Practice Run and a Video Tour

Today was filled with trying to cram in whatever we could before life becomes incredibly restrictive for the next week. The rainy San Francisco morning was spent touring the city by car. We traveled down Lombard Street, drove through Golden Gate Park, went past the Painted Ladies and Alamo Square, surveyed City Hall, and ascended and descended some incredibly steep streets. I'd like to insert that I have a recurring nightmare since adolescence about driving really steep streets and whether going up or down, the car starts to tumble end over end. I was the driver today. Oh fun! Let's just say that the knots in my neck from a crummy hotel bed and steep street tension are wishing I'd packed the last muscle relaxer pill I've been hoarding for a couple years for a special occasion like this!

We also toured the Family House where Ryan and I will be trading off sleeping at nights. Unfortunately we are stuck at the one about 10 blocks from the hospital instead of the one across the street, but we'll take it over staying in our poor choice of a hotel. Then it was finally time to head to the hospital.

We got checked in and started settling into our lead-lined life. William had a Foley placed (catheter for urination). Oh, that was a lovely time. William handles everything like a champ. He is truly a trooper. But when it comes to line placements or removals...bring on the heavy sedation! Child Life brought in an ipad to borrow as a distraction during the procedure. He lit up at the sight of Angry Birds in HD on a big screen. It was hilarious and we almost thought we'd hardly need meds to get through the catheterization. Nope. The doctor planned on 3 mg of Versed and when all was said and done, William was the prize recipient of 5 mg Versed and 65 mcg of Fentanyl. 2 mg of Versed is usually enough for an adult to agree to anything. He was loopy and I'll spare William the public embarrassment of some of the comments he made, but oh, how I wish I had them on tape!

So today was a practice run of how everything will work once radioactivity is a reality. It's all in an effort to eliminate surprises and the need for prolonged entry into the room once William becomes radioactive. The radiation safety gurus will lay down the law tomorrow morning and I'll have some more crazy photos and processes to describe tomorrow. So sit back and enjoy a brief video tour of our world for the next 7 days!