later.
Knowing that the game would likely end around 10:00, and possibly much later, we decided to spend the night. Kathy is a Groupon whiz, so she got us a great deal on two rooms at the Wyndham, in addition to discount game tickets.An overnight stay meant making some sort of arrangements for Grace. As members of the Conneaut Lake Bark Park, we knew that we could put her up in their kennel and that she would be well cared for. We had done that for two nights while I was having my hip replaced, and she had survived it just fine.
So Wednesday morning we made ready for our first great fun adventure in many years. To start with, I let Grace take me over to her best friend Mocha's house, where they played and ran and wrestled for nearly an hour. This always puts her in a good mood, and helps her to sleep through the day. I showered up and dressed in clean jeans and one of the Pirates tee shirts scored for us by Kathy. We loaded the car with our overnight bags, one for Carmen, one for Grace and one for me, and off we went.
It's hard to leave our little girl with strangers. Grace looked reproachful as she watched us walk away. But we soldiered on back to the car and drove away with a mixture of sadness and feeling free. A two hour drive, guided by Hermione the GPS, brought us to the front door of the Wyndham. Kathy was out front having a smoke when we pulled up. We checked in and took our bags up to the room, then hurried back down to their car. They had scoped out a Mexican restaurant earlier that day, and made reservations for four of us. As it turned out, we were the only ones there at 5:00. After a very yummy dinner, we hurried back to the hotel to catch the shuttle van to PNC Park.
It turned out to be a long wait for the van. She had just left for PNC a few minutes before we got back. But we waited. Of course, the game was under way when we were dropped at the near end of Roberto Clemente Bridge. We joined the crowd walking across. The bridge is closed to vehicles on game nights. We walked around to the far side of the stadium, to section 108, waited for a break in the action, and made our way down to row D. Excellent seats.
Things have changed in baseball stadia since 1973, the last time I attended a major league game. At Memorial Stadium in Baltimore there were lights, speakers and a mechanical scoreboard. Now it's all about electronics. The scoreboard is a huge screen that shows pictures of the batters, pitchers and whoever else they want to show, runs replays in slow motion and includes stats and bios. Between half-innings there are goofy things going on, such as air-powered bazookas that shoot hot dogs or tee shirts into the crowd. Potato Pete won the pierogie race, narrowly beating Oliver Onion, Chester Cheese and Jalapeno Hanna. Oh yes, and there was a baseball game going on as well.
Our favorite player, Andrew McCutchen was still out with a cracked rib, and Kathy's favorite, Neil Walker, was still out with lower back pain and tightness, but Gregory Polonco and Josh Harrison both continued to take up the slack and drive the Pirates to a 7-3 victory. A good time was had by all!
Then we had to get back to the hotel. The plan was to take a cab, since the hotel shuttle van's last run of the night was at 9:30. We were unsuccessful snagging one on the traffic-clogged streets behind the stadium, but a policeman directing traffic suggested we try the nearby hotel driveway. We walked over there and asked the valet parking guy if taxis came through here. He got on the phone and called his buddy, who drives a Cranberry cab. Twenty minutes was his buddy's ETA, and we said that was fine. We stood around/sat around chatting for about an hour. A couple of times he had to go inside, and he begged us to please wait for his buddy. Several cabs came and went, and even a pizza delivery vehicle came asking if we needed a ride someplace. We turned them all down. Finally,after an hour or so, he called his buddy again. When he disconnected, he apologized and said that we should get back however we can. Traffic was much better by then, and Doug just walked out to the street and snagged a cab. Minutes later, we were back at the Wyndham.
There was a doorknob-hanging breakfast menu in the room. If we hung it on the outside of the door before midnight, breakfast would be delivered to our room at the time we specified. We marked up our order to be delivered between 9 and 9:30. We were awakened at 9:00 by a call letting us know that breakfast was on its way up. It was very yummy and the coffee was extra good. We showered and dressed and slipped out of town before lunch time traffic started up.
Two hours later, a forlorn little dog saw me through the glass of the daycare room.We took her for a nice long walk around the Bark Park, and headed home, twenty four hours and many fun memories later.
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Tests
It will all started with my knee. Two and a half years after the replacement, it was (is) still hurting. I went to the guy who installed the knee and asked him why it was still hurting. He gave me a happy reason - because I need my hip replaced. Of course! Why didn't I think of that!
Everyone told me to get a second opinion. We went to Pittsburgh, to a doctor who does minimally invasive hip replacement. He concurred with the diagnosis. He was also very concerned about my "unprovoked" DVT (blood clot) in 2009. So along with a daunting list of tests he wanted us to have done, he told me to go to a hematologist to get my blood tested for possible reasons for said DVT. So Thursday morning we saddled up and headed for Pittsburgh again, to see Dr. Mohammed Islam, a nice Irish boy. His technician drew fourteen vials of blood from me, and a few minutes later the doctor came in. He, too was very concerned about the 2009 DVT. He sent me down the hall to Radiology to ascertain whether I had any clots currently in stock in my legs or lungs.
