Danny in Rolling Hills Estates August 12, 2014[/caption].
Welcome back My Dear Readers to The Other Shoe. It is the evening of August 13th 2014, and I apologize for the tardiness of this article. The videos, that you will see embedded in this article, were all shot yesterday August 12th 2014. Now, comically, know as ’The Trip to L.A…. L.A…. L.A….’ the videos and this article are a retelling of my arduous adventure. An adventure of getting to and returning from my appointment with my primary care physician in Pacific Palisades at ‘Promenade on the Peninsula’ in the wondrous city of Rolling Hills ESTATES.
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Now, as a point of reference, for a person in their own car this would be a trip of about an hour. An hour to the appointment, and an hour return trip. All in all, I would think that if I had my own means of transportation (something I am working toward with Danny’s Cancer Treatment Fund), I would leave here about noon and be home by 4PM. However, all things not being equal.
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I leave home at 9AM and the wheels of my power chair hit my carpet (again) at 8PM to 9PM. An eleven to twelve hour arduous journey that I make every three months. Yes, I have quarterly visits with my Primary Care Physician. However, My Dear Readers, now that I have been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma? My PCP could, every easily, think that three times a year is insufficient for him to properly monitor my health.
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[youtube=http://youtu.be/ZG33dl5OVN0]
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As I am writing this article, I am not so sure just exactly where each of the videos will end up getting placed. Therefore, I am going to just wing it and explain the videos as; 1,2,3. The very first video was taken at approximately 9AM as I am sitting outside my apartment waiting for OCTA Access to arrive and take me to… … … Disneyland! Nope, I am not off on a magical adventure in the land where dreams become reality. That is the location where OCTA Access drops individuals for their transfer to L.A. Access.
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In this article there will also be pictures that were taken of me, in various stages of this adventure. I will be certain to include at least one that was taken during our layover at Disneyland. You will, likely, know this image because you can see the Monorail in the background of the image. I always enjoy our layover at Disneyland. It reminds me of better times in my life, and Allen’s decade of service at the Enchanted Kingdom. However, with my cervical spine in its current (mess) condition there are few rides that I would be able to partake and enjoy without risking grave harm.
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As well as the pictures, Allen and I made another short video during our layover at Disneyland. If you look closely you can see the roof of the enclosure for… darn I simply cannot remember the name of the dark roller coaster ride. It, quite simply , is my favorite ride in all the park. I have heard that they have (finally) fixed the speakers in the headrest of the ride and now you can hear the music that was scored just for this ride. It is a tremendous ride and I always made it a point to ride it seven or eight times, every time Allen and I went to Disneyland.
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Now, what was an enjoyable morning and a pleasant ride to and layover at Disneyland? Turns into a nightmare of the seventh magnitude. Usually the drivers with L.A. Access are quite helpful, polite and considerate of their riders. That was not the case today. The driver was not accomplished at getting the power chair(s) (yes, there were two of us in power chairs shoved into one small van) into the van and properly fastened. He did manage to scratch (in several places) one of the fenders on my power chair. The assembly, that holds my walking cane, is now bent and rattles when I advance over most surfaces.
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I am going to have to make a complete visual inventory of my power chair, just as soon as I have regained strength. That was another thing, this trip just wasted me! I know that this is a result of the cancer… the insidious and heinous stow-away in my body. Tapping stamina and draining strength. Yet, I was not prepared for just how much this cancer took from me, until I got home last night. Anyway, back to the journey… and this part.
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[caption id="attachment_3337" align="aligncenter" width="630"]
Danny at Disneyland Headed to L.A. August 12, 2014[/caption].
Once, the driver finally had both power chairs in and fastened into place… he got behind the wheel… … … and my ride to L.A. became a two hour stay in… … … Hell’s Lobby! I have made this trip, now, well this makes my seventh trip. Each and every trip the driver played the radio on a relaxing station at a lower volume. Nothing extremely loud so as to distract from the driver’s focus. As well, it was nothing annoying or… … … radical. This time, that changed. For the next two hours I was exposed to the bigoted and intolerant ramblings of two lowbrow radio hosts on… … … Fox Sports! They had something to say about the recent ball player that came out of the closet. They had something to say about the young man that was run over at the NASCAR event. Yet on each and every subject… … … the person’s; race, sexual proclivity, PRECIEVED race, race of THEIR sexual partner, and every imaginable combination thereof was trod out and made light.
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Never in my life have I been exposed to so much; anger, hatred, divisionism, bigotry, and out and out intolerance in my entire life! I just do not understand how two people can have so many ‘Bad Things’ to say about people whom they never have, and likely never will, meet/met or have any social or physical contact with! Just what kind of people can go one and on and on and on about other people in such a tacky uninformed and intolerant and ignorant fashion? One would, honestly, thin that kind of rambling diatribe of anger, hatred and intolerance would (likely) taint one’s soul!
