July 16, 2018

I cooked today. Since I have chicken breast in my room’s refrigerator, and onion in my room pantry, I decided to cook some chicken breast.

At the Ronald McDonald House you have your own section in a refrigerator, and your own pantry. Although they’re your own, they’re very small. You don’t have your own section in a freezer, so you have to throw all your frozen items in a bag, put a label on the bag, and stuff it into the freezer.

The Ronald McDonald House also has a community pantry, refrigerator, and freezer. You can take any of the items from them and use it. For example, I can take baloney from the community refrigerator, bread from the community pantry, and ice from the community freezer. I can make a sandwich and ice water from those ingredients. If I didn’t eat my sandwich, then I can take some saran wrap from the community pantry, wrap the sandwich up, and put it in the community refrigerator for anyone to eat.

I also took some garlic powder and from the community pantry and canola oil on the counter for my chicken breast. I diced the onion, sauteed it with the canola oil, and seared the chicken with garlic powder. The chicken took longer to cook than I expected.

While cooking I talked to Angela. Angela is my friend that I met at the Ronald McDonald House. She’s here for liver treatment, and because of her liver disease she can only eat 20 grams of protein per day. I talk to her everyday because she’s a good friend.

My sister came after I made the chicken. She wanted to go eat, but since I already cooked I didn’t go with her to eat. My sister stayed overnight.

July 17, 2018

Ramen Nagi, a restaurant chain in Japan, just opened their first U.S. location in downtown Palo Alto. Since downtown Palo Alto is walking distance from the Ronald McDonald House, we decided to go.

Ramen Nagi has a very long line, so if you decide to go but can’t stand up for a long duration of time make sure you can sit on something. Bring a chair if you have to.

I got the squid ink ramen and my mom got the Tonkotsu ramen. The Tonkotsu ramen was good, and so was the Tonkotsu ramen, but they weren’t excellent. I think the restaurant is over hyped, and it’s not worth waiting for.

July 20, 2018

Today my Mom and I walked to the Stanford Theater. The Stanford Theater is only 1 mile away from the Ronald McDonald house, so it’s very convenient if you’re able to walk. The Stanford Theater is an old school theater that shows movies made during the Golden Age of Hollywood, such as Casablanca or Gone with the Wind. Some of the movies are black and white, so it’s a cool vintage experience.

We watched Roman Holiday, and a part of Queen Christina. Roman Holiday is a movie that launched Audrey Hepburn into the public eye. Audrey Hepburn plays the princess of Rome who runs away with a random guy to have fun. Queen Christina is about the well educated Queen of Scotland that decided she didn’t want to marry.

If you’re at the Ronald McDonald House, or waiting to go to the Ronald McDonald House, you have tons of things to do at downtown. Being in the hospital sucks, but if you can travel to Downtown Palo Alto, there’s so much you can do. There’s restaurants, music, and the Stanford Theater.

After we watched the movie we went to a nearby bakery, Paris Baguette, to get some pastries. I don’t eat sweets, so I got the savory baked goods.

July 21, 2018

Every Saturday my Dad visits me at the Ronald McDonald House. This Saturday we decided to drive along the mountain.

We drove away from Palo Alto to the Windy Hill Open Space Preserve. We saw a great retirement center which I think would be perfect for my Mom. The mountain was nice, but no wifi, so that sucks.

My Mom and I also decided to walk to downtown for dinner tonight. The Ronald McDonald House is about one mile away from Downtown Palo Alto, so it’s bearable. I try to walk at least 10,000 steps (tracked by my Fitbit) everyday for my physical therapy.

We ate at Wahlburgers. Wahlburgers is a restaurant chain owned by Paul Wahlberg and partnered with his two brothers, one of which is the famous actor Mark Wahlberg. Wahlburgers even had a TV show made out of it.

We decided to walk back to the Ronald McDonald house by cutting through the Stanford Mall. If you’re at the Stanford Mall at night, it’s beautiful. The lights are still on and the music still plays, but no one’s there so you can enjoy the moment.

July 22, 2018

My mom’s friend visited me at the Ronald McDonald house today. She’s a principal at a preschool. We walked across the street to a cafe at the Stanford mall. I got to eat my salad filling my daily requirement.

Here’s my daily checklist:

  • Exercise at least 10 minutes walking on the treadmill
  • Ride at least 1 hour on the gym bike
  • Walk 10,000 steps (tracked by my Fitbit)
  • Eat a salad or another vegetable dish
  • Drink a protein shake

Today is my grandma’s birthday. I’m also leaving the Ronald McDonald house in a couple of days so we’re celebrating today as a going away/birthday party.

Kayano, Koda, his mom, and his grandma came to celebrate. Kayano is my next door neighbor being treated on dialysis, eventually leading up to his kidney transplant. Emma’s (pseudonym) family also came. Emma is my 16 year old friend at the Ronald McDonald House. We brought out a cake and served it to everyone except Kayano, who doesn’t eat.

