Friday, November 20, 2009

A Day in the City

They get up in the morning and go to work. I used to be one of them. Yesterday morning I pretended I was one of them again and made the 7:59 train to downtown Philly for my allday kidney appointment at Jefferson U. My son Dan met me on the train. Sarah was to meet us at Jefferson.

Look who I see, Dan said, while we were walking down some dirty street in Philadelphia. There, in her new gray suede boots she bought in Italy, was Sarah! She didn't see us and was walking really fast.

Let's surprise her, I said to Dan. Follow me.

I began running, with my backpack on, and my Kidney Packet under my arm. I passed a well-dressed woman and said, Pardon me, I'm playing a trick on someone.

Dan and I jogged across the street.

In our wonderful American healthcare system, it takes 4-6 weeks for one of my doctors to fax out crucial information. So I dunno if I'm a candidate for a kidney transplant cuz this vital info is still sitting in the doc's office in Abington PA. Four to six weeks!

Because the kidney recipient must be on immuno-suppressants their entire life, diseases find us. Cough cough cough. Ah-choo! Oooh, look at this weird thing on my skin. Is this the skin cancer Dr Maria was talking about? I didn't catch her last name since her badge was turned around. She was from Madrid.

Seems like doctors still do not believe in prevention. I DO, however, and have ordered from Amazon The 12-Step Program to Prevent Dialysis. I've scheduled another appt w/Mary Ann Moylan at the Willow Grove Giant Supermarket. I still can't get the hang of the kidney diet where we watch our intake of

phosphorus
sodium
potassium
protein

but are still allowed to

do great home interventions for people in denial
use artwork to reach some of our opaque clients
moderate the coffeeshop writers group
listen to coldplay on youtube (the scientist and when i ruled the world - did he have bipolar?)

hey, we have a nice group of folks gonna help stuff stockings for the Marines in Afghanistan tomro at a local school. Grabbed a poster from the PO.

Must I hop on my stationary bike now?

Yes, you must, Ruthie. Dyou wanna keep your kidneys?

Oh, all right. I'll put a few more pages into the library book I stole off the cruise ship, Ruth Rendell's The Rottweiler, a fine story about a serial killer. We actually feel sorry for him. Exercising is so frigging boring I read while I pedal.

1 comment:

  1. It is just unacceptable that you should have to wait so long for an answer, or that anyone should have to.

    Still, as always, you are seeking ways to take control of your life and to do what you can to stave off bad things as much as possible. Thank goodness you are like that, and that you have an incredible track record of challenging and defying the expected and accepted in order to advocate for yourself (and for others). You know I am rooting for you every step of the way.

    ReplyDelete