Day 5 - May 11: car troubles and Tiki Masala

A slack day for Ryan - no tests (OK - a few blood tests), no transfusions (there goes my 6 pack a day theory).  Only steroid injections and permission to wear regular clothes and "leave the unit".  Of course the hospital can't give permission for him to leave the grounds in these days of insurance surveillance and liability claims.  But we can read between the lines...........

As Sophia and I were on our way to the hospital, I got a call from the school nurse that Kaia was in her office crying with a tummy ache.  I explained the situation and thought maybe she could continue the day after a little TLC from the nurse.  She also explained that there was a substitute teacher.  When Kaia got on the phone with me, she had a complete meltdown.  So we turned around and went to school and took both girls with us and "played hookie" for the day.  (For any of you NCIS fans, MeiLin had a Ziva moment and asked what the "hookie game" is.....).

On Wednesday, Ryan's car overheated coming to the hospital, so it's been sitting in the parking garage until we got time to deal with it.  Brian checked the coolant and it was OK.  So today we called AAA to tow it to a nearby garage - free with our membership and not a problem.  Except when Sophia was driving my car out of the parking garage to follow the tow truck to the repair shop, a guy drove right into the side of the car.  No major damage - just a little dent in the front passenger door and panel a little paint scrape.  We exchanged insurance info.  Then Sophia had a long-overdue cry.  It was the proverbial straw.

We went out for Indian food mid-afternoon when we figured the restaurant would be nearly empty of germ carrying guests.  Outside the restaurant Ryan ran into a friend from Institute from before his mission and we invited him to join us for Indian food.  So Ryan got his tiki masala, and the rest of us ate from the buffet.

Then Ryan and Sophia and Brian went back to the hospital for naps while the girls and I went over to the nearby NY State Museum for info on rocks for MeiLin's science project.  Ryan's car was ready by the time we were done.  It only needed a thermostat.  I was afraid of more given it's a 1993 Honda that's rusting away.  Tender mercies.

Now we're all recovering from our "slack" day.  And hoping tomorrow, which is Ryan's last day before the big bad chemo drugs, goes better for all concerned.  Nothing like seeing car breakdowns and minor accidents in real perspective........

----Barb