They started with the legs, which turned out to be a good thing. The technician ran her magic wand up and down my legs, and found a giant clot in my left, and a big one in my right. From there I was pretty much bum's rushed to Shadyside hospital and admitted immediately.
They put me on Heparin and forbade me to walk anywhere, even to the bathroom without supervision. The plan was to scan my lungs , then install a filter in my vein by my belly button to catch any clots that might break off and head for my lungs or heart. They took three more vials of blood, fed me dinner, and pretty much left me alone for the night. Carmen went home, and I was able to watch an entire Pirates baseball game.
At 7:05 Friday morning, Dr.Mears, the hip replacement guy, stopped in. He asked me how I had come to be in the hospital with blood clots.I told him, and mentioned that my lungs had not been scanned yet, and that clots in my lungs would delay the hip surgery. At 7:15 they hauled me down to Radiology. My lungs were clear. Yay.
At 10:00, they asked me which I would prefer - to have my filter installed right away while I would be awake, or later in the afternoon under anesthesia. I opted for right away. So, at 11:15, right after the third pricing game on The Price Is Right, they loaded me onto a cart and hauled me down to the surgery department. I was not scared or even nervous. In fact, I fell asleep a few times while waiting to go into the actual operating room.
Once in there they transferred me to a narrow table, so narrow that they installed two plastic outriggers to support my arms. They covered my lower half with a blanket, then covered my head, shoulders and neck with a sterile covering. Before long,the procedure began. I was instructed to turn my head all the way to the left, and warned of an impending "pinch and a burn." After that it was one guy feeding the hardware into my neck and down my vein, and another guy talking him through the procedure. UPMC is, after all, a teaching hospital. Once again, I was not scared, but it was very annoying to have these guys shoving a thingy down my vein from my neck to my belly button. It was not long before they were done and I was on my way back upstairs.
I arrived in my room at precisely the same time that Carmen arrived in my room. I insisted that I could walk now that I had a filter, but the transporter had orders to keep me from walking. I was allowed to scooch from the rolling cart to the bed. Something about the pain meds they had given me for the surgery. As the day wore on and the meds wore off, I came to believe them.
Our original plan had been to get the rest of the tests on Dr. Mears' list done while we were in Pittsburgh. Thursday turned out very differently from what we anticipated, so Carmen got the brilliant idea to try to get them done while I was still in the hospital. The nurse- practitioner assigned to my case was given a copy of our list with the items still outstanding highlighted. She got on it. Soon the nurse, Patrick, got on the case, and one by one the final items were checked off.
The practitioner came and told us that Dr. Islam was "kicking me to the curb." We began making preparations to go, but then she came back and told us that Dr Islam had decided to keep me overnight. Then Patrick came to tell us that he was going to see to it that the tests were all done, and we could go home that day. Well, the last blood was drawn at 4:45, and we were out the door a little after 6:00. Yay Patrick!
My neck bandage came off Saturday morning, followed soon after by Carmen's first shot of anti-coaglant since 2009 in Albuquerque. I feel good, but not as good as I did before I found out that I have blood clots in my legs. It looks like I'm out of work until the middle of June or so. And Whatever willing and the crick don't rise, I'll have a new hip in a week and a half.
Everyone told me to get a second opinion. We went to Pittsburgh, to a doctor who does minimally invasive hip replacement. He concurred with the diagnosis. He was also very concerned about my "unprovoked" DVT (blood clot) in 2009. So along with a daunting list of tests he wanted us to have done, he told me to go to a hematologist to get my blood tested for possible reasons for said DVT. So Thursday morning we saddled up and headed for Pittsburgh again, to see Dr. Mohammed Islam, a nice Irish boy. His technician drew fourteen vials of blood from me, and a few minutes later the doctor came in. He, too was very concerned about the 2009 DVT. He sent me down the hall to Radiology to ascertain whether I had any clots currently in stock in my legs or lungs.
They started with the legs, which turned out to be a good thing. The technician ran her magic wand up and down my legs, and found a giant clot in my left, and a big one in my right. From there I was pretty much bum's rushed to Shadyside hospital and admitted immediately.
They put me on Heparin and forbade me to walk anywhere, even to the bathroom without supervision. The plan was to scan my lungs , then install a filter in my vein by my belly button to catch any clots that might break off and head for my lungs or heart. They took three more vials of blood, fed me dinner, and pretty much left me alone for the night. Carmen went home, and I was able to watch an entire Pirates baseball game.
