home

The chair! This was our little space. the four walls had five doors. one was open to Hans' room (great), one was an emergency exit that we weren't to block, one wall had the community shower and another patient's door, and the third wasn't really a wall, but double doors opening to the hall and the nurses station. It wasn't so much an ante room as a fish bowl. There was no real place to put our things. No table, or cupboard. That's why I was going so crazy. But, poor Hans really got the worst of
it:(

Free!

Oh, joy. We are home. Hans was 1.7 this morning. We had the scan bumped up to noon and hit the road.

I made myself buy an "I luv SF" sweatshirt, even though it was a tough week. It is an undeniably gorgeous city. Our little week there tops probably only a week in Alcatraz or some city jail. Well, I'm sure any "ICU" experience would be more terrible. It was amazingly, gorgeously clear, if cold. The San Franciscans are serious foodies and it even trickles into some tasty menu items at the hospital level! This week was surprisingly light on the pocketpook. We could eat hospital meals. We parked for free thanks to our two genius social workers, and the Family House in SF doesn't charge even a "suggested donation". So, we were left to spend our ducats in the pretty, hilly city as we could. Roxie and I had a nice meal out at Park Chow, and my mom and I found a pub for a glass of wine one night. Kev pretty much camped out at Hans' side while he was there, except for his one ride. I was lucky to be relieved of sleeping in The Chair for three nights! I am glad I got a full three nights at Hans' side but I'm not sure what shape I'd be in if I slept there all six nights. I was glad that Hans and I had the back up, for sure!

Hans is GREAT. His counts aren't expected to drop for a couple of weeks. His counts looked great today with the exception of the sodium. It's a little low but that is to be expected for hospital stays where Hans doesn't eat as well as normal. Since home he is feasting on spaghetti tacos, cheese dip, chips and our homemade salsa, daddy's grilled chicken from the carniceria and drinks!

We will get the news about the scan tomorrow. Hans didn't want to poop much while there. I'm afraid the "hot poop" obscured much of the view on the scan. I guess There is No Place (to poop) Like Home. The doc is supposed to call me tomorrow. We're likely to see MUCH more than we'd normally be able to see on a regular MIBG scan. This scan will not evaluate how effective the therapy was. We won't know that for about 6 weeks. This scan will just tell us where the MIBG went. It may have found more NB than we even knew was there. UGH. Our real job is to chill out a little bit. This therapy is both slower and longer lasting than chemo. So, we should get a break. We will likely have to go to LA to see our doc this week.

Kev was able to fetch Elle! Thanks A for being there for us! And thanks to Elizabeth for your TLC with all of our pets! Honey had it good. Thanks again to everyone who rolled out the red carpet for Elle back in Texas. Soo sweet!