Saturday, November 23rd, 2002
So yesterday started off a little too early for my mom and me to handle. I
had to be at Albany Medical Center for an echocardiogram at 9:30. First I
stopped at (naturally) the Heart Institute only to be told that echoes were
halfway down the hall. Halfway down the hall in the pediatrics echo office, I
was told to walk a couple of buildings over for the REAL office. Although,
once registered, I was promptly led into a room, de-robed, and had an
ultrasound of my chest. Apparently the fluid around my heart is going away.
Huzzah!
Afterward, my mom and I headed to Home Therapy Equipment to buy me a new
walker since the one I currently use, although rad and red, is a loaner from
Sunnyview. While my mom bought the obligatory Dunkin' Donuts in exchange for
use of their parking lot, I tried out a couple walkers and found a great fit.
Unfortunately, since we didn't have script for a walker with a diagnosis on
it, our insurance wouldn't pay for any portion of it. Luckily the lady at
the shop (Cheryl) was beyond helpful and called many of our doctors trying to
find one who would fax over a script. I was too busy trying out the electric
reclining chairs to notice what ended up happening...but I left with a new
walker. Not quite as cool, but hey! it's mine.
Then came the big adventure: a trip to my old school (that's a Steely Dan
reference since they went to Bard). Upon arriving, my mom and I went to the
music building to meet Luis Garcia-Renart, a really cool music professor who
organized and led all my small ensembles last year. Unfortunately, he wasn't
in so I went to Queenie's dorm to meet her and take her out for lunch. She
didn't show up, so my mom and I went to Red Hook and had sandwiches on our
own. Good sandwiches though. Lots of new age fixins.
Then we went back to Bard to visit Admissions. They were doing a question
and answer session for prospective students, but afterward, bunched around me
and asked me questions until finally my mom and I could ask them, "What will
I have to do to reapply?" They answered, "Nothing. Just tell the Dean of
Students you want to come back." This was a fine answer indeed. And fine
people, I might add. It was perfect, because I saw all the people I was
hoping to see.
Then another trip to visit with Luis, who has taken me under his wing and
will try to get my credits validated for a dance class that I missed twice,
on account of me being barely alive (oh yeah and a Chinese Poetry tutorial
too). Luis is turbo nice and I'm glad I got to see him.
Then it was time to go find Emilie. She was in her suite and while she went
to a Ghana Project meeting, my mom and I slept in her room on her and her roommate's beds.
I didn't think I would manage to fall asleep but I did and
it was abfab. Then we traversed the very rainy and hard-to-see roads to
Rhinebeck to have dinner at Marco Polo's. We had calamari and I had pizza
that my mom and Emilie thought sounded gross. But I liked it, even though it
had a little too much black bean paste on it. Then Emilie, the seasoned
Oregonian, drove through the considerably lighter rain back to Bard. I
picked up my stereo from her room, and said my final farewell. Sad. I'm
gonna miss that girl.
Then a long wet drive back to Albany and a subsequent plopping into bed. And
when my mom and I woke up this morning, there was a light covering of snow
everywhere! Seems like we're coming home to hot California just in time.
(TF) Daniel covered everything...for once I'm left speechless. Have a
wonderful weekend...Toni and Daniel
Sunbday, November 24, 2002
Sorry about no update yesterday but we really didn't do much. Daniel got up
late, had breakfast and went promptly back to bed. Pretty much describes his
whole day. I think the trip to Bard pretty much wore him out...and he
wouldn't have missed it for anything. While he snoozed, I boxed items for
mailing home, sorted through hospital papers trying to create some semblance
of order, and packed suitcases. I am amazed at all the stuff we have
accumulated. I even wrote a few notes home...(for those of you who receive a
note signed "Sincerly" instead of "Sincerely", just remember it was late and my
brain was mush).
The best part of our day was a visit from Annmarie and her sons. They
stopped by on their way to a hockey game and brought some great rice crispy
treats. We ran to the local McDonald's for take-out so we could enjoy a
quick meal with them and say our good-byes before they had to take off.
