Meeting with Dr. Go, Open Door donut, nurse and correction

November 28, 2023

Ok, today was nice, but Tuesdays have definitely been better in the past. I say that because I kind of have high expectations for Tuesdays because it’s the one day that both food shelves are open. It’s the only day at Methodist, and then one of two nights Open Door is open, which is when a lotta latinos come. That means that often what I’ll do is finish at Methodist and drive straight to Open Door a little early to maybe meet with their communications person, Mikell. Today I did that, but I wasn’t able to spend much time at Methodist in the morning because it was also the only day my main cancer doctor could see me. I popped by Methodist just to say hi, since it’s a block away, and while I was there I got some explanations from Margarita of the the right words to use to refer to elementary, middle and high school in Mexico. She also told some other useful phrases, which I wrote down in my new “Spanish notebook” I created yesterday.

Afterwards, I attended a meeting with Dr. Go, who is currently my lead cancer doctor. I don't remember everything that was decided, but it definitely included possibly setting up a biopsy and taking a short break from taking my medication, at least until Friday. Afterwards, I drove over to a clinic to get a blood draw. I warned her my veins were terrible, and it played into my theory that whenever I warn nurses about my veins, they’ll be able to stick me right away. That happened. She also guaranteed she was testing all the things I had on the order I’d printed out. After that, I went home and joined an ECD call for a bit. No one else on the call was on my drug, which I wasn’t exactly expecting but wasn’t shocking either, since mine is so targeted. At one point, a woman asked me if I knew what mutation I had. I was kind of shocked, and pleased, that I remembered it. Funny enough, I heard a lot of people say they struggled with fatigue, which I don’t have, and even though no one was on my drug, everyone knew about doctors Go and Abeykoon.

A bit after that, I organized some more stuff and then decided to head into Open Door quite early for the night. I was shocked when I got there that there were still clients shopping from the morning. I used the time to have a wonderful conversation with MIkell, where I talked about what I’d be looking for in a potential job, and the fact that I don’t want work to cut down on the hours I volunteer as translator. I know I also mentioned any job I get would need to include Spanish.

Toay, I also feel like the items of clothing I wore achieved my goals. A woman commented on my Fogo Fireball shirt, and I also had a good conversation with Italia about my pants, which I was wearing there for the first time. I told her that when I got these pants I was just looking for any pants that weren't leggings or jeans, and that I found them on the sketchy site Temu. Given the site they were, I was surprised to like both pairs so much, and I definitely think I achieved my goal of getting non-legging, non-jeans pants. Don’t have a photo of them here though. Another other notable thing at Open Door was that a lady named Miriam showed me something they were planning to print 20 feet big on their wall. I read it, and was a bit surprised to notice a small mistake in their Spanish translation of “everyone deserves access to healthy food.” I’ve got a picture of the draft she showed me, and the word “healthy” is plural when it shouldn’t be, since “food” is singular.

Another really cool thing at Open Door was that there were two Winona State nursing students volunteering, Amanda and Sara. I told Sara all about my experiences with the HCMC ambulance drivers, and even showed her our photo. I learned that Sara is gonna be a cardiac nurse and Amanda is gonna be a wound care nurse. I think they’re studying for master’s and doctorates, not undergrads.

My other very important thought is that when I write my photos of the day, that’s when I figure out how I feel about the day. And also, not needing food with meds makes me not wanna eat at all, since I’m not hungry much currently. Alright, in conclusion, it was kind of alright Tuesday.