Monthly Archives: November 2010

Back in the ER

Personal stuff

8 days to go before Kevin gets his kidney stent removed, and we’re back in the ER to deal with extreme pain that’s spiked so badly some evenings that normal pain meds can’t deal with it. We’ve avoided this place for the past 10 days or so, but tonight it was just too much for him.

Not the best memories of this place; the bed he’s in is in that back room at Kaiser Redwood City where my father spent time during his final months with leukemia. 21 years and the place hasn’t changed a bit. Realistically we should feel fortunate that Kevins pain, as severe as it is, isn’t the cancer just discovered in the bed to the left or the potentially-failing heart in the bed to the right. Not much privacy when all that separates one bed from the next is the equivalent of a hung-up bed sheet.

The long list of meds he’s on has been gone over and we now wait for the next step in the drill… even more powerful meds than he’s already on, administered via IV.

8 days. We’re 3/4 of the way there!

My apologies for any strange typos; not quite so easy updating from an iPhone. –Mike–

Update- We finished at the ER about 11:30pm and went home, with Kevin feeling groggy but with much less pain. Tonight (Monday) Kevin has felt much better, none of the extreme flashes of pain that had him doubled over yesterday. One week to go before the stent is removed!

Yet another ride in Paradise. OK, Paradise could be a bit warmer…

Ride reports (not Tu/Th)

OK, so is it past four on the ride where I lose track of who’s who in the zoo, or is it three, or, on a good day, five? Today it was six other guys, and the only way I can remember is to cheat and look at one of the photos I took (as usual, on west-side Old LaHonda). Chris, Ludo, Mike, Mark, John & Kevin. The high point of the ride, for me anyway, was dropping back from the fast guys about halfway up Kings to encourage Ludo. There’s always a risk doing that; sometimes, when you throttle back and wait for someone, they ride right past you and you can’t keep up. I’ve never quite figured out how that works! But today I was able to hang with Ludo and hopefully help him avoid the feeling I’m far too used to, being back there alone while the fast guys play up front.

Unfortunately, the issue of being passed by someone you wait up for has both short & long-term components. I’ve already discussed the short term; the long term issue comes from the fact that I’m not likely to be getting any faster, but guys like Ludo certainly will, and it won’t be too long before he’s up there yakking with the fast guys and I’m all alone again (Ludo’s already in the 28-something range for climbing Kings, and I suspect 27-something will be coming this spring). In the meantime, I’ll keep working on my sprinting (which had me dueling with Chris today).