Daniel, Jacob and Zach played the blood pressure game, the spirometer
(sp?)game (breathing thing from Albany Med), and the whoopie cushion game
while we were getting the burgers. Yes, we still entertain with the same
flair as always.
Early bedtime and Saturday was over in a flash.
This morning we slept in and then I made scrambled eggs and cinnamon rolls.
Okay, so they were in a package that all you had to do was take them out of
the package and bake...anyway, Daniel ate a ton and really enjoyed it.
Sadly, once we retired to the sitting room he got a coughing spell and
breakfast was released. He went back to bed, slept about an hour and then
got up and polished off the last two rolls. Yes, he is a true Fox.
It was another day of organizing papers, writing notes, looking for lost
socks, CD cases and such. A couple of naps later and Daniel and I headed off
to the Leets for dinner. What a wonderful time we had. While we waited for
Ian to arrive from the airport, we taught Edith our version of Scrabble and
promptly watched her cream us time after time. We even tried cheating but to
no avail...Edith and Ian play a lot of Scrabble and have great vocabularies.
We learned some pretty cool words, especially the "Q" words that don't need a
"U." They also taught us a new game (and I can't remember what it's called
because it's been over 10 minutes) that uses five dice with letters, a score
pad for each player, takes seven turns each, and a better brain than mine.
It was very fun and I'm going to look for it in California...hopefully I'll
recognize the box.
Dinner was wonderful...we've found people who love stuffing as much as we do.
(And tomatoes, and garlic, and cheese, and all the good stuff.) They had
some home grown acorn squash that was so good. Edith told me how to make it
and I just might be able to pull it off. Our last New York apple pie with
ice cream completed a great meal. Their daughter Becca is living in
Riverside so we hope to see them when they come to visit her. Trust me, they
would have been great bandparents, Spaghetti dinner volunteers, and
Arboretum enthusiasts if our paths had crossed when our kids were young.
Meeting the Leets is one of the unforeseeable plusses about spending nearly
seven months in Albany. We will definitely miss their company.
Daniel is already asleep and I've been trying to make a list of everything we
have to do tomorrow. Bright and early we will mail off the last of the boxes
home, then to Sunnyview to turn in the walker, cane and hopefully catch
Tracy, Kim, Kathy and anyone else we can find for our good-byes. Then it's
back to Albany Med for a doctor's appointment at 11:30, followed by a
doctor's appointment at 1:30. Somewhere in there we have to stop by the
offices of Dr. Kuehler, Dr. Perez-Tamayo, Dr. Bernardini, Dr. Fisher (whose
office is across town), and Dr. Emrich to pick up Daniel's records. We also
need to get four notes written for the airline and signed by the doctors
concerning oxygen, steel rods in Daniel's legs, etc. etc. Finally, we have a
letter of thanks and good-byes to say in SICU. Oh, and I guess I should
return the car...since we didn't rent it at the airport. I expect by
tomorrow evening we will be ready to drop into bed.
We are so excited to come home, and yet it seems so unreal. I think I won't
really believe it until we take our seats in the plane. Until then, it's off
to bed and our final day in Albany...it has become my personal sister city.
Goodnight to all, Toni and Daniel
Monday night, last night in the Fisher House, November 25, 2002
Whew! We made it...a day of running from morning 'til evening but we managed
better than we hoped. We started early with a run to Mail Boxes Etc.. They
had never seen such an odd assortment of stuff to be packaged and mailed.
Things that probably cost more to ship than they are worth but have great
sentimental value...like the $5 step stool I used to stand on to kiss Daniel
goodnight in SICU. The french horn was the most important item and they
packed it very well. After over an hour we were on our way to Sunnyview.
We only had time to return the walker and cane, pick up records and make a
quick trip to the Brain Injury Unit to say some final goodbyes. It turned out
we ran into all our favorite people...Kathy, Dee, Kim, and Dr. LaBarge. The
only one we missed was Tracy but we had to rush back to Albany Med for a
follow-up appointment with the cardiologist. (Tracy, if you're reading this
you have to come visit us in California since our paths didn't cross
today...bring Kim).
