D+14 -- Last Night!

The night passes reasonably well. Again, I forgot to ask for my recent sleeping meds. However, this time I don't need them, and I fall back to sleep after each interruption, eventually. Part of my difficulty returning to slumber is my growing excitement about walking out of here some time tomorrow. At one point, my eyes get teary -- I'm not crying, but close.

Later, I have Earth, Wind & Fire songs running through my head -- "Sing a Song," "September" -- upbeat songs that are hard not to dance to. (Except that I'm in bed.) Not sure why those songs, this night, though my musical preferences are heavily influenced by the music I listened to in high school. Judging by the number of songs from the baby boomer high school years running in commercials these days, I assume I am not alone in my arrested musical development.

I have a now-typical morning of breakfast and some work, broken up by a return visit from the president of the medical center. She tells me she has been keeping up with this blog, tracking my progress, and getting useful information about what it's like to be a patient here. We talk about my next few months and her first few weeks ("like drinking from a fire hose"). It is clear, again, that she has a strong will to make it easier for the staff to provide a better patient experience. I have done what I could during my 9+ weeks. Thankfully, my time here is up. However, I am confident I am leaving the medical center in very good hands :-)

Respecting the wishes of my subconscious self, I put on Earth, Wind & Fire's greatest hits.

The attending and fellow drop by. WBC = 8100 (but it doesn't matter). Platelets are up, hemoglobin slightly down.

Mara calls, to check in. She's very happy with the productivity of her stem cells, after concern over the slight shortage. "Quality over quantity," is her explanation. Works for me!

Dad brings macaroni and cheese from the Au Bon Pain. It is a completely different dish than the macaroni and cheese from Food Service. I can taste a few cheeses, and I want to eat the whole thing. Adrian, volunteer extraordinaire, stops by, and he and Dad engage in a freewheeling discussion of the history of mathematics, mathematical heroes, and more.

Dad heads to the train station, to arrive in Champaign this evening. He'll be back late morning tomorrow to break me out of this joint.

Listening now to Eric Clapton's Unplugged album. Probably going to Bonnie Raitt next.

In the late afternoon, a nap pounces on my eyelids. I am awakened by a call from a local pharmacy about a prescription I need to get filled up here since it can't be filled in Champaign. They will deliver it tomorrow, in the early afternoon. Depending on how early "early" is, we may be all packed up and ready to go, waiting on them.

Paul e-mails me a homecoming preview: (Thanks, Paul!)

I work on the race web site with the UNC-LIU game on.

Last dinner from Food Service: frank and beans, fries, salad. (Papa Del's pizza is on the menu for tomorrow's dinner.) More basketball, including the Illinois-UNLV game. Looks like they brought back the Illinois team from the beginning of the season, the one that plays for 40 minutes. More work on the race site. A little packing. (!)

To bed.

Last night!