1 WHERE TO STAY IN HOUSTON AS SAFETY REMAINS OF PRIMARY CONCERN WHILE C-19 RAGES ON

About two weeks ago, our family brainstormed more than once on ZOOM

My sister, Lauren and her husband, Mark, participated as well.  Why?  Well, whenever decisions must be made, during life’s crises, Our family minimizes confusion and maximizes peace of mind by brainstorming, together, so as to hear everyone out, after which, I listen to what my gut has to say once my power of intuition has had time to holds hands with my heart and common sense.  It should come as no surprise that my gut tightens each time anything unfamiliar is added into the mix of unknowns that await our arrival in Houston.

I found it really helpful to hear Lauren say that she perceived of the hotel, where Will wants to stay, as being less of a risk than Barry, Steven and David believe, because whenever I consider staying in an Air bnb, my gut agrees with Will’s opinion, which considers the hotel to be the better choice as it’s adjacent to my doctors’ offices and the hospital, as well.  And the last thing he and I need to confront during this trying time is a heightened sense of emotional conflict as thoughts of the nearness of this surgery arouses anxiety, which then exacerbates confusion concerning our decision-making process.

My sister’s opinion proved helpful, because, sixteen years ago, she’d had reason to stay at the hotel in question, as did Will and I, when Mark, having suffered a heart attack in Mexico, was air lifted to Houston Methodist Hospital.  So Lauren, along with Will and I, knew the layout of the hotel.  Though I’m tempted to offer you a detailed explanation as to why Will and I do not consider this particular hotel to be as risky, during the pandemic, as other hotels may be (most people who stay there are in our situation), it may be best to restrain that temptation in the interest of moving forward ...

That night, after zooming with our family, I slept soundly, aided by an ambien (feeling grateful that the lesser dosage works its magic on me).

The next morning, I had labs, at Mayo.  Then Will and I came home only to rush back there that same afternoon resultant of my being in need of a platelet transfusion, which led to the cancellation of my last two infusions of chemo, offering my body four weeks to restrengthen before flying to Houston on July 21st for appointments with surgeons and additional studies followed by Covid testing, quarantining and dual surgeries (heart and lung), scheduled on July 28th.

This week, Barry drove in from the coast for several days, so that we could enjoy patio visits with our eldest son before I undergo the serious nature of these surgeries, which now prove two and a half weeks away.  Next week, following Covid testing, David drives in from LA several days before he, Will and I fly in hazmat suits, face shields and masks to Houston.

Before landing in Houston, I’ve had to under go a series of pre-op tests at Mayo, which included—a 3D Cardiac MRI, a pulmonary function study, an echocardiogram/drug induced stress test (since running on a treadmill with my walker was was out of the question) and a full body PET scan, all of which kept me busier than I’ve been for close to a year—and as we’ve moved beyond these last seven months of grueling hard work, which saw chemo dedicated to deactivating the sarcoma that’s been attacking my lung, a gynormous leap of faith awaits our arrival in The Lone Star State where Covid is raging based in the fact that states with Republican governors, following trump’s ‘lying non-existent guidelines’ opened up before there was any reason to end lockdown (just as is true of the southwestern state in which Will and I have chosen to raise our family, over these past 46 years).

On the upside, I passed every test with flying colors, and no one was more relieved then me upon hearing that my last two infusions of chemo were cancelled so as to offer my blood sufficient time to restrengthen before surgery, and over these past two weeks, lab results are looking good.

😷Annie

PS

Good news!

With so many moving pieces, I can’t remember if my relief has ever been expressed to you concerning the fact that Steven’s covid test was negative, and his fourteen day quarantine (beginning when he’d stopped by his office, masked and gloved, to pick up the mail and later learned he’d been exposed to C-19) has passed.  Needless to say, our son’s brief exposure to the virus refortified his personal decision to continue to quarantine so seriously as to wear masks, gloves and glasses whenever necessity demands his leaving the house, which proves rare being that Steven’s lungs have been compromised by asthma since he was an active tyke on a trike.

Though Steven continues to practice law from home, other lawyers with whom he shares office space and a receptionist (the person who is presently recovering from Covid) had been seeing clients in their offices, unmasked until the virus hit so close to home as to stimulate Steven to mandate masks be worn by everyone who steps into the office—thank goodness for that!

Steven’s present dilemma concerns Ravi’s fall semester of kindergarten as our Governor, Superintendent of public schools and board of education cannot get their acts together concerning how best to mandate precautionary measures in hopes of safe guarding youngsters from Covid when school starts in August ...

Don’t even get me started on how I feel about the fire breathing dragon who keeps setting fires throughout The White House ...

Just as ‘Never a dull moment’ has never been so prevalent within our family’s lifetime as has proved true over this past year, the same is true throughout our nation, most especially over these past three and a half years—and just as our family comes together to brainstorm toward developing the best possible plan in hopes of keeping all of us as safe from catching and succumbing to Covid-19 as is humanly possible, leadership throughout every level of our government has got to get its act together so as to do the same, because, during trump’s reign of terror, leadership, at every level, has literally been insane.

As I always plan to end on an up note, I’m glad to say that the results of last week’s PET scan shows the tumor as having decreased in size,  again.  When first diagnosed, the sarcoma was approximately 7cm by 7cm.  Now it’s a bit more than 4cm by 4 cm.  And  with that said, here’s Will trying his hazmat suit on for size.  He and David and I are taking every precaution to catch nothing at the airport in hopes of safeguarding me as surgery lies directly ahead ...

I hope you, too, are taking every precautionary measure to be safe and stay well ... Ohhmmm