T+33 A busy day at the clinic.

BOX SCORE
Element	Current	Std. Range	Trend
Hemoglobin	10.5	13-17	v
Platelets	163	140-375	^
ANC	2540	1800-8300	v

Sometimes everything happens at once. Take today, for instance. We had a leisurely start to the day, since our clinic appointment was at 11:40am. We decided to leave five minutes earlier than we normally would, in case parking was a challenge. 

As Jill was backing the car out of our assigned space onto Gibbs Street, which is kind of busy, I told her to stop because a bus was coming. Oops, buses don't have flashing red and blue lights. Nope, it's a fire engine, but there is no siren. That seems odd. Once the fire engine passed by, we backed out and headed down toward the hospital. What the? There's another fire engine...and another...and a police cruiser. Oddly, there didn't seem to be much going on, just flashing lights. We wended our way among the big red vehicles. I think I counted eight. 

We managed to get through them and turn down Campus Drive, thinking, "Now we're in the clear." Nope! There were three more! We waited as they seemed to be jockeying for position. Finally, the car behind us made a three point turn and headed back up the hill. Jill followed suit; I got out my phone and found an alternate route to the clinic. That went pretty well, until the GPS gave us a bum steer (you should pardon the pun) and we had to go around the block to get back on track. 

At last we arrived at the parking garage, expecting to drive and drive to find a space. Instead a car pulled out of a space that allowed us to drive straight in. We gathered our things and headed for the elevator to the clinics. When we exited at the Lobby, we were very disoriented. Nothing looked familiar. Fortunately, the attendant at the information desk was able to direct us to the right place, which was the building across the street. Who knew the parking garage goes under the street and serves two buildings? Well, thank goodness the attendant knew. 

We scurried across the street to building 2 and took the elevator to the 11th floor Infusion Center. I checked in and got my wrist ID band before joining Jill in the waiting area. I glanced at my phone and found that we were six minutes early!! So far so good. 

Today's visit was more involved than most. It included a blood draw, a PICC line dressing change, a magnesium infusion, a bone marrow biopsy (BMBx) and a visit with Dr. Meyers.  Whew! It made me tired just writing it all down, and I didn't even include the visit with Molly, a first year medical student, who did a questionnaire and listened to my heart, lungs and belly, took notes and then reported her findings to Dr. Meyers, before she came in. 

Everything came off like clockwork. This was my first BMBx with OHSU. Different system, different protocols from Kaiser. Whereas, at Kaiser I receive oral Ativan and Oxycodone before the procedure, today I received IV Morphine. The procedure itself was about the same, except the PA who performed it used a small power drill to penetrate the hard cortical (exterior) bone instead of the hand twist drill that Kaiser uses. 

Summing up everything, my lab numbers were all good; my new PICC dressing is comfortable; I got 4 grams of magnesium; the BMBx went smoothly; Dr. Meyers answered all of our questions and ordered some refills of meds. Plus, we had a visit with Molly, who was very sweet and efficient, but who may want to rethink her clinical attire. I thought she looked more like she was dressed for a cocktail party than for clinical rounds. Maybe I'm just old and grumpy, though. I will resist the temptation to ask, "What is this younger generation coming to?" Sometimes everything happens at once.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, ³ for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. ⁴ And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 4:2-4)