Wednesday Day 28

Wednesday was unpleasant with me up all night with gas and all the other gut issues and nothing passing. It was a terrible night Tuesday-Wednesday. I stopped by the Safeway and loaded up on Metamucil, dried prunes (they don’t have canned ones I could find), and some painkillers. I took all of that and tried to rest. No sleep until about 4AM, when things began to settle to some degree. I sent a note I would miss work and wrote a quick blog for Tuesday, but as Dan G pointed out, it was not checked with care, and I did misspell Oregon.

Miserable but still better than being wracked with pain; I started about 9ish and had some more prunes with oatmeal. I added walnuts, dried cherries and cranberries, and some butter to take it up a level from low-sugar oatmeal. The painkillers were working, and gas was moving, but nothing more. I then nodded off and did not wake until noon.

I awoke into a mental mist that took an hour to clear. I was unsure what to do other than to go back to sleep. Instead, I rose and made poached eggs on toast to help my condition. The activity and the food helped me leave the mist and start thinking again. The pain was mostly gone now, and I was able to get some things to pass. I was expecting some explosive outcome but was disappointed in the polite results. After all the discomfort, I should get something spectacular, but no. On clearer thinking later, this was likely the best possible result. Still, I was disappointed.

With the foggy thinking lifting, the flows running, and a dinner of oatmeal upgraded with dried fruit and nuts, I decided I could try board gaming with Z and Andrew during choir practice. I took Air Volvo out into the cold and wet that is Oregon in the Winter; tonight, colder than usual, 38F (3C). I was tired but happy to meet Z and Dondrea at the church. Z and I decided on the same game we played last week so that Andrew would not have to learn a new one. Wingspan with the Asia and Europe add-on is a favorite.

Z and I split two games, with me winning one and losing one to Z. We played fast with two players and might have fit in another, but we waited for Andrew to be sprung from the choir. His wife-to-be is in the church band and the choir, so Andrew, who is just in the choir, like us, is waiting, and we change to have him join us for one last game. He remembered most of the rules and soon was playing fast. I had one of those Wingspan games you dream of; I had the best cards (representing birds I have attracted to my sanctuary) and could run them for tucked cards and food on cards. All worth points. My birds were all low value, but I did not have a bonus for that. Z and Andrew played well, scoring one point apart, with Z taking second place with 57. I had 64 points with all the extra points and my last egg runs. This is the opposite of the game I lost earlier against Z when I could not get anything to match or generate points. Wingspan can swing on luck sometimes.

After that, we packed up, and I took Air Volvo home. When I arrived, I was worn out and just rested. Just getting up at midnight to take my meds. I woke up a few times, but I mostly slept. I could not write the blog. I needed sleep.

Thursday Day 29

The morning started with my amazement that I was better and again that the movements were minor. For all the lack of sleep, pain, and simple messing up my day–it should have been more exciting. Again, on rethinking that, I was obviously delusional. I do oatmeal again with prunes and the rest of the upgrades. I make NYC Zabar grind coffee (thanks, Cat) to go with breakfast. I rose, more like a summoning (Bell, Book, and iPhone?), at 6:30 and willed my slippers and robe to find me, but after a few minutes, I gave up and put them on. I found my office.

The Nike laptop was non-responsive (which I agree is better than me being non-responsive) until I found that the plug was not put in all the way. Until I found the power issue, I was ready for a massive eye-roll as I dealt with a dead laptop. It is the worst time-sink. But not today–power worked to revive my Think Pad (no longer in warranty or supported–but that is for another day). I do the basics: read my email and update Quicken with transactions. I read a few notes.

Next, off to the shower, and then get dressed. Air Volvo, with MAX running for heat, takes me through some traffic. I try an alternative way, which saves me five minutes–excellent. I was welcomed by the desk staff who missed me yesterday. It is nice to be missed, and we chat for a while. I head to our part of the Swift building on Nike WHQ and have a pleasant morning. I do a few process meetings and talk to some folks about some new work I have asked to do, which resembles a miracle–excellent to know that they still believe I can do the impossible.

