An Airport Delay at Good Samaritan Hospital??

Wednesday went ok. Previous notes may have mentioned that the Y-90 beads are flown in from Australia , it turns out via FedEx. Well, then one must await their arrival in downtown Portland from PDX, where it appears the FedEx plane was a little late. That threw the timing into the morning rush hour, since I was scheduled at 8 am. Next to me, prepping for the initial angiogram related to this very same procedure, was a really nice guy about my age. We didn’t talk much, but I heard Dr. Bauer go through the entire informed consent conversation…and knew I was in trouble when I heard that tell-tale squeak of the gurney brakes on HIS bed instead of mine.

Seems that the airport delay was going to put me second in line, rather than first. I couldn’t really holler at Bauer, there wasn’t anything he could do to speed up FedEx, and there was no reason for him to sit around slowing down the rest of the day. My neighbor went first, I waited ‘til nearly 11, and they zipped me in for the work at that time. Generally, this would have been no big deal.

When you go to the recovery room for this procedure, first you have to visit Nuclear Medicine for two hours to make sure you aren’t leaking. (For the record, there were no terrorists hiding in the hallway to steal away body fluids for dirty bomb preparations.) Just some cute nurses, trying to be helpful behind their shields and lead aprons.

Then, following your basic recovery from the sedation, you are assigned to the cancer ward…not for an overnight visit, but so that they follow the necessary germ protocols, etc. Rather than getting out between 4-5 in the afternoon, Jillian didn’t get to drive me home ‘til almost nine pm. Although I napped a bit before the procedure, when Judy took off for work in the morning, I can’t say that I really got much rest.

Thursday was a very slow day, just like sitting in an airport too long. As of Saturday morning, I'd say I've recovered to about 80%. Nothing feels bad, hurts, or makes me feel ill. Nothing glows, darn it. I’m on the mend, it turns out that I should be able to go back to work on 12/1, and I’ll be back in the holiday spirit right about then. For now, I’m tickled to think that this may have been my last procedure for quite some time…and that the Enola Gay DID arrive from PDX with all its radiation beads intact.

Thanks for everyone's kind notes. Your positive attitudes and friendly phrases rub off and really help.