DAY 20 - 011507

I'M BACK... it's almost midnite but I passed up the Ambien so I could ramble on to get all these thoughts out of my head.

Let's see - Friday, was the day we slithered into Westborough. Robbi, always armed with camera, caught these memories:

If you are one of the 3 people that hasn't heard me say this - This is Jayme and Emily: The 2 Most Beautiful People I've EVER Met. It really works out well that they are also best friends, as well as siblings.


This is Bill (Emy's other best friend), Emy, Jay and Max. Max is my HERO.

On Sunday, 011407 I moved in to MaineGeneral Hospital.
This is my home for the next 3-4 weeks.

Jay is wearing his Troy Brown shirt that he has had for about 10 years. That shirt used to drag on the ground when he first got it. He only wears it on game-day.Other points of interest: Robbi is beginning the "home-ification" of the room. The pics on the yellow poster board, the chairs and table were ordered up by her too.
Jay is watching TV, while I'm filling out the gourmet menu selections... and in the upper right you can see my constant companion - the saline solution IV bag.

Robbi says this makes me look like "Sick Man", but HEY - it beats having clumps of hair falling out. That was what was beginning to happen. Robbi called me from the hotel to tell me that she found clumps on the pillow from the nite before. While we talked, I reached up with 2 fingers and easily pulled a clump of 20+ hairs! I didn't feel a thing... That's a weird thing.

I ring up the nurse and asked her to bring in the clippers and give me a buzz cut. The rest is history and captured here.

Oh yah, the pics on my chest are "Flat Sara & Flat Sam". They are the Briss Family Emissaries, who travel the world to participate in our family's lives. My mother was Florence "Briss" Rubenstein. (Many of you have met or heard of my niece, Joyce - she is the family genealogist and travel coordinator for Sara & Sam.)

This is baldy again with Laura. She is one of many highly skilled nurses, aides, technicians, and administrators that are caring for us and answering my calls (even the accidental ones) with just this kind of smile, and and unrivaled professionalism and humanity.

Now, if you know Robbi and I, you know that we are neither tolerate nor quiet if the service we expect is not provided... This team is AWESOME!

My setup crew.

Jay and I - wrapped in the "healing shawl" that Robbi made for me.

This is Robbi's Update from Sunday:

Dear New England Patriots, THANK YOU!! You kept my husbands heart pumping and put a huge smile on his and Jayme’s face. It was a great way to spend an afternoon getting chemotherapy!

We’re all tired but we’re all good. David has 12 less lbs and no hair and his spirits are excellent. The 12 less lbs was what they expected and the no hair part was his choice as his hair was falling out today from the chemo he received when we first got here. He had the nurse buzz him to save the mess. He looks a little sexy actually.
One day of chemo down and 3 to go. Jay and I just got back to the room after a long day making David’s hospital room into “home” for the next month.

The address to the hospital is:
Maine General
149 North Street
David Rubenstein ~ Room 357
Waterville, ME 04901

Hugs to you all.

Love,
Robbi

[Patient Update:

I'll try to keep it short (yah, fat chance...).

T-Day -5 (Sunday) went well (see Update, above).

When we arrived at the hospital, Robbi asked me if I have any second thoughts about what we are about to do – I give it a serious introspective search and said “No.” Especially that I know that my stamina is lessened since I arrived in ME. My overall condition seems to have worsened. At this rate, and according to the probabilities, my life expectancy is very short. The options are a) Do nothing and follow the known path to that, or b) make an informed decision to do something.

I expect that my legacy will always be “Regardless of the outcome, David always chose to learn about it, think about it, and do something about it.”

T-Day -4 (Monday) has been just as well. Of course it's now after 1am Tues. and I'm still writing, but I feel fine... and I don't exactly have any thing special to do today. I do need to eat more. The weight I gained Tues (6 lbs) was all fluid, not nourishment. They track the liters of fluid I get by IV and drinks, and compare the ratio of fluid I pee out. It's called the "I/O Ratio". I keep my geek-side amused by tracking this myself. So far: the "I" is greater than "O", thus the weight gain. The Mad Scientist (Dr. Ann) came in to see me, prescribed Lasix and left. Lasix makes you pee alot. Soon my ratio was leveling off.

Robbi put Jayme in a cab, to the airport. We have set up a "chain of custody" so that there are authorized signatures along the way to be sure that he ends up in Las Cruces, NM by Tuesday. Seriously - with flight delays to contend with Jayme made alternate arrangements that allowed him to reroute to Las Vegas and have dinner with 2 friends he made when he moved to New Mexico. I tell this story to express my amazement at how our babies grow, and make lives of their own and build a world of friends. Where do they learn to do that when all we try to do is keep them home and safe.

I waited all day to get online. The wait was worth it. Debbie brought me a Dell laptop that beats mine. I'm jazzed...

It's now almost 2am. If I don't stop now I'll have to change the title of this posting.

Sweet dreams all... pass the word - Life is Good.