.
Welcome back My Dear Shoevians to The Other Shoe. Well, it
has been a difficult and very painful week. I am writing this on Saturday
afternoon, May16th. The subject of this article is my recent ‘Journey
to L.A.’. It is this trip, last Tuesday, which has left me crippled
with pain this past week. Two years ago, the journey was difficult, but not
really that painful. However, at about 5:00PM last Tuesday I was in such
crippling pain that I could hardly move or speak. Again and again, over the
passing days, I awoke to the same pain.
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(Danny @ Disneyland Transfer Point - Outbound)
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For
all of you, My Dear Shoevians, who are unfamiliar with my circumstances? I
am wheelchair/power chair bound and must make a journey from
here in southern orange county all the way into Rolling Hills Estates, above
Los Angeles. Round trip… it takes just over eleven hours! So, today I
am going to build a little story around some pictures and vies I made, this
week, while on this ‘Journey to L.A.’
.
.
The
video, above, was shot in the parking lot of my current residence at 7:50AM May
12th, 2015. In it I welcome all of you, My Dear Shoevians, to
this article and the journey ahead. I made this trip, last, in
February of this year. However, I was finishing
up chemotherapy and was quite bereft of the energy needed to; write,
upload, edit and publish that article.
For that, I apologize to you, My Dear Shoevians. This journey takes a lot out of me, and by the end I am drained and in severe pain. My
Dear Shoevians, you might well ask “Why?”. Why do I make a journey of
this length, that spans over 11 hours, and leaves me completely drain and in
severe pain? Check out the image below.
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(Dr. Gorlick’s Bio)
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Take
a moment, My Dear Shoevians, and read this biography of my primary care
physician. He studied medicine at Yale! He was an Associate Professor of Medicine
and Instructor at UCLA St. Mary’s Hospital. Board certified in Internal Medicine and Geriatrics. Former
Director of Laboratory Medicine at Pro Health Partners @ Los Alamitos Medical
Center (where I met him, first) and supervises and is a Sub-investigator of Clinical Trials at his own “Peninsula
Research Associates’.
.
I have to tell you,
My Dear Shoevians, I do not know
of… any
other patients on Medicare that have as accomplished a physician as
their primary care doctor. That is the “Why?” I make this journey, and I will continue to make
this quarterly journey, as long as my health allows. I am very fortunate to
have found, and obtain, Dr. Gorlick as my PCP. When I first started this
relationship, Dr. Gorlick was practicing at Pro Health Partners right
here at Los Alamitos Medical Center. That is a very short ride, taking
less than a half hour each way.
.
(Danny at Disneyland Transfer Lot)
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So,
the pictures and videos are in chronological order. Starting with a video taken
in the parking lot of my apartment, moving to a picture taken in the Disneyland
Transfer Lot, and finishing (below) with a short video I made. This video was
made, as I am outbound from Orange
County to Rolling Hills Estates/Rancho Palos Verdes. The journey starts with me
getting up at 6:00AM. My first ride picks me up, at home, at about 8:00AM. I
arrive at the Disneyland Transfer Lot by 10:00AM and the L.A. Access bus
arrives between 10:30AM-11:00AM.
.
.
Depending
on traffic on the many freeways L.A. Access takes on any given ride. Add to
that any/all other passengers that
they pick-up and/or drop-off. This ride, in the L.A. Access Minivan, takes
anywhere from two to three hours. I, usually, arrive at Promenade on the Peninsula by
12:00PM to 1:20PM. I have a standing appointment, with Dr. Gorlick at the Palos Verdes Medical Group, for
every three months on the second Tuesday of the month at 1:45PM. I am his very first
appointment of the day. This gives us all time to; review my ‘Agenda
For Appointment’ (a handout that I prepare and print up prior to every
appointment), go over any tests/scans/surgeries since out last visit, then we
both talk about our families.
.
(Danny at Palos
Verdes Medical Group May 2015)
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This
appointment usually takes about 15 to 20 minuets, and we all leave smiling and
very happy to have spent time together. Now, My Dear Shoevians, I have
to tell you about the Mall where Dr. Gorlick has this
office! It is a very ‘Upscale’ mall situated at the top of the PV Hills. There is a ‘Lord
& Taylor’, an ‘Abercrombie and Fitch’ and an indoor skating rink. This place is a very upscale mall and I get a
big kick out of going there to see my doctor. I always, as you can see from the
pictures and videos, dress up very
nice.
