Tuesday, February 24, 2009

three priorities

good to hear that he has three crisp priorities:
  1. energy
  2. healthcare
  3. infrastructure

big bad banks

well, the banks are an easy target.

why do they keep showing the turncoat, err, i mean lieberman?

nobody messes with joe

that is one of the best lines in a long time. nobody messes with him, that's right! no one messes with an old white guy with hair plugs.

1st speech

live blogging obama's address...

i like the shout out to michelle.

hmm...did he tell biden when to stand and begin applauding?

90% of the jobs will be in the private sector. that's good.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

almost out of the woods

greetings from the marriott at the albany medical center. a big day for us. by about 1:00p they wheeled my uncle out, and he was in good shape. by the time i got to albany (about a three hour drive from boston), he was alert, interacting with family members, and his kidneys were producing urine, which is ultimately one of the best signals. it's amazing how far the technology and procedure have advanced just in the ten years since my brother and dad's transplants. in 1999, my dad was virtually out of it for at least a day or two. he was in the ICU, which meant just about no visitors, in a fair amount of pain, and loaded up on intense immunosuppressants. tonight, you would know that my uncle had come out of surgery, but it could have been knee surgery if you didn't know better. we were huddled around him, cracking jokes, making him smile, and feeling some sense of relief. he's not totally out of the woods yet, but with every passing hour, as his kidney function strengthens, the risk of immediate (i.e., acute) rejection gradually diminishes.

most of the fam, my parents included, are going to stay here for awhile. most of the cousins were today, with a few exceptions. i imagine they'll troop in over the course of the next week or two. i'm flying out on the 6:40 flight tomorrow morning. nashville becksons, and then austin for the annual UT tournament with the big h alumni team. staying with bloodninja, mrs. bloodninja, and their bloodninja clone.

fingers crossed

almost ten years ago, my brother and dad had a paired kidney transplant (my brother donated to my dad). today, my uncle (my dad's oldest brother) is having a cadaveric transplant. we found out last night that a kidney was available, and they wheeled my uncle into the OR at albany medical center about an hour ago for the six hour procedure. my uncle has been on dialysis for some time now, and it's a tough process. a successful transplant is a miracle gift.

the family is convening. my uncle, his wife and my cousins are already in albany, as is mpg and his parents. my parents will be in the air in a couple of hours on their way to ny.

as it happens, i'm on my way to boston for business. am blogging from a cab on rock creek parkway. am figuring out a way to drive to albany tonight after work and be with the family, and then fly to nashville tomorrow.

fingers crossed.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

the kids are all right

happy valentine's day. dr w and i are headed to the maine street wharf to get seafood.

this video is addictive. neat story about how three people making a fan clip ended up eventually making a video with the real band. the dancing weatherman and charlie chaplin are my two favorite clips.

thanks for wolverine for passing on the clip to dr. w.

Thursday, February 05, 2009

some difficult news

hirsh is one of my good buddies from the big h. a sectionmate and a great guy. along with the chenster, we were three quasi-bachelors who had fiances in other cities while we were at the h and hung out a lot our first year there. he and his wife just went through a heartbreaking experience, and they blogged about it. very moving, but difficult to read. it will bring tears, i promise.

here is their blog: http://hirschhaps.blogspot.com/

scott and paige, we're thinking of you and our hearts are with you and cayden.

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

life imitates art sometimes

so first, bunny and her dude actually came up with this idea.



and then general mills actually made the commercial.



thank you, bunny. courtesy meltingdolls.com

pep suber!

watching the steelers march down the field sucked.

on the other hand, pep suber (the new mcgruber) was awesome.