It is that time again. Another trip to New York for lab work and a visit with Dr. Sauter. Only this time Jim is scheduled for his 18 month PET Scan, CT scan and his first bone scan. We left yesterday morning (Monday) to take the Vamoose bus to New York. You can't beat the price and timing is about the same as driving (five hours). The bus drops us off near Penn Station and we cab it to Manhattan's Upper East Side. We know the drill. It took a lot of convincing to get Jimmy to agree on the bus but finally he caved to my nagging. Personally we can read, sleep or check emails on the computer. Off we went with plenty of room initially until our one and only stop in Arlington soon filled the bus. We sat near the back. Never again. There was a steady flow of people going in and out of the bathroom exposing us to repugnant fumes. An hour into the trip Jim accidentally spilled his coffee. Luckily it was an iced coffee and only a small amount went onto his computer. The rest of the coffee was absorbed by both of our jeans. UGH. I ended up sitting on one of my magazines the rest of the trip to prevent a total butt soak. Now Jim is convinced never to take the bus again, like it was the buses fault that he spilled his coffee. A couple of other odd things happened on the trip up. After we picked up the stop in Arlington for some reason the bus driver headed into DC and drove onto the campus of Georgetown University. I think he was trying to find a place to turn around but he had to go on the wrong side of the road to avoid a gate arm that was there to prevent cars from entering. Later when we were on the highway he pulled over at a truck weigh station because I think he thought he had to weigh the bus. WHAT??? That has never happened before. Lastly he stopped at a rest stop and ran to the back of the bus to use the restroom. Can't blame him for that one. Despite all the delays we still made it to the hotel in time to freshen up and go to Jim's first appointment.
The hotel is The Bentley. We have stayed there many times because it is a convenient walk to the hospital and it's within the price range of other hotels in the vicinity. They all are incredibly expensive but that is New York City for you. The Bentley actually gives discounts, although not much, to Memorial Sloan Kettering patients. We had only been in our room for ten minutes before Jim noticed an enormous water roach on the ceiling. I immediately started for the elevator to notify the desk but on my way I saw the housekeeping supervisor and when I told her, she marched into the room, stood on the ottoman and swatted at the Neanderthal bug. After a couple of attempts she got it and flushed it down the toilet. She said they sometimes come up the pipes. We were on the 20th floor!!! That's a lot of crawling. What pipes? After she left I flushed the toilet again.
When Jim's bone scan was done
we went to our favorite pub, Treadwell Park. They have a nice selection of beers and even food that I can eat. We spent a couple of hours there listening to the music, drinking beer and ciders and eventually ordered dinner.
This morning Jim was up early for his CT and PET Scan. I stayed at the hotel until he returned. The process takes a couple of hours. We didn't meet with Dr. Sauter until 1:30 and I can thankfully report that his Pet looks good. No Evidence of Disease! Thank you God first and Mike Rice second. Dr. Sauter said the report came back quickly this time because the radiologist did not see anything suspicious to investigate further. Sauter said when there is something on the scan it's like a bright flashlight in a barn. Ok sounds good to me.
We are on our way home. This time we are taking the Gold bus. More room, less people and we are sitting closer to the front, far away from the bathroom. It's a happy day.
Last weekend we walked Light the Night which raises money in support of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. LLS exists to find cures for blood cancer patients. Sara and Skye started walking Light the Night in 2014 after Jimmy was diagnosed with a rare form of lymphoma. This was the first year we walked on the National Mall in DC. It was a beautiful night with perfect weather. The actual walk was 1.5 miles.