Lunch is a salad at Serena Williams, not the GOAT but the Nike WHQ building named for her. It is a long walk, twenty minutes in the Oregon mist, but I have my hat, gloves, scarf, and a good coat, so I am comfortable. Air Force Ones are not waterproof but seldom get wet from the usual wet in Beaverton.

Scott and I meet and talk about work and the challenges we are both having. We meet weekly, when we can, to talk and see how we can help each other. We have partnered for years. It was a great salad from the salad bar (no bread this time as I do not trust my inner self with soft bread yet). Scott works in the business where they perform magic, which is foreign trade. Details cannot be shared here, of course.

I head back, and Scott goes back to the pixie dust. I walk a damp, easy trail through the wet beauty that is Nike WHQ–there are some new changes that, when it is summer, will allow more outdoor meetings. I am looking forward to that. “Meet me at the cement meeting circles next to the soccer field,” who gets to say that at work?

I return to Swift just winded; I need to do this more often. Lunch, a salad, is not settling very well. I remember the problems started with a dinner that included a salad and pickles. Hmmm. I do one more process meeting and then head out. Time to enjoy a trip to Portland for Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital, where the CT scanner I signed up for is located. There are closer ones, but I have used this one three times, and the results are provided in less than an hour, and I know it.

The traffic is the usual stop-and-go on a Thursday inbound to Portland on Highway 26. I arrive still with plenty of time. I park in the parking garage at the top to see the view. I walked to the elevator, stepping over the place where I collapsed when I could not breathe, and enjoyed an ambulance ride across the street to the ER. A false feeling brought on by a chemotherapy drug, I was fine.

I take the lift and walk by the Jehovah’s Witnesses on the corner. I thank them for being there and ask them to be careful when the snow comes on Friday. I always treat them with respect as I know their beliefs and history. Any group that Hitler threatened to shoot every member because they would not salute him has my respect.

The hospital has had a shooter incident, so there are some seriously armed and protected people at the entrance. You have to go through their inspection to enter; they are serious people. Somewhat disconcerting in Portland but needed. I put my hat in the X-ray, and it got stuck. They have to reach in to get it. I was worried if that was safe, but they seemed more annoyed than worried.

With my irradiated hat, I checked in at X-ray (yes, ironic), and the gal remembered me (the hat matched last time). She likes the joke that my sister wanted me to remember the meow-meow song while in the CT. Next, I slip into some less metallic (scrubs) and get an IV. The CT tech is also a repeat for me; she also remembers me. The IV goes in easily, and a quick in and out of the gigantic radioactive donut, and I am done. I will be back in four or six months.

I managed the Portland traffic with an electric scooter going down a street the wrong way and headed for me. Before having a head-on smash with Air Volvo–not likely to scratch the paint, they turn off into a food joint. I will say that pedestrians in Portland also believe in the kindness of the drivers, and they seem to step out of everywhere and expect me to stop. Air Volvo would automatically stop for them if I did not see them, so maybe their faith is justified. Trust in Volvo!

The jersey barriers are covered in tags, and I did not like that extra art. I was tempted to bring white paint. It is pretty, but I like white for traffic barriers; they are easier to see in the dark!

I was soon home as the trip was easy and not memorable–probably a good thing. I found a frozen chicken Cordon Blue and baked that for dinner. I had that with a sweet potato I cooked in the microwave, sprinkled with cinnamon, and then added a pat of butter. It was a good dinner and settled better than a salad. Hmmm.

The results are in for the CT scan before I reach home. Nothing. Excellent.

Tonight is the Theology Pub Zoom Church discussion. It is 60 years since the USA passed the Civil Rights Act passed in the year of my birth, 1964. We talked about this and other changes in the country. Our conclusions were that ethnic groups, while treated better, have not made the economic progress we had hoped. The pressure against the reforms is rising, possibly because the reforms are starting to work and become part of the traditions of the USA. We must keep pushing to preserve such changes as the Civil Rights Act and to promote more. The journey seems to have just begun again. That, again, The Other is being bashed instead of addressing the actual issues. A pattern we see over and over in USA history. We must find love and compassion.

After that discussion, I started to fade, but I wrote the blog pushing myself. I had started before the meeting while eating dinner and then stopped for the Theology Pub meeting.

I am tired, but my dinner (no salad) seems to settle.