Cha Cha's New Religion and Progress

It is now 1759 and we are home from the doctor's appointments at Northwestern. We parked at the parking garage at the northeast corner of Huron and St. Clair. We went to Cha Cha's doctor's appointment and the following lab work in the medical building/hospital at the southeast corner of Huron and St. Clair and ate at Elephant & Castle Pub and Restaurant on the southwest corner of Huron and St. Clair and then crossed the street to get back to the car. I wish I had known for the past month that that bar was right there; I would have gone there while Cha Cha was in her surgeries and procedures and stuff. They took my phone number so they could have called me when she was done. I would have been like one of those expectant fathers in the movies from the 50's other than the cell phone part. I would not really have done that but it would have been tempting a few times.

Today we met with Jill's new gastroenterologist. He worked with us off-and-on when we were at the hospital there. Just because it is easier to read things with a picture in your mind I will let you know we call him Bookman. You might remember Bookman from Seinfeld - he was the library cop. Is it a coincidence that Bookman works in a hospital now and it was the book Tropic of Cancer that he accused Jerry of keeping so youngsters couldn't experience the world of "pee-pees and wee-wees?" The doctor not only looks like Bookman he also is very good at what he does but has some rough-edges about him. Today he reminded Cha Cha of the new religion he told her she was supposed to practice because of her intestinal removal and splicing. She didn't recall that because she was in that twilight sleep or was drugged-up or something. He said she has to begin practicing Chewdaism (pronounced like Judaism but with "chew" in place of "Jew"). The practice of Chewdaism requires one to chew all of their food until it becomes liquid before swallowing it. I suppose it would be good if we all practiced Chewdaism. Overall it seems like the appointment went pretty well.

Another great thing about this place was that our appointment was scheduled for 1100 and they called us into the room at 1048; when the heck does that happen? Usually you arrive for a doctor's appointment on time and don't get called to go to the examination room until 30-40 minutes after your appointment time. We got called early and they were in the room with us about five minutes BEFORE the appointment was even supposed to begin. The only things I can say bad about having her doctors here is that we have to pay for parking and it is a hassle getting there. I would say those are pretty good trade-offs for getting the proper care and respect that you need and deserve.

Like Cha Cha needs this to deal with too

It was really nice that the hospital was on one corner, the parking garage where we parked was across the street and the restaurant we ate at was on another one of the four corners because Cha Cha was able to handle all of that without pain or losing her breath too badly.

Cha Cha told Bookman during the interview that she feels like she is suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). She was in a sort of a war over the past couple of months I guess. I was sad to hear that but I sort of feel like that too now that she mentioned it. Obviously she had the hardest part of this whole ordeal but it is really difficult to see someone you care for as much as I care for Jill and not feel the frustration and pain she feels.

Something I found amusing at the appointment today was when we went up to the 18th floor for Cha Cha's blood-work they gave her a pager. All of the people were sitting in one huge room. It was very comfortable. The room was broken-up into many areas that looked like about ten separate living rooms or ten Mike Douglas Show television sets with very cozy chairs and couches. When it was your turn to go get your blood drawn they would yell "pager number 1067." Why give you a pager if they are gonna yell the number? They yelled Jill's number but the pager never went off. Wouldn't a number on a plastic card like at Baskin-Robbins do just fine?

Another thing we found was that Jill has lost 25 pounds since this round of the ordeal began. BONUS for her!

We had a nice day together. We try to find the good in everything and good has come of this too. We have been very close for about 30 years but I believe this has brought us even closer. I hope we don't have to get any closer anytime soon though. Garrett Popcorn's Chicago Mix always makes for a good day too (none for Jill though). I am eating it now and the keyboard smells fabulous.

Alright, it is 1947 now and I have some stuff to get done before I pass-out. Thanks a lot for stopping by for the second time today. You really are very important to me; I love that you care for Jill and me enough to keep up on our antics. I think you make me a better person too because I feel like I don't want to let you down either. You also make me more exciting because I have to do different things so I have something interesting to write about. You know, kind of like Ernest Hemmingway. I hope you have a great night. I have plenty of stuff to blog about tomorrow. Now you will have to sleep on the edge of your seat. TTTT...MITM (out) TA!