At 7:05 Friday morning, Dr.Mears, the hip replacement guy, stopped in. He asked me how I had come to be in the hospital with blood clots.I told him, and mentioned that my lungs had not been scanned yet, and that clots in my lungs would delay the hip surgery. At 7:15 they hauled me down to Radiology. My lungs were clear. Yay.
At 10:00, they asked me which I would prefer - to have my filter installed right away while I would be awake, or later in the afternoon under anesthesia. I opted for right away. So, at 11:15, right after the third pricing game on The Price Is Right, they loaded me onto a cart and hauled me down to the surgery department. I was not scared or even nervous. In fact, I fell asleep a few times while waiting to go into the actual operating room.
Once in there they transferred me to a narrow table, so narrow that they installed two plastic outriggers to support my arms. They covered my lower half with a blanket, then covered my head, shoulders and neck with a sterile covering. Before long,the procedure began. I was instructed to turn my head all the way to the left, and warned of an impending "pinch and a burn." After that it was one guy feeding the hardware into my neck and down my vein, and another guy talking him through the procedure. UPMC is, after all, a teaching hospital. Once again, I was not scared, but it was very annoying to have these guys shoving a thingy down my vein from my neck to my belly button. It was not long before they were done and I was on my way back upstairs.
I arrived in my room at precisely the same time that Carmen arrived in my room. I insisted that I could walk now that I had a filter, but the transporter had orders to keep me from walking. I was allowed to scooch from the rolling cart to the bed. Something about the pain meds they had given me for the surgery. As the day wore on and the meds wore off, I came to believe them.
Our original plan had been to get the rest of the tests on Dr. Mears' list done while we were in Pittsburgh. Thursday turned out very differently from what we anticipated, so Carmen got the brilliant idea to try to get them done while I was still in the hospital. The nurse- practitioner assigned to my case was given a copy of our list with the items still outstanding highlighted. She got on it. Soon the nurse, Patrick, got on the case, and one by one the final items were checked off.
The practitioner came and told us that Dr. Islam was "kicking me to the curb." We began making preparations to go, but then she came back and told us that Dr Islam had decided to keep me overnight. Then Patrick came to tell us that he was going to see to it that the tests were all done, and we could go home that day. Well, the last blood was drawn at 4:45, and we were out the door a little after 6:00. Yay Patrick!
My neck bandage came off Saturday morning, followed soon after by Carmen's first shot of anti-coaglant since 2009 in Albuquerque. I feel good, but not as good as I did before I found out that I have blood clots in my legs. It looks like I'm out of work until the middle of June or so. And Whatever willing and the crick don't rise, I'll have a new hip in a week and a half.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Down The Drain
During the summer of 1976 we decided to move from St. Cloud to Orlando, since we both worked in Orlando and were very active in the First Unitarian Church of Orlando. I had a great job building scenery, exhibits and displays, and Carmen was a paralegal and office manager for a law firm. Orlando summers are brutal, so we decided to splurge and hire local movers to do the job.
Carmen arranged the whole thing. The movers would load out in the early morning, we would leave the three cats at the St. Cloud house during the first closing in the late morning, then drive our loaded vehicles to the next closing, leaving our three cats in our new house in Orlando while we signed more papers.
We put the cats out on the screened in porch while the movers worked. Two of them were accustomed to that location, having lounged out there for seven years. Peanut, however, was a seven month old kitten, not to be caged anywhere. He shot out the door the instant I opened it, and took off running. I followed him as fast as I could run. We had a closing to get to, and this delay was not factored into the schedule . My heart sank when he dove into a storm drain.
Wearing my fancy closing duds, I flopped down on my belly and looked in. There he sat, looking at me, just within reach. I reached in, sure that he would evade my grasp. To my surprise, I was able to grab the scruff of his neck and haul him out of there.
The rest of the plan proceeded on schedule.
Carmen arranged the whole thing. The movers would load out in the early morning, we would leave the three cats at the St. Cloud house during the first closing in the late morning, then drive our loaded vehicles to the next closing, leaving our three cats in our new house in Orlando while we signed more papers.
We put the cats out on the screened in porch while the movers worked. Two of them were accustomed to that location, having lounged out there for seven years. Peanut, however, was a seven month old kitten, not to be caged anywhere. He shot out the door the instant I opened it, and took off running. I followed him as fast as I could run. We had a closing to get to, and this delay was not factored into the schedule . My heart sank when he dove into a storm drain.
Wearing my fancy closing duds, I flopped down on my belly and looked in. There he sat, looking at me, just within reach. I reached in, sure that he would evade my grasp. To my surprise, I was able to grab the scruff of his neck and haul him out of there.
The rest of the plan proceeded on schedule.
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