Back to Stanford - Biopsy, Take Two!

We are back in Stanford tonight, with another biopsy scheduled for 8 a.m. in the morning.  This means a 6:30 a.m. arrival to check in and do all the pre-op stuff.  Luckily, we were able to get a room in the RMH again, so we are right here and don't need to deal with driving and traffic in the morning.  Originally we were just going to have a clinic appointment this week and do the biopsy next week, but the cath lab schedule was really tight next week due to the holiday on Monday, so they first scheduled us for Friday morning, but then called today mid-day to ask us to come a day early.   This week has really tested my patience.  Usually the night prior to clinic or biopsy appointments we stay with either my sister or my parents, who are only an hour away from Stanford.  But, both of them have been sick lately, so we couldn't do that.  This meant we had to either drive four hours in the wee hours of the morning, risking fog, rain and whatever other weather stuff might be happening between our house and Stanford or we had to find somewhere to stay down here.  Our finances are a little tight after the holidays, so we were hoping not to have to pay for a hotel room.  When we called RMH, they had a room for us on Tuesday night, for our Wednesday morning clinic appointment.  They then called us and asked if we might be able to do the biopsy on Friday, so we thought we were coming on Tuesday and possibly staying until Friday, so we packed to the gills and verified that they had a room for us for those days at the RMH.  We started our drive in the crowded car, with the dog (who gets dropped off at my parent's house when we come this way) and got about 45 minutes into the trip when we got a phone call asking if we could come down on Thursday for a Friday biopsy and get everything done in one day.  That sounded good, so we turned around and drove back home 45 minutes thinking we had until Thursday before we would have to leave.  Today, mid-day we got another call and they asked us to come down today for a biopsy tomorrow.  So, we loaded the small amount of stuff we had unloaded (food for Bean, some clothing stuff, the stroller to take her for a walk, etc.) and got back in the car.  This time, we made it down here with no changes to the schedule!  But, its been stressful just having all the changes and not being able to really settle in at home after our recent three day stay in the hospital.  I'm glad we won't have to come down here again next week now....hopefully....

They will do another biopsy tomorrow and with last weekend's big doses of steroids, the rejection level should be showing a decrease.  Since its pretty close in time to the steroid boost, it may not be all the way back down to a one, but it should definitely be down to a two.  If it isn't, I'm not really sure what happens, as last time, it was already down to a one when they did the biopsy again.  I am hoping I never have to find out what happens if it doesn't go down.  I am hoping it will come back a one or lower and stay that way for a very long time.  So, I'm not going to even consider what the alternative is if it doesn't come back lower...I'm just going to think positive that it will come back a lower number.

Other than that, I am finding that I need to tweak my daily schedule that I made and am trying to follow for the month of January (my first of twelve resolutions for 2010).  I haven't been the best about following it, but when I have tried to follow it, I have definitely noticed some things I need to fix.  My goal is to have it figured out by the time I go back to teaching so if I have someone stay with Bean, they have some idea of what is going on.  And, on those days when I am lost, I will know what is going on!  Because I definitely have those days.

On a good note, I found out that I will have an intern working with me this next semester to help out with projects for the Speech and Debate team.  I am VERY excited about this as I feel like I have lots of ideas that I have a hard time finding the time to actually make happen.  This will give me someone to do some of the legwork for those projects and more.  It will mean another supervisory role that I need to stay on top of - I already have the TAs that work with the team and the students on the team and the students in my classes, and now I will have an intern.  But, it will be worth it to have someone to whom I can delegate those things that are on my to-do list, but always get pushed to the bottom again and again and again.

Well, I should try to get some sleep - 5:30 a.m. will come really early.  REALLY early!