Wednesday and Thursday

April 28th- Wednesday
I saw an unsettling site on the way to the hospital yesterday morning. As I rounded the corner on York Avenue and was getting ready to enter the main entrance I saw a man pushing an IV pole similar to Jimmy's. He was outside the hospital in his gown and he was lighting a cigarette. I almost pulled out my cell phone and took a picture. Every patient at Memorial Sloan Kettering is a cancer patient. This man is a cancer patient. Amazing! Later when I was telling Jimmy the story his nursing assistant was in the room making his bed. She told us a story of a very educated professor and author of many books who was a patient on oxygen. This professor was caught smoking pot in his ICU room and they had to have security search the room. Finally they found the marijuana on his body, in his underwear. The nurse assistant said sometimes smoking is the only comfort a patient has. Just don't blow up the rest of the floor by smoking while on oxygen.

Jim was already sitting on the couch, breakfast ordered and he was on his computer when I arrived to his room What a pleasant surprise to see him up an at 'em already. I had to leave before the doctors came in because three of my friends were coming to visit. I went back to the apartment by noon to waited for their arrival. Jane, Laura and Kay took the VaMoose bus from Lorton, VA to Penn Station and then took an uber to the apartment. It was so great to see them. After settling in I took them to Pizza Park where they got pizza and we went and ate lunch in the park across from MSK. The day was a little chilly but the sun was out and the sky was blue.








We walked to Central Park and visited the Alice in Wonderland Statue. Lots of children were climbing on it. We saw remote controlled sailboats gliding on the boat pond. It is at this spot that Stuart Little, the storybook mouse in E.B. White's story, sailed his fictional sailboat to victory. There were lots of people and dogs at the park. Afterwards we stopped by Room 831 to say hello to Jimmy. He was very happy to see "the girls".

After our visit with Jim we went back to the apartment to relax and freshen up until dinner. I made reservations at Rosa Mexicano's for 7:30. It was only a half mile walk but by then it was chilly out. Dinner was delicious. We took our time and had lots of laughs. It was refreshing for me to get out and socialize, laugh and feel normal again. I know Jim longs to do that too and will in good time.

April 28th -Thursday
The girls left by 11:00 to make it back to Penn Station in time for the bus ride home. Right after they left I walked to the hospital. Jim was continuing to have a good day. His white blood counts are 0.5. He is officially ENGRAFTING!! That means his donor cells have found their way to his bone marrow and they are beginning to produce baby stem cells, the first which have grown into white blood cells. Today marks two weeks since he received his transplant. If he continues to do well Dr. van den Brink said there is a chance he will be discharged to the Hope Lodge next week.