The Little Things ~ May 28, 2013

I'll get to the nitty-gritty, rode hard and put away wet, rest of the story about my TACE Procedure at UCSF in my next post, but today is for celebrating simple pleasures.

Wednesday ~ May 22nd

A splendid day in SF, our airbnb flat (https://www.airbnb.com/) was off the scale. We're going to return there when I have a repeat performance at UCSF in late June. We logged 3 miles around the Cole Valley and Golden Gate Park, discovered a great Thai restaurant called Ploy II on Haight and the Ice Cream Bar across the street from our aerie. We had mint chocolate chip, but did you know there was such a flavor as roasted strawberry and goat cheese? We didn't try it, but the girls sitting next to us said it was amazing.

We spent hours in the late afternoon sun
reading on the chaise under the window

Friday and Saturday ~ May 24th and May 25th

Friday morning we busted out of UCSF and headed to familiar ground. Glad to be home but felt like refried poop. Couldn't get comfortable without anti nausea meds and Oxycodone. They say "better living through chemistry" but this took it to a whole new level. What brought me back to the living was Angel Pagan's walk off, inside the park home run, to win the Colorado game in the 10th.

Open link to watch this little miracle: http://soa.li/MERiuGU

Monday ~ May27th

New critters in the hood. Rod was sitting outside reading when a small herd of young weasels started playing tag around the greenhouse and our sheds. Neighbor Susie caught a couple of them on film.

Tuesday ~ May 28th

We had rain most of the night, a delightful surprise that settled the dust and gave all the plants a bath. Today was my first venture outside since getting home. It was warm so we had coffee and strawberry apple smoothies on the deck. I put on my sandals and toddled about the yard taking pictures. I must be on the mend.

 Potato Tree

 

 When you look out across our pasture

 freshly mown

 you understand why we call it home 

Raindrop Diamonds on Blue Spruce

Now I must pay tribute to the most caring man in the world. He's been at my side through all of this: he makes me laugh, rubs my shoulders, gives me pedicures, makes sure I take my medications, cooks amazing food, and has developed an infinite patience with his slightly cranky bride.

I am blessed beyond words. This afternoon he made a vat of beef stew and sourdough/parmesan biscuits. Be still my heart!

Eyes Wide Open ~ April 8th, 2013

By o'dark thirty and we're up, dressed and fed. Rod fixed breakfast and packed snacks to take with us. We have to be at the UCSF Transplant Center to start the day of interviews at 6:50am. We're a little worse for wear due to our sleepless night, but you can't let a little thing like that get in your way.

7:00am ~ The first stop is for a presentation to the group of us being evaluated today. It's primarily informational and a forum for any questions. There's a certain amount of comfort derived from running into one or more of your "teammates for the day" at each appointment. We are all in this together so we share a common bond.

9:30am ~ Meet with the hepatologist (liver specialist) who let's us know up front that a possible show stopper for being listed for a transplant is my run-in with breast cancer in 2011. They may request further information and evaluation from one of their oncologists.

10:30 ~ Meet with social worker who has a lot of questions for us and clarifies UCSF's stance on drugs and alcohol. Many patients needing transplants have abused or continue to abuse drugs and alcohol. So even though my liver problem is due to chronic disease and cancer the playing field needs to be level. If I'm listed, they can request a random drug test at any time and it must be done the same day. If we're in Tucson or Telluride and get a call, we have to find a local lab. If we're traveling where there is no cell service we need to let UCSF know ahead of time.

I haven't had a drink since 1990 but I need to avoid any alcohol which includes that used in cooking, mouthwash or cold medicine. I don't smoke but I need to stay away from any source of second hand smoke because it will register in my system. Though restaurants and venues in California are smoke free, in many other states there are no such laws. Casinos and penny slots are off my dance card.

12:00 ~ Meet with the financial person who goes over our insurance coverage. 

1:30 ~ Meet with one of the transplant surgeons. He doesn't mince words. At first we thought him a bit arrogant, but then realized he is on the front line of these surgeries and is a realist. Age can play a major role in success and recovery (I'm 68 and could be 70 by the time I reach the top of the list).

Northern California is one of the largest regions in UNOS (United Network of Organ Sharing) and I have type "O" blood, the most common. What this means is the pool of people in our region waiting for livers is huge. There is a 15 month to 2 year wait once you're on the list. He suggested we look into "Multiple Listing" which allows me to be listed in other regions such as Jacksonville, FL or Cleveland, OH with a smaller population base. If we take advantage of that option it would mean relocating for 6 months. Yikes!

If I have a liver transplant I will be on immunosuppressant drugs for the rest of my life. A body considers any transplant an "introduced species" and will try to reject it. Though there will be much tweaking and fine tuning of the drugs there are a host of potential side effects.

2:30 ~ An ultrasound is my last appointment. I've been fasting all day so by now I'm hungry, tired and cranky. The afternoon's saving grace is the amazing view from the 6th floor waiting room: Golden Gate Park, Golden Gate Bridge, Marin Headlands and Mt. Tamalpais (where I grew up).  

Room with a view 

 

 Urban Getaway

3:30 ~ We make our escape from UCSF, take off for a bite to eat and head back to the flat. The plan had been to spend another night in SF so we could play tourists for a day, but were exhausted. Time to head home and get a good nights sleep.

We met our host for the first time this afternoon and let him know we were prepared to give up the cost of the room for not staying a second night, but he insists on refunding it. We visited until about 6pm and then headed north.  Our first experience with airbnb (www.airbnb.com) was a positive one. It's a great way to meet new people wherever you're travelling.

It's been a long day

https://www.etsy.com/shop/InkyDreamz

Today was an eye opening experience: surreal, real, fascinating and scary. It was a lot to take in. Now it's a waiting game to see whether I get listed for a transplant or not. If not, we started exploring Plan B.

It's time for an adventure under the stars!

Off to San Francisco ~ April 7, 2013

We took off for San Francisco about 3:00pm Sunday. The marathon liver transplant evaluation at UCSF was to start at 6:50am Monday. A good night's sleep and not driving the morning commute to SF sounded like a good idea at the time. I had mentioned to the scheduling nurse at UCSF we were having a hard time finding a place to stay and she suggested we check out www.airbnb.com. As luck would have it the first listing I saw fit the bill and put us about 3 blocks from campus.

Our hosts wouldn't be back until 10pm so they left the key and house rules in the mailbox for us. This vintage upstairs flat (and I do mean up stairs) was warm and inviting.

Dining Room

Guest Room

 

We settled in and decided a walk was in order. Bundled up against the wind we took off down the hill. This is Farnsworth Lane, just down the street from our abode. Can you imagine the shape you'd be in walking this every day?

We strolled to the Panhandle, past what remains of Kezar Stadium and over to the Haight Ashbury district. I grew up in Mill Valley but had never been there. There's an incredible mix art and architectural on the streets.

Let there be light

 

Rod used to live in area during the 1970's and took great delight in regaling me with stories. This was a photographer's paradise, glad I had my IPhone.

 Jim

 

Joan

 

Jimi

 

We put in about 3 miles and on the way back stopped at Zazie's for dinner. It's a delightful little hole in the wall French restaurant. You get to the back patio through the kitchen. Our kind of place and the food was fabulous.

 

 

We toddled back up the hill after dinner and read for awhile. Lights out about 9:30 in hopes of a good night's sleep. Unfortunately high winds from an unexpected storm kept us awake most of the night. Oh Well!