.
.
I
just get a big kick going to see my
Medicare doctor in this kind of mall, with all the well-to-do people scampering around in the Land Rovers and BMWs.
I mean, I cannot afford to get my teeth fixed, from the falls I had
back in April, but I get to travel 34 miles in about five hours. Five hours
there, and five hours back. Now that we have completed our journey in, let us start
our return to Westminster. The last video I have embedded (above) was taken
from the Third Floor of the Promenade on the Peninsula. If
you look closely you might be able to see the hills just behind me and the
cellular towers and the like on the very top of the PV Hills.
.
(Danny at Promenade on the Peninsula)
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After
our appointment, Allen and I, take a few moments to look around the Mall. Once
we have finished our Window-Shopping we
find a nice quite place to sit back and enjoy peanut butter sandwiches and Coke
Zeros that we have brought along with us. We sit and talk, taking in the view,
then work our way back down to the ground floor to await our return L.A. Access minivan. It usually
arrives between 2:30PM and 3:00PM. Now, this is the kicker! Where it took us an hour to two hours (tops!) to get to my doctor’s office?
.
The
return ride on L.A. Access always
takes three to three and a half hours! For the first year I would always schedule my pick-up, at
Disneyland Transfer Lot, for 6:00PM. However, they (L.A. Access) would always
be late. So, now I schedule for a pick-up at 6:30PM. This makes my day
a little-to-a-lot longer, but it is better than having to call OCTA while in
transit. The video, below, was taken at the Disneyland Transfer Lot at
approximately 6:30PM.
.
.
When
OCTA (the Orange County equivalent of L.A. Access) arrives at the Disneyland
Transfer Lot it is, usually, between 6:30PM and 7:00PM. On this occasion it did
not arrive until 7:30PM. My journey is,
usually, complete by 8:00PM when I am dropped off in the parking lot at home.
One this journey we arrived, in the
parking lot, at 9:00PM! Thus creating a THIRTEEN-HOUR JOURNEY!
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(Danny at Disneyland Transfer Lot –HOMEBOUND!)
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Many
of you, My Dear Shoevians, are very aware that I did not publish this
(last) week. This is the reason why
that happened. Why I was completely
unable to sit behind the keyboard and create this article. Why I was unable to; write, download images, upload images, edit
and publish the regularly scheduled articles that you and I love so dearly. It
was not from a lack of material. It
was not from a lack of desire to
entertain and inform all of you, My Dear Shoevians. It was, quite
simply, because I was unable to move for several days.
.
Now
I hope that all of you, My Dear Shoevians, understand my
absence and accept my deep and heartfelt apology.
I very much enjoy writing and publishing for your enjoyment. This act helps give my life meaning, and joy. I
will do my level best to work to write and publish more of our favorite
weekly series articles, here at The
Other Shoe. We have reached that
point in our journey today, My
Dear Shoevians.
.
The
end of this article and my telling
of the tale of my ‘Journey to L.A.!’. I hope that I have entertained and
distracted, made you laugh and helped you to relate. One final bit of new business before I go. If you follow me, or The Other Shoe,
on Facebook (just click on either link to ‘Like’ or ‘Friend’) then you are
already aware. For all of you, My Dear Shoevians, that are not my
Friends yet.. or have ‘Liked’ The Other Shoe… I have some news!
.
I
have started an all new THIRD location for our blog, The Other Shoe! Working
with my Google account and my Google-Plus
I have created a mirror image blog at BlogSpot! Here is the URL for the all NEW The Other Shoe!(Just click on
the name, right there) As of 3:00AM this morning, the all new location is 95%
updated with the other locations. As a matter of fact, this new location has all the articles that are published at
my Word Press location. It is just missing the 2010, 2011, and early 2012
publications from my primary blog
location at blog dot com here: The
Other Shoe.
.
Be sure to drop by and take a look.
All the articles, all the images, all the content will be the exact same as the
other two locations. All that is different is the look of this new blog location. I am working very hard to increase
our readership. Increase just how many My Dear Shoevians there are! Thank
you for your time. Thank you for your support. Thank you for dropping by, and
most of all… Thank you for being a SHOEVIAN!
.
Thank you!
.
Adieu!
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© 2010 – 2015
Hanning Web Wurx and The Other Shoe
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