An airing of a grievance.

I know I touched on the rice issue the other day but it was late and I gave it short shrift.  I am nothing if not a rice savant. I never questioned my ability to get by living a solely rice diet.  Where has ennui come from?
The rice itself.  I can proclaim with 100% certainly that the hospital is not using Uncle Ben's whole grain converted rice.  When Uncle Ben's is done right, it is a bit puffy with a moist feeling about it. The rice here is shrivelled and dried up.
Now, I do not want you to think I am a rice snob. I enjoy Jasmine Rice, Basmati Rice, Short, Medium and long grain rice.  I have also sampled all kinds of brands of rice from Dainty to No Name. Nothing rivals this rice.  I think they might be using actual sawdust.
Another problem might be my mildly restrictive food fetishes. I am not sure how well known VH Sauce is known outside Montreal,  but I have probably consumed a thousand bottles of it. My mother introduced me to the rice sauce stuff in the mid 70s and I have been consuming the sweet swill ever since. It goes without saying that such a fine product is unavailable here. Not to mention how much it would clash with the house brown sauce.

In short,  you cannot hide from life's piccadillos.

Rice

Rice

Hello,
I am continuing my semi sporadic coverage of my second lung procedure. If and when I check out of here I will have to come for a weekly blood test.  Some might say that is crazy. I will probably be a hypochondriac and worry that it is insufficient. I get at least 1 blood test daily.  They have discovered my potassium level is high. No grapes,  no bananas no oranges. Naturally, potatoes are forbidden as well. Here is an original writing about too much rice.

Wouldn't it be nice to have no rice,  and have a potato tomorrow?

What is the food like?

Hello from Notre Dame,
Food continues to take up much of my life. The hospital continues to take this 1.5 portion diet seriously. Let me tell you, there is nothing more mouthwatering than finishing an already dry burger and there is another half to go. The only upside of this diet is when I get (excuse the language) a shitload of Shepard's Pie. That will marinate my innards for quite some number of hours.

It took some time but even my nightly bowl of cereal is back on track. This is the pinnacle of any day here. I must thank the entire staff here who help me out each night making this masterpiece.

That is it for now. Please sign up for organ donation and help people out.

Adventures in Breathing

Good morning,
Nothing like mastering new technology first thing in the morning. I hope you are all well. I find myself back at Notre Dame waiting for my second double lung transplant. I am nowhere near as healthy as I was for transplant #1. In fact, that brings up this past weekend's events perfectly.
The aggravation began Friday afternoon. I simply could not catch my breath. My O2 fell to 50%. This is uncomfortable. I rather have a heavy door pinch my finger repeatedly.

The signs indicated that I was having an embolism which I predicted if I sold and bought a house in a single day. We did. I was sent to the ICU ASAP. After careful monitoring, it was determined that I merely suffered from a serious desaturation.

Basically, the littlest exertion causes your breathing to collapse. I have not been able to walk in 3 weeks. It is also hard (impossible) to go to the bathroom by yourself.
Luckily, I have returned from the ICU. But it is not all luck. I could not have made it out of the weekend without Francois. He is a classic, chiselled, salt and peppered mid 50s orderly. I think he also lives in the cracks at Notre Dame. Every time I needed to be moved whether it was 2am or 2pm, Francois would materialize from nowhere to help me out. How is this possible? Just another super employee who is helping me out.

Adventures in Breathing

Check out this blog "Adventures in Breathing" http://jaysnewlungs.blogspot.com/

I am back

Did you think you would never hear from me again? This blogging business is not easy. Naturally my regular life is a lot less action-packed than a stay in the ICU. My posts are clearly going to be less frequent. In addition, the subject matter will become far more diverse as I search for things to blog about. Bear with me...

Wednesdays are always packed. In my time zone, that was the day before yesterday...In any case, I woke up at 4:51. One would think that is absurdly early and roll back to sleep. In fact, I was almost late! The problem with Wednesdays is that I have to get a blood test, X-Ray and visit the transplant clinic. This seems pretty straightforward until one factors in the time constraints and fasting. I cannot eat past 11 pm the night before the blood work. In addition, I have to take my anti-rejection pills not more than 13 hours before the test. Of course, there is no appointment for the blood work. The clinic is also first come first serve. All of us are like rats in a cage...doors open at 7 am and off to the races. As if this was not complex enough (and you have not already fallen asleep in a confused stupor), Wednesdays are also the day that I take an osteoporosis (I am confident in my manhood) pill. It has a rather unusual regimen in that I must take the pill with a glass full of water and then remain seated straight for 30 minutes...

Getting back to 4:51, I naturally took Mortimer and Lucy for an early morning jaunt (those would be my dogs for the uninitiated, not my children).By the time business was done it was already 5:33. I had to take my pill and scan the net for 30 minutes. Now it is 6:03 and I need to gather the various paraphenalia needed for the clinic, pack a breakfast and perform the morning vitals. Time is really running now as I still need to hop the city bus to get to the hospital. I got on the bus and got to the hospital for 7:12. Not bad!

However, this was just the beginning. By the time I finished at the clinic and returned to my modest bungalow it was already 11:40. Wednesdays are also recycling days. As anyone who knows me will attest, one of my few obsessions is anal retentiveness. I just love dealing with garbage/recycling/composting. Not only do I hoard over the recycling I like to organize it meticulously so it takes as little room as possible.Walking the neighborhood on Wednesdays my blood tends to percolate as boxes are placed willy nilly instead of being crushed properly. What could take 1 bin winds up taking 2 or 3 as well as being sent 3 sheets to the wind...

Getting back to my point, I had to deal with the recycling and other sundries such as lunch for me and my 2 young ones. Once the dust settled, the clock was nearing 2pm. I had to get NJ to a diving class for 3 pm. Let me save that doozy of a story for another day...We arrived and I was wearing pants and a bowling shirt. Note to self: do not wear pants to an indoor swmming complex on an insanely hot day! By the time this wrapped up, and I got home it was 4:30. I had already been up just a dozen hours.

I was ready to attack dinner prep when Virginia returned from work. One look at me and she kindly took control of dinner. Wacky Wednesdays...you gotta love em!
See Ya
Jay