Are We Off or On?

Two weeks ago, after I’d spent the day shopping with Kim and Theresa, HUP called and said, “We have Jeff coming in tomorrow…”  What?!  My heart danced as I imagined some miracle had occurred which would keep his transplant on schedule for May 13^th.  Then I realized that the admissions department had evidently not been advised of the delay due to donor illness.  I did not like being the one to inform them.   

Today, Jeff packed for the hospital and I packed to stay with Kim.  We waited anxiously for the call from hospital admissions.  By three o’clock we were at Kim’s apartment, with our bags, still waiting to hear from HUP.  I called the hospital and was told that his admission had been cancelled.  What?!  (Do you see a pattern here?)  I was told that we should call the doctor’s office Monday morning.  My gut told me that there was a mix-up, sort of the reverse of the mix-up of two weeks before.  I called the emergency number for oncology and spoke with the oncologist on duty who agreed that it would be strange to cancel the admission without notifying the patient.  He promised to make some calls, “even Dr. Porter, if necessary” (whoa!) to find out what was going on.  We went to watch the tail end of Kim’s kickball game (she scored!) while we waited for the call.  Before we went out to dinner we learned that everything was set.  Phew!  What a nail-biter!

Jeff, Kerry, Kim and I enjoyed dinner at the Royal Tavern (best burgers in the city according to some aficionados).  Dinner conversation was a little weak as we each drifted in and out of anxious thought.  After dinner, Kerry dropped us off at HUP and I helped Jeff get settled in.  I didn’t stay long because I saw that he was going to be kept busy: chest x-ray, a thorough work-up by the nurse and the preliminary evaluation for the research study Dr. Lee is conducting on transplant patients and fitness.  Jeff called briefly to say that Dr. Lee asked him to walk up and down the hallway as many times as he could in six minutes (18 times).  His calves were tight and he wished he would have stretched a little before the exercise.  He wanted to tell me more about it but Dr. Lee had returned with a 21-page questionnaire that he had not completed earlier in the evening.

I must say that there was something, well, auspicious about entering HUP with Jeff.  It’s such a relief to be at this stage at last and at this excellent hospital; yet, at the same time, it’s terribly frightening.  His room is nice and spacious and while the view isn’t the beautiful city view some of the rooms have, it also isn’t the brick wall we feared he would end up with.  I wonder where Jeff’s mystery woman is tonight and whether she has anxiety about her part in this.