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When I, finally, got out of the van… I felt as thought I decompressed from a compressed atmosphere. Like coming out of an airplane that flew across the nation at a very high altitude. Yet, it was not compressed oxygen that was in this cabin. It was an atmosphere of compressed negativity and anger! Recently I have been reading a lot about the power of words. That, some, have postulated that certain types of words can act on the human body. That some types of speech can actually act like a language virus. Whereas, when humans are (regularly) exposed to these linguistic viruses that can (actually) have their minds… reconfigured… rewired… damaged by these linguistic viral exposures.
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I just had to clear my mind of the linguistic lambaste I had been exposed to, prior to visiting with Dr. Gorlick. So, Allen and I set about a short little tour of the mall. We did not have the time to make a video, or take pictures, prior to the appointment. We went in about fifteen minuets before the appointment.
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[youtube=http://youtu.be/kkn-AGstmP8]
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Now, My Dear Readers, I am a strong believer in the sanctity of a doctor’s appointment. Therefore, I am going to proceed only using large broad strokes. My doctor greeted me in a way befitting the context of our visit and the nature of the disease state we were there to discuss. He gave me a complete examination, one of the first in many years, and then we he sat down (right in front of me) and expressed his sincere regret that I have been diagnoses with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. He was quite frank about the possible outcomes, and honest about the means = life span. He gave me the name of a very good oncologist here in Orange County.
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He increased my medications for pain, and briefly talked directly with Allen about what HE will be facing in dealing with ME and my cancer. He was frank. He was honest. He was forthright. He was kind. When we were done… Allen felt hope… I felt the weight of the challenge that lies ahead for me. Now I know that the next step in the course of treatment is a PET Scan (Positron Emission Tomography)[1]
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This scan will give my oncologist the information he needs to properly identify the current ‘Stage’ of my cancer. Determine if it is spreading (metastasize), and the organs that are currently… under attack. Once that is complete, then the oncologist makes suggestions of; chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. A schedule of treatments is then formulated. With any good luck, My Dear Readers, I will start my first round of chemotherapy… within a month. I say “with any good luck” because the sooner I start, the longer my lifespan. Below are the Stage of Lymphoma:
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The stages of lymphoma are defined as follows:
●Stage I – Only one lymph node region is involved, or only one lymph structure is involved.
●Stage II – Two or more lymph node regions or lymph node structures on the same side of the diaphragm are involved.
●Stage III – Lymph node regions or structures on both sides of the diaphragm are involved.
●Stage IV – There is widespread involvement of a number of organs or tissues other than lymph node regions or structures, such as the bone marrow.[2]
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My concern is that I have enlarged and painful swelling of lymph nodes both above and below my diaphragm. Combined with the pathology finding that the biopsy showed “Grade 3B” lymphatic structures in the node removed from my face, leads me to believe… … … Time and proper drug selection = Lifespan. I am very sorry that this topic has interjected itself into this article. However, when it is something that you think of every morning when you wake, and every night before you go to sleep? It is going to find it’s way into one’s creative output.
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[caption id="attachment_3343" align="aligncenter" width="630"]
Danny 'Selfie' in Waiting Room Palos Verdes Medical Group[/caption].
I was going to make a video once I got home, or at Disneyland after I got off the L.A. van. However, just like the ride in> My ride out was… painful at best. It was (thankfully) not Fox Sports on the way home. However, it was very loud… … … ‘Kiss Radio’ I think they said? It was all singers with drum machines and ‘Autotune’ devices matched up with someone with an over inflated ego and a rhyming dictionary. For the second time in one day I spent two hours in… … … Hell’s Lobby!
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That was exactly what it felt like to me, and Allen. Like we were delegated to sitting in the lobby for the entrance to HELL! The music was so loud that I could hardly think, and even when I put on my own ear plugs (good ones from Creative) and my volume on my phone turned up all the way I could not hear my music. The driver was running late, so I asked him to please turn down the music. He did so just as long as I was on the phone. Once off, he turned it back up again to ear damaging volume.
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[youtube=http://youtu.be/XIugw8_3Kh4]
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Later, tomorrow, I am going to file a complain against both drivers. It is what is best for their future passengers… especially if it is me. My Dear Readers, the day was an extremely arduous journey made worse by the inconsiderate and often rude and hostile L.A. drivers. However, I will continue with Dr. Gorlick as my PCP for one slient reason. He is the very best physician I could/can find that accepts Medicare. He is a great man and a greater physician!
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My Dear Readers that brings us to the end of this article. I hope that you have found it to be entertaining and informative. With each and every trip I make, to L.A. and back, I will be making these videos and taking pictures. I will do my best to take all of you, My Dear readers along with me... … … in my ‘Trip to L.A.!’\
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Adieu!
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Thank YOU!
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[caption id="attachment_3342" align="aligncenter" width="630"]
Danny at Disneyland August 12th, 2014[/caption]
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