Month: May 2005

Yesterday, Eva, Howard, and Eva’s niece and nephew took me on a mini-hike to Laurelwood Park. It was a short trail but the views were wonderful. There were all sorts of different trees in the valley. It was the first time I had been on a hiking trail since I’ve been out of the hospital and it felt great. The most exciting part of the hike was at the beginning, when a snake crossed our path. Six-year-old Alec was so scared, he insisted on being carried the entire hike through the “wilderness,” by Howard and Eva. It’s a good thing it was less than a mile long! Today, I had a great day with my friend Mark. He came over for lunch (shrimp and asparagus) and then we turned on the TV to watch Danika Patrick participate in the Indy 500. She came in 4th place; not bad for a rookie! After the race, we went to the Planet Granite climbing gym where I got back on the walls again! I started off easy, and managed to get up two 5.6’s and two 5.7 climbs. The longest climb was 50 vertical feet. I had to rest a little on that one! We left the gym and went for a walk with his friend Agnes. We walked around a beautiful lake in Foster City, and spent the afternoon talking and admiring the view. There were wind-surfers out on the water today, along with some Mallard ducks. Stacey, from Belmont

Sasha, thanks for writing! I hope your injury is healing nicely. I’ll e-mail you. Wednesday I had a procedure done by Dr. Olsen and Dr. Dhillon to drain the lymphatic fluid from my lungs. The exciting part was not actually the procedure, but the ride to the hospital. We were just turning off El Camino, about 5 minutes from the entrance when I started heaving and throwing up dinner from the night before. Well, Dave had one hand on the wheel and the other hand unrolling gobs of paper towels to hand to me. Not a drop made it to the car seat or my clothes. I was very impressed with poor Dave’s “nursing while driving” skills. By the time we arrived at the hospital entrance, I had nothing left in my stomach and I was feeling comparatively better. It was a simple outpatient procedure done in the ATU unit of the hospital. They gave me a local anesthesia, then inserted a catheter into my lung and drained the fluid into a clear glass bottle. I was surprised how much fluid came out! It was 700 ml, almost 3/4 of a liter! It looked like milky beer, complete with a froth on top. It was hard to imagine that all that fluid was inside of me and taking up space in my lungs. Stacey, from Belmont

I had clinic today, which means a morning of blood draws, x-rays, a Pulmonary Function Test (PFT) and a meeting with the doctors. The PFT showed a little bit of improvement, with lung function (forced inhaling capacity) at 56% of normal. After the hospital visit and a healthy lunch of wheat bread with tomatoes, sprouts and cream cheese (non-fat, of course!) I went to Twisters to say hello to Ron, my old boss, and the Twisters kids, I went for a walk by myself at Shoreline Park. The weather was perfect. The late spring breeze felt good, and the exercise opened up my lungs. The grass has turned green from the spring rains, unlike the normal California yellow. Today I even noticed orange flowers at the baylands, something I don’t remember seeing before. Lately, Dave has been pointing out the beauty of the full moon. I hope everyone has a chance to look outside and enjoy it this week. Stacey, from H.O.M.E. apartments

Denise, thanks so much for writing! It is always entertaining to hear about your girls. Today marks my six-month anniversary from the transplant. Coincidentally, we are moving out of the hometel and going back to my apartment in Belmont tomorrow. I went to the cactus garden by myself today, to reflect a little bit on what has happened in the last six months. Recovery was going great, and then I had the big set-back, and now the second recovery is coming along. It is a slow process, but I am glad to have survived such a close call on my life. At first I thought I would have to start at ground zero, but recovery is going a bit better than I expected. Yesterday at the gym, I made my first walking goal, walking a mile in 18 min. 40 sec. Treadmill workouts are funny, if you set your machine at a certain pace you have no choice but to keep up without falling over. Stacey, from H.O.M.E. apartments

After a day of rest, it will be back to the stadium for me today. At physical therapy on Tuesday, I completed 20 minutes on the exercise arm/leg machine (alternating every minute) plus walked a mile uphill at a 3 percent grade on the treadmill. I’m beginning to enjoy this life, perhaps because I’ve been starting to dream about the working life at night. My health was good, but life was stressful while I was the manager at Twisters, too. There were long hours and always problems coming up, and I didn’t have time to spend with friends. Certainly, I did not have time to enjoy the daylight hours and go on nature walks during the week. My friend Tanya is studying buddhist philosophy, and one of the ideas is to live in the present instead the future, on the premise if you live in the future you might miss BOTH the present and the future. So I am trying to enjoy where I’m at; there are some benefits to my situation. Stacey, from H.O.M.E. apartments

Yesterday, Rene and I went to the Belmont gym to use the weights and fitness equipment. It was nice to be back after over two months away. In addition to the climbing walls, Planet Granite gym has state-of-the-art exercise equipment–including a treadmill that can measure time, distance, incline, and heart rate. I was told to keep my heart rate around 130, and at this rate I walked a mile in 20 min. 47 seconds, so my next immediate goal is to walk a mile in less than 20 minutes. I also like the assisted pull-up machine, and succeeded in doing a couple sets of lat pull-down exercises. Out of my own curiosity, I tried 50% of my weight, but I could only do one repetition at that level. Far from being able to do 75 pull ups in one day, (that record was set while I was using oxygen)yet I was pleased because I am recovering better than I expected too; since I was lying in bed for 7 weeks and only 3 weeks out of th hospital. The months ahead involve a lot of careful work to regaih my strength for daily life, climbing and other sports. I want to recapture that feeling of being able to move and enjoy fun activities with my friends again, which was my “normal” lifestyle. For now, I stay focused on rehab, nutrition, food preparation, and hospital appointments thrice daily. I also go to bed very early every night to get proper sleep for healing. Stacey, from H.O.M.E. apartments

I forgot to mention that on our walk on Saturday, the air was clear enough to see from San Jose to San Francisco from the top of the hill! This morning was the third day in a row I have not had “throwing up” problems…maybe it has gone away! That will be a relief. Yesterday, Dave and I went to the stadium to climb bleachers. We also met the Levin family (Carrie, Rich, Yuri and Josh) for an afternoon of fun. They mostly played football and soccer while we did bleachers.) First, Carrie and I walked 1/2 mile around the track to warm up. It took 12:27 minutes. I will try to go further next time. Next, I started on my workout, and was able to go five trips up and down the bleachers! Towards the top, the bleachers rise about 18″. By the end of each trip, I could only climb them one step at a time without stopping, but the amazing thing is that I could continue all the way to the top each time. It was very encouraging. Today, I am only a little bit sore. We spent the morning at the hospital, with an 8:30 blood draw appointment, 9:30 shot, and 10:30 clinic appointment. The shots are painful but the good thing is that they only last about one minute. At the clinic appointment, the doctors were cheerful about my progress and have a plan of action regarding the pleural effusion; they will see if the octreotide is having an effect, and also drain the fluid sometime soon. Stacey, from H.O.M.E. apartments

In between hospital appointments, Dave and I went to the Stanford dish trail today. It’s called the “dish” because there is a satellite dish at the top of the hill, a well-known landmark in the community. The trail, once a worn, narrow dirt trail is now a wide paved path with a security guard at the entrance. Nevertheless, the wildlife still abounds at the dish. Today, we saw a four-foot long snake cross the path. There have also been several mountain lion sightings but I haven’t seen any myself. Today, I walked much further than I did last week with Meredith. I was so pleased to get so far on the trail in half an hour…and then we turned back to head down the hill to Dave’s truck. Yes, I feel like I am getting stronger because the walking is easier. Stacey, from H.O.M.E. apartments