1. I roared out of the house around 5:45 this morning and arrived at Sacred Heart in Spokane rarin' to go! I began with bloodwork, all of which turned out stable and totally satisfactory, then I ventured down to radiology and, once again, under the sure direction of Sarah, submitted to an ultrasound exam of my bladder and my new kidney, and then met with Dr. Murad.
Dr. Murad wants to follow up in mid-December on some tests I had done earlier, so some time after I return from Eugene, I'll have labs done. Unless something spooky comes up in those labs, Dr. Murad decided he didn't need to see me in person again until the end of January. That's two months out. I was told in the beginning it would go this way. Two or three visits in the first week or two, then every two weeks, then once a month, and eventually ever two, three, and then six months.
My recovery seems to be right on schedule.
After Dr. Murad left the examination room, social worker Helen Hedges dropped in for a visit.
From the very beginning, in the fall of 2018, of being a patient in the Sacred Heart transplant program, I have enjoyed talking with Helen Hedges. We had an especially good talk today about Misty coming to Kellogg for Thanksgiving and about my plans to go to Oregon next week.
Soon after Helen Hedges and I finished our conversation, I was discharged.
2. I'm a sap.
I readily admit it.
I enjoy developing sentimental attachments to people and places.
I've made my frequent trips to Spokane all the more enjoyable by developing sentimental attachments to Great Harvest, the Trader Joe's on 29th, and, less frequently, Auntie's Bookstore.
Usually, after going to Sacred Heart, I blast over to Great Harvest for a morning glory muffin and coffee.
Today, however, it was time for lunch when I strolled into the bakery, so I ordered a Pepper Bleu Roast Beef sandwich on Dakota bread and I bought a loaf of Great Harvest's white bread and their honey wheat bread.
Yes, I could have then left Spokane and shopped at Trader Joe's in CdA.
But, I haven't yet developed a sentimental attachment to the CdA store, but I have sentimental feelings about the Trader Joe's on E. 29th -- and, on the pragmatic side of things, I was fairly certain parking would be much easier at the Spokane store.
It was and I bought a modest number of items intended to make us all a little happier and thankful on and around Thanksgiving!
I actually have pleasant (and sentimental -- yikes!) feelings attached to fueling up at Costco and so I filled up the Camry and then bought an armful of produce at Pilgrim's Market along with some bacon.
Then it was time to return to Kellogg.
3. Upon returning home, I was bushed. Debbie texted me that she ate the lunch she'd packed late in the day and didn't need dinner. So, I grazed. I also cleaned the produce I purchased today.
Debbie arrived home, happy with the many conferences she'd had with parents or other of her students' caretakers on Friday and late today.
We had a long and superb discussion about Debbie's job this school year and about Misty and the powerful fact that she came into our lives seemingly out of the blue and how happy and moved we are that we'll meet her in person and have Thanksgiving together.
(If you need a reminder, over forty years ago, Debbie's now deceased brother, David, fathered a child in Alaska. That child, Misty, grew up not knowing that David was her biological father, but discovered, earlier this year, through ancestry.com, that he was. She called Debbie. Out of that phone call Debbie and Misty have become close, talking frequently on the phone. Debbie had planned to visit Misty in Fairbanks in June, but those plans got canceled because of Covid and fires and smoke near Fairbanks. But now it will happen: Misty will fly into Spokane on Wednesday, join Debbie, Patrick, Meagan, Christy, Molly, and me for Thanksgiving dinner, and we'll all get to visit with each other in person.)
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