Pincushion

Pincushion - a small cushion into which pins are stuck for convenient storage. That is what Jim felt like today. When we first arrived to the hospital for his appointment he went for the usual blood work. The man called him back and started to collect one of seven vials of blood. Shortly after the first vial the man turned and accidentally yanked the tubing from Jim's arm and the needle came out. Jim then had to be stuck again to finish the collection. Next we met with Shani, the NP. She asked all the usual questions to make sure there were no problems arising. She examined Jim and reviewed some of his blood work. Because he still had elevated creatinine levels which indicates the kidneys are not working up to par, Jim needed to have more IV fluids to flush them. As I mentioned previously this is not an uncommon occurrence for transplant patients. It just meant another stick and he would have to spend an additional 2 hours in the treatment room receiving IV fluids. The treatment nurse stuck him twice and was unsuccessful getting an IV in. She called another nurse who tried once and was unsuccessful. Finally the pro came in and on Jim's 6th stick of the day she was able to start an IV. Hence my reference to pincushion.

While Jim was in the treatment room Dr. Sauter came in to check on him. He stated he was pleased with Jimmy's progress so far. He may have a set back here and there but that is to be expected. He was not overly concerned with some of the abnormal lab values. They are monitored very carefully and should go back to normal when certain medications are reduced. He wants Jim to go in Sunday for more blood work and he will see him next Tuesday.

While Jim was having treatment I met Lloyd, Debra and Robert at Le Pain for lunch. They are the folks I made friends with on the transplant floor. It was raining out and I got back to the hospital just as Jim was finishing up. We still had to hang around over an hour to wait for the shuttle back to the Hope Lodge.

After dinner we took a walk out into the scary nightlife around Penn Station. I honestly wish I could describe or capture on film what we see every time we venture outside the Hope Lodge. Wasted drunk or drugged up people on every corner. Some homeless looking, some not. People sleeping standing up. A man cursing at a taxi cab driver, both of them standing outside the vehicle. We watched a NYPD tow truck back up to an illegally parked car and hook him up. He also broke into the vehicle to put it in neutral, all the while the horn was going off. We didn't stay out long but we never run out of interesting things to look at. The Empire State Building looked pretty towering over the tall buildings surrounding us.

Now we are sitting in our room with the windows open and we can still hear the sounds of the scary area below. Buses running, cars honking, sirens blaring, people yelling, HVAC units blowing. What I don't hear are dogs barking, children playing, birds chirping, water flowing or lawn mowers running. It's a different world in NYC.