Hope smells like rotting grapefruits. I’d smelled it before, as Pedro and I shuffled around Elven Long on our daily exercise laps. The first time I smelled it, I joked with him, “It stinks just like the gymnasium did when you guys sold fruit last year!” He looked at me… Read more“Hope (and the Inspire Me Mondays Link Up)”
Tag: UCSF
Quick (and the Inspire Me Mondays Link Up)
Welcome to Inspire Me Mondays! Here’s my contribution–I’m on Day 13 of the #write31days challenge issued by The Nester. “But Jesus was quick to comfort them. “Courage, it’s me. Don’t be afraid.” (Matthew 14:27 NIV) Tubes sprouted from Pedro like a crazy hamster maze. A team of nurses moved quietly… Read more“Quick (and the Inspire Me Mondays Link Up)”
The Messenger (Dr. Doom) Takes a Seat
Dr. Doom Takes a Seat Dr. Doom* came into the room and sat on Pedro’s hospital bed. He sighed and held his hands together. He leaned over and fiddled with the IV lines and shook his head. Pedro didn’t look good. “He doesn’t have any white blood cells,” Dr. Doom… Read more“The Messenger (Dr. Doom) Takes a Seat”
Answers Before I Call
Pedro’s cancer relapsed one month after he went into remission—he went from a healthy-looking sick guy to a walking skeleton in three short weeks. The day a bed on University of California, San Francisco’s cancer ward opened up, Pedro’s wedding ring fell off when he stood up. After a series… Read more“Answers Before I Call”
Tub Thumping (Theme Songs in the Cancer Ward)
“I get knocked down, but I get up again!” Chumbawamba’s lyrics pounded out of the tinny CD speakers as the doctor came by on rounds. Pedro played the song after every round of ravaging chemo as a litmus test for hospital personnel. If they smiled, they were the good kind… Read more“Tub Thumping (Theme Songs in the Cancer Ward)”
Dancing With Elvis and Scaring Ivy
I met Ivy the week Pedro’s hospital room started to heat up like an oven in the late summer sun. Finally, we couldn’t stand it any more, and I went to a mom and pop general store down the street and purchased some duct tape and purloined blankets from the… Read more“Dancing With Elvis and Scaring Ivy”
God Answers Prayer With a Spelling Lesson
When Plans Crash My cell phone rang in the middle of a team parent’s meeting at Laura’s gymnastics class. Pedro’s voice sounded worse, but I wasn’t sure if it was because of his facial paralysis or because he really was worse. “I’m back in the hospital.” I breathed deeply and… Read more“God Answers Prayer With a Spelling Lesson”
What You Need to Know Before Spending the Night in the Hospital
Emergency! Time stood still while the lights of San Francisco flashed by the back windows of the ambulance. “How long until we reach UCSF hospital?” I asked the EMT. “It depends on traffic,” she answered, and then she continued to try to take Pedro’s medical history. “He has non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma… Read more“What You Need to Know Before Spending the Night in the Hospital”