Good news from the cardiologist...all the fluid around Daniel's heart is gone
and his EKG today looked better than on the day of discharge. He also wrote
all the script (sp?) that we needed to fly tomorrow. The airlines are very
strict about knowing the details of Daniel's condition.
A quick lunch in the cafeteria and we were back upstairs to see Dr. Emrich
(neurosurgeon) for follow-up. Daniel's skull has healed very well, his blood
pressure is fine (no more medication for that), and after about a year we can
see if he can tolerate being off of the anti-seizure medication...under
supervision, of course.
For the next hour it seemed as though we signed a gazillion forms authorizing
Daniel's records to be released, as we tromped from floor to floor, up one
corridor and down another in search of all the doctor's who have treated
Daniel. At the main desk we asked for all the in-patient records (not to be
confused with the out-patient and office visits) and requested EVERYTHING.
Look for the UPS truck delivering the refrigerator sized box to our door.
The bonus for Daniel was finding his CD case on the Pediatrics
unit...apparently left behind in our haste to get to the Harry Potter movie
last week.
The final stop was to say goodbye to the SICU staff, drop off a letter of
thanks, take a few last pictures, and shed a few tears. Daniel walked out
sans walker and did a little bit of a dance step at the door. He promised to
come back when he returns to Bard but he'll have to wear the buffalo hat or
they won't recognize him.
Leaving Daniel in the lobby I headed to the parking garage for the car.
Luckily, I spotted Dr. Perez-Tamayo ahead of me in the hall. I called out to
him and said we had stopped by earlier for a photo but his nurse gave us some
lame excuse about his being in surgery. However, if he wanted he could find
Daniel in the lobby and have his nice assistant (standing next to him and
humoring me) take a picture. He is such a good sport, he did just that and
our day was complete.
When we pulled into the parking lot at Fisher House it was dark and I told
Daniel, "When I left California I said I was going to be here for the
duration...and today is that day. We made it."
Once we found out we could return the car super early tomorrow morning we
decided to keep it for tonight and go for Chinese food. On our way to the
restaurant we passed Washington Park. Every year they decorate it with a
beautiful display of lighted figures. We were hoping to see it before we
left but this Friday is the first evening it will be open to the public.
However, we noticed that for some reason all the lights were on. We decided
to go see if we could drive through the park and get a closer look. We
parked and walked to the pavillion where all the people had gathered...by
this time thinking it was probably a private party. I approached a woman and
found our instincts were correct, so I explained we had been here seven
months since Daniel's car accident, we were returning to California tomorrow,
and would it be okay if we walked around a little to see the lights? She was
so nice that she arranged for us to go on a horse-drawn carriage ride through
the park and gave us a stuffed gingerbread tree ornament...what a perfect
ending to our stay in Albany! And so typical of our encounters with the
friendly people in this city.
We came home and were so excited we started calling people in California and
asking to speak to Toni and Daniel...then we could say, "Oh, we're not there
yet, but we're coming tomorrow." (Jim didn't have quite the appreciation for
our high spirits when we related the story to him...). Anyway...the
cupboards are cleaned out, the towels have been washed, the luggage is packed
and we will bid farewell to the Fisher House tomorrow about 10 a.m.. We will
miss the hospitality and warmth of this home away from home but we are also
very ready to snuggle in our own beds.
Daniel is already asleep...his theory being that the sooner he falls asleep,
the sooner tomorrow will get here. I am trying to figure out what I have
forgotten to do, but it will probably come to me somewhere over Kansas.
Goodnight for the last time from Albany...and thank all of you for being a
part of this incredible experience. Love, Toni and Daniel
Tuesday Homecoming, November 26, 2002
Wow! What a tremendous evening. We were panicking when we got a call that
Daniel was in the Limo at 6:25 even though the plane wasn't supposed to land
until 6:30. It was so great to see and meet all the people bonded by one
great guy. I believe there were around 300-400 people with candles and lights,
cheering, crying and laughing. LA Times, Star News and KTLA channel 5
(excellent coverage, we have it on Tivo/tape) all were covering the event.
Instead of just going in the house, Daniel stayed outside and mingled for
quite a long time. Thank you all for joining us in this
celebration.
Welcome back,
We all love you,
Jeff Laun