Saturday, January 30, 2021

 Saturday, January 30, 2021

            Wow! This wound up being one heavy-duty day. I had the ordination scheduled at 10:30 and the stem cell therapy injection for 1:30. 

            The day started with my usual morning walk with Elsa. My hip was in a pinchy mood. We didn't quite complete 4,000 before we headed home. I planned to complete the rest throughout the day. There was driveway yoga this morning. That always strains my muscles and then makes them feel better.

            Yvette and I were off to the ordination early because we had been warned there would be parking problems. They anticipated the church would be packed. Yvette and I parked in the library parking lot. I assumed the library was closed because I heard something to that effect on the radio. The police came around as we got out of the car and told us that we couldn't park in the library staff parking lot. As we walked back to the car, a woman walking toward us told us to park in a different section owned by the Department of Education. 

            We had no problems getting into the church. It wasn't packed when we arrived, and it never reached its full capacity. Lio told me to sit in a particular row reserved for Deacon wives. He wouldn't allow Yvette to sit with me. I wanted to sit at the end of the row near her. Another woman wanted to sit there for her own reasons, so she could get out to go to the bathroom and because she feared she would have a coughing spell. She told me to sit in another row. As I realized that row wasn't reserved for Deacon wives, I felt hurt, rejected. I'm sure she didn't mean it that way. I resolved this contretemps by sitting deeper in the row and letting her have the aisle seat. Yvette said she didn't mind. 

            Another deacon-wife came up to me and gave me a huge hug. Hopefully, I didn't catch or give Covid to her, but boy, that hug felt good. She is one good hugger.

            One of the wives of the men being ordained today came up and slipped a lei over my head. It was made of these small white flowers that smell a little like gardenias strung together. She made one for every person involved in her husband's training. Had Mike been there, he would have received one too. I received one as his wife.

            No man can become a deacon without the support of his wife. Not only did I have to attend all the training sessions, but I also had to stand up and give my permission for Mike to be ordained at the ceremony. Mike was always grateful for my support. I never considered it a big deal. It was something I thought would make him happy. While those classes we a drag, and the other participants in his class were too conservative for my taste, it never occurred to me not to support him in every way. Making him happy, seeing him happy made me happy. He felt the same way about me.  

            I expected my presence to be significant for the deacons being ordained, not for me. Guess again. I suffered from silent racking sobs through a good deal of the service. I missed Mike's joy. He was so happy with all his volunteering here. It was the most joyful time of his life. I am so sorry he had to leave. It makes me so sad. I miss his joy.

            The deacons came up to me and told me how much Mike meant to them. How they wouldn't even have completed the program if it hadn't been for him. Many people gave cards and gifts. I gave a blessing. "May you be as joyful and fulfilled as a deacon as Mike was." 

            One man came up to me and told me he considered Mike one of his best friends. I thought," Who in God's name are you?" My guess is he confused Mike's therapeutic approach to friendship. I think it was a one-sided 'friendship,' although I'm also sure Mike cared about the man.

            A priest who was the scripture teacher for the deacon formation program told me that Mike was an unusual teacher. He said the other teachers would come in with their own ideas and not compromise. He said Mike wasn't like that. This aspect of his personality affected me too. He believed in the value of taking other people's ideas into consideration, not just to be polite or political, but because he genuinely believed that his ideas could be improved when challenged. He lived that way with me too. He looked for a 'worthy opponent' and deemed me such. What a lucky girl I am.

            I ran into father Lio and was able to ask him about the gravestone for Mike. He said, "Do whatever you like, and I'll work around it." I said, "What if I make a ten-by-ten marker." He said, "Okay, I'll work around it."  

            At some other point, he had made some crack about having to move a large slab to get me into the grave. That confused things even further. When I asked him about it today, he said, "Oh, I was just kidding. We put rollers under the concrete slab and move it off the gravesite. No worries." Well, this puts everything in a whole different perspective. 

            As I said goodbye to the deacons and several other people, Yvette went to get the car. When we were together, she told me how she cried through most of the service as well. We were both glad we were wearing masks. Then I said, "Well, we're off now to a nice relaxing activity-stem cell therapy."

            I had written down the address. I knew it was near Costco. It wound up being below Costco, not above it where many doctors' offices are. I had to check my email for the Suite #. It wound up being in the Flotation company office. This had a taint of a back alley illegal abortion. The place was clean, and the guys were nice enough.

            I went to the bathroom. I went into a small room with a massage table. The room was clean enough but hardly surgical. I had been introduced to the guy who would administer the stem cells. He was only introduced by his first and last name. He told me he had been an orthopedic surgeon but hated it. Hated the hours, hated the work, felt there were better ways to treat the problems he was dealing with surgically. 

            I asked him if it would hurt. He said there would be a prick but not necessarily beyond that. He had a portable ultrasound machine with him to best determine how to go in. I asked him if he would give me a local. He said no because it damaged the stem cells. There was no pain with the shot other than that pinprick as he forced his way through the skin.

            I had both hips done. They both have arthritis. The left hip is severe, and the right is moderate. I experienced immediate pain on the right side, a feeling of pressure. It subsided fast enough. When getting off the table, I asked Yvette to help me. I wasn't in worse shape than before the treatment until I got home.

            OMG! I hadn't been in that much pain in fourteen years. I tried lying down. There was no comfortable position. I wound up shifting every two minutes. I couldn't walk. I called the folks from the Stem Cell Institute of Hawaii. I spoke to Ben, the director, first, not the one who administered the cells. He said he would call 'Steve?" Steve called me right back. He said I might feel some pain for one or two days, but it should resolve. In the meantime, take some Tylenol. His post-procedure listed all the anti-inflammatories I couldn't take. I just assume Tylenol was in the category. Those who know me know I have to be convinced to take drugs. My response to Steve was an eager, "Really?!!". 

            I called Yvette to come up. I had acetaminophen; was that Tylenol? She didn't know either, but she had a bottle clearly labeled Tylenol. She did massage. I remembered I had a heating pad. She found it and applied it while I was on the table. She also dug out several packages of Salon Pas and applied them to my left side. I fell asleep for a while on the table. Damon called while Yvette worked on me. It was a lovely three-way conversation. 

            When I got up, walking was still a challenge. Yvette prepared my dinner under my instructions. I had soup with extra veggies and lemonade. She also had to get my pills and a few Hersey Milk Chocolate kisses with almonds.  

            I prefer the kisses. I don't put a bowl of them by my side. They are in a draw in the kitchen. I take a few at a time. That means I have to get up to get more. It takes some effort. It slows down my consumption. Besides problems with overall health, the stem cell people's instructions were to cut out all sugar. Sugar interferes with stem cell growth. Sugar causes inflammation. 

            Before Yvette left, I thanked her for all she did for me today. I said I hoped that I would be as gracious when I was much older and demented and needed help.

            I hobbled to bed. Getting in was a challenge because I had to bend my left hip. I pushed through the pain. Once I was in bed, all was good. There was no pain. I slept well.