No, I am not really having a baby

Yesterday I had an interesting drive to Boston.

The driver was nice but didn't speak a word of English. I needed to tell him a few things, so first I called Katie.

She didn't answer, so next I used my phone. He wasn't sure if Dana-Farber would be coming up on the left or the right. I asked the phone to tell me how to say left. As you can see, the answer is izquierda.

When we got there, I wanted to say "I'll call you when I'm ready," so I asked the phone. That little Siri sometimes doesn't get things straight. She said, "Voy a tener un bebé." We both laughed. It means, "I'm having a baby."

When it was time to leave about two and a half hours later, a nurse who speaks Spanish got on the phone. He told me that the driver was a few minutes away and I should call when I was ready. He also told me how to say I was ready but I immediately forgot, so I got it from my phone. Estoy listo.

I have switched my ECP sessions (the light therapy for my graft vs. host of the skin) to Thursdays from Wednesdays, every other week, for two reasons. One is that Thursday is the only day Melissa can see me now. I could have slept over and kept it at Wednesday. But also I would have had to miss about 10 minutes of the Wednesday Livestrong class. The trainer who did my intake said it was OK, but when it came down to it, I saw that it would probably be disruptive.

I'll miss Larry and Lisa, the Wednesday regulars.

But I already had a good conversation with a new patient and his wife. He was only on his 18th session and was at the point where I was when I started some two years ago, going twice a week.

He got such bad GVHD of the eyes (ocular Graft vs. Host Disease) that he had to get one cornea replaced. 

She wanted to know when you know when to stop. The nurse and I both said you don't really know.

She said it's like the Hotel California. It took me a minute to get that she was referring to the Eagles song. She said, "You know, you never leave."

I assume we'll leave sometime, but it's hard to know when that will be.

Here's the verse.

Mirrors on the ceiling

The pink champagne on ice

And she said: "We are all just prisoners here

Of our own device"

And in the master's chambers

They gathered for the feast

They stab it with their steely knives

But they just can't kill the beast

Last thing I remember, I was

Running for the door

I had to find the passage back

To the place I was before

"Relax," said the night man

"We are programmed to receive

You can check out any time you like

But you can never leave!"