April 6, 2011 - Round 3 "Are we there yet?"

Remember me writing in the beginning that I was born in Puerto Rico and lived there for about 3 years and then my Dad was tranferred to a military base in the States? Well, maybe I didn't, but that's what happened. Anyway, we were shipped off the island out to Ft. Bliss, TX. For those unfamiliar, Ft. Bliss is located in El Paso, TX. Sitting from where I am now in, or around, the Houston area, looking West, El Paso is about as far west as you can go before you are either in Old Mexico or New Mexico. Our nearest relatives, on my Dad's side, lived in Donaldson, Arkansas (my Mom, being from Japan, you figured her family's a bit farther :-))

So every year (yes, every year)our summer vacation was driving to see my Aunts and Uncles and cousins in Arkansas. Google maps tells me its approximately 930 miles from our house to my Aunt's house. The hard part is that about 885 miles of that distance is all in Texas. So why this interesting tidbit of about my childhood starts off my blog on Round 3. Well, I remember those long,'scenic' trips between El Paso and almost to the Dallas area, there is absolutely nothing between the two points that I found interesting as a child. So we (my brother Bob and I) asked the inevitable question to my Dad "Are we there yet?". That's exactly how I felt yesterday as I sat down in the comfy leather recliner in the doctor's office waiting for Wendy to impale me with the IV hook-up. I said to myself, Round 3....9 to go. If I look at each Round as a segment of our travel to Arkansas, we go about 77 1/2 miles per round. Which is pretty pitiful. If my calculations are right, from El Paso, we are only about 20 miles east of Pecos, TX. (My El Paso friends know well how far I have to go to get across Texas!!...."Are we there yet???"

Wednesday 8:45 am - Just realizing my appointment is at 9:00am and not

9:30am, I rush Donna out the door. We get there about 9:15, so I'm not really that late, besides, I have a short consult with Dr. Baltz before the flogging begins. He said all of my labs look great, my tolerance of the treatments is great, he is overall pleased. "Now go get hooked up...."

9:50 am - Wendy, bright smiling face no matter the time of day or the deed she must complete...brings out her weapon of choice and..."take a deep breath" plunges in. I swear it snagged the recliner leather under me, but maybe I am overreacting.

12:45 pm - Overall, uneventful 3 hours of bliss. This time around it was better than Round 2 I must admit. I was very hungry afterward and enjoyed a sandwich. No tongue numbness this time. Before going back to work I had to drop by the Lab to extract a vial of blood for some other test...its getting routine...no big deal. Back to work.

5:20 pm - Heading home....I am out of steam...by the time I get home, changed, and ready for a light dinner, I am beat. BUT, I still feel better than last Round.

7:45 pm - I'm in bed and ZONKED. Guess I was tired. That's why anything about the rest of today is missing....I was OUT...until 3:18 am...wide awake...so, more later tonight about today's adventures.