Friday: Selfie, Ahmed blood test, Sarah (purse), Esterov BeReal, cards

December 22, 2023

Ok, I'll do a general summary of the day because I don't know where else to start. Meds at 8 am with a pack of Ritz cheese & crackers that I'd bought the other day before I was staying here. Honestly, I liked them a lot and found it easier than eating two yogurts, but still gave me 12g of fat. Then, we drove to Mayo kind of early in the day, and on the way there I made sure to finish my cup of tea so I could do the urine test when I first arrived at Mayo. We got there, I went pretty much right away I went to do that, and the nurse who was taking my sample and checking my blood was named Ahmed. I asked where he was from, and he said Iraq. I got the capital right, but on my second guess. I also told him all about how my "favorite thing to do in Minneapolis" is work as a translator. He speaks Arabic and failed to teach me a single word today. He did quiz me on a ton of the Middle Eastern capitals though, like Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Yemen, Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrein. He guessed that Bahrein's capital was Bahrein City, like Kuwait has Kuwait City. I told him I thought it was Manama, and I checked afterward and was right. At any rate, I knew that Bahrein City wasn't a capital of anything, since during the pandemic I memorized all the capitals and I never heard that name. 

After the tests, we went up to meet with Dr. FlanAgan, who I kind of wish I had taken a photo of. It's cool to see him because he was a doctor involved in my care before we even knew it was cancer. He said that he might have first seen me on January 4th, 2018. Dr. Flanagan also examined me to assess whether my legs were functional enough to be able to safely control a vehicle. He concluded that they currently are, which kind of goes along with what Dr. Tonkin said yesterday. The other important thing from Dr. Tonkin was that he said he would also sign the form making me eligible for a handicap permit for cars that I'm either driving or riding in because I'm having some leg issues from either the cancer progression or the surgery that I just had at Mayo (the spine biopsy.)

After seeing Dr. FlanAgan, we went to see the neurosurgeon Dr. FlanIgan. Unfortunately, he was in surgery today, so I had my staples taken out by a nurse named Sarah. She's the one in the red sweater in that photo, and to be honest that photo is ONLY significant after we left, Mayo called me and told me I'd left my purse there, and that photo PROVED to me that I'd had it with me midday, not just in the morning.

Funny enough, I had to look back at my photos to figure out when the last time I'd seen my purse was. I totally, totally see the fact that I could not remember when I last had it as an example of a brain injury symptom. The other good thing that happened during the appointment with Sarah was that I was able to give her a business card, and when I asked her which one was her favorite, she said something no one ever had before, that I remember; "Well, what's YOUR favorite?" I told her my favorite was one of Heidi and Jorge getting married, and then explained it was an old friend, and that I tried to mainly use post-crash photos this time around. It's also funny since I'd put cards in my pocket because I wanted to give one to Dr. FlanIgan (having already given FlanAgan a maroon blog card today), but it was still cool to be able to give the nurse one as well. 

Alright, I've already jumped around a bit. Maybe I'll just try to continue the chronological. Today at Mayo Clinic, I found the wheelchair quite helpful. Mom said we were using it to carry all my bags, and I admit I brought a bit too much stuff today. I didn't need to have brought my laptop. I was assuming I'd have time sitting around where I'd want to work on something, but I was pretty busy the whole day. Ok, after I had the staples taken out I went to see a physical medicine and rehab doctor, Dr. Esterov. I didn't even realize I didn't have my purse with me the entire meeting! 

Dr. Esterov told me I should explore tracking some bowel movements more. He also wasn't sure that using an orthotic to help with movement would be very helpful for me. We also explored some ways to look for other possible "neuro-PT" places close to us, though we also had to be told what that was. Neuro-PT seems to be specifically focused on people with conditions like brain injuries, so that seems like an interesting thing to look into. We also talked to Dr. Esterov about how we seem to have doctors from all over the world and also learned that he is from Moscow, Russia. 

Ok, there's a lot today. Next, we drove home, and 15 minutes into the drive I got a call from Mayo that I'd left my purse there, so we had to go back. It was left in a bathroom and had to have happened after I met with Sarah, because of that random photo during the appointment. We went back, and there was some confusion about whether my leaving the purse there might make my mom miss an appointment she had, but I think she eventually got there. We even had time to stop by my apartment to pick up an order of business cards I'd had delivered today. These cards are a new version of the blog card, with the link actually working this time, and also edited to include both my photography website and photography Instagram. Honestly, these business cards are a HUGE symbol of me redefining myself a bit post-brain injury. 

Honestly, one big lesson that I learned today was that EVERY time I go somewhere, I should deeply evaluate whether I need each item. Today, I think I didn't really need my backpack, since I didn't end up having time to work on anything. The other thing that's kind of teaching me that lesson is that today mom didn't even bring her purse, just keys in a bag already bringing. That kinda proves to me that I really could have left my purse and my backpack at home today, which obviously would have stopped me from forgetting one in the bathroom. Oh, and night meds at 8:11 pm with mac & cheese.