August 9, 2018

Today I went to Make-A-Wish headquarters in Oakland. At 7 AM my Mom drove us to Oakland’s Chinatown to park our car. First we went to a local bakery to buy some breakfast and take my medicine.

Afterwards we went to the Bay Area Make-A-Wish headquarters. The headquarters is in an office building shared with other companies. After getting directions by security, we went inside these huge double doors. The first thing you see is Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area behind the reception desk. The walls were painted light blue and the floor was blue carpet. The waiting area featured books that had pictures of other people’s wishes on there.

Beth was excited to see me! Beth is the Make-A-Wish coordinator that plans out all the wishes. At the Ronald McDonald house she called me to figure out more details. Beth told me the headquarters used to be at San Francisco, but then moved to Oakland. She also told me that the headquarters usually don’t have kids visiting. Usually the kids are at the hospital or at home, so me coming was rare.

Beth, my Mom, and I walked past portraits of other children with their wishes. There’s actually a girl who made a fashion runway show. She’s also a heart transplant recipient.

Edit: I met her August 11, 2018, at the transplant reunion party! She’s in the middle wearing a blue shirt:

The girl who did the fashion runway is in the middle.

Victoria, the chef granting my wish, came from Bart. She’s a nutritionist and personal chef that creates healthy meals for others. She said when she was a child, her aunt had a heart attack in front of her and died. That’s when Victoria teared up. One day, Victoria quit her job and went to culinary school. Since then she’s been a successful personal chef. Her goal is to show people a healthier way of eating.

I explained why I wanted to do this. I have a tube inside of me. Before transplant, I didn’t eat enough food each day, so through the tube I insert food inside of me. I would plug my tube to a machine and go to sleep. The next day I would skip breakfast, eat a light lunch and dinner, plug myself in, and repeat. After transplant, I have an appetite. I can start eating full meals every day. I want to develop recipes so that I’ll have enough food to not use my tube anymore. If I eat without my tube for 6 months, then my doctors can take it out.

My Mom, Victoria, Beth, and I went to take a picture in front of the Make-A-Wish logo.

Victoria will meet up with my Mom and me at our own house for cooking lessons (see August 25, 2018).

My Mom and I also checked out a government building nearby. Pictures above!

August 25, 2018

Today is my second session with Victoria, however this will be the first time we’re cooking. Victoria is the chef that’s granting my Make-A-Wish (see August 9, 2018). Her son also came today. He’s a marketing major and is helping Make-A-Wish by taking videos of us cooking. We’re making seared salmon and pancit.

For the seared salmon we rubbed the salmon fillet with garlic and dill. We seared both sides until they were pink. If they’re the slightest raw then I get a chance of catching a virus. My Mom was shocked by how simple it was.

The noodles for the pancit was soaked in water until they became soft. We fried frozen shrimp and cabbage strands in a pan, then added the noodles. We seasoned the noodles with soy sauce, sesame oil, and dill.

Check out Victoria here: https://www.eastbayhealthychef.com/

September 1, 2018

Another cooking day with Victoria! Sadly her son didn’t come. We made chicken salad and pesto noodles.

Yesterday, my Mom made a baked chicken. We shredded the leftover chicken and mixed it with mayonnaise, halved grapes, and dill We put the chicken salad between toasted bread to make a sandwich. It was savory but the grapes had a burst of sweetness. The texture of the bread made it amazing.

For the pesto pasta we made our own pesto. Victoria bought a pot at Trader Joes for $3. Victoria cut the basil leaves from the stems. The leaves were thrown in a blender. She told us if we placed it outside and water it moderately it’ll sprout new leaves.We toasted pine nuts in a pan and added it to the blender. We also added garlic, olive oil, and parmesan cheese. Since we’re trying to be low sodium, we didn’t add salt. Blending all these ingredients made us pesto. We combined the pesto with chicken and tomatoes to add over pasta.

Check out Victoria here: https://www.eastbayhealthychef.com/

September 6, 2018

Noah came to Stanford this weekend. Noah is a 10 year old boy I met at the Ronald McDonald house that was receiving an experimental drug for his stomach cancer. Nolan and I send each other gifts (see August 7, 2018).

After school, my mom and I drove from Pleasanton to Stanford. We met Nolan at a seafood restaurant. His mom was so excited to see me. Nolan had to draw a lot of blood so he was pretty tired. He almost fell asleep while eating his food.

His mom told us that Nolan’s tumor has shrunk so much, that they might surgically remove it. However, they told me that the medication might work so well that the tumor might go away on its own.

They said that the care at the Stanford hospital was exceptional. At Phoenix Children’s Hospital the nurses didn’t give great care. The tumor was on Nolan’s back, so his parents explained not to touch his back. However when he went in for his CT scan, the nurses grabbed him on his back. Noah screamed out in pain. At Stanford’s hospital the nurses and doctors spent a half hour trying to work out the logistics for the CT scan. Where the pillow would go, where to position his back, how to transfer him on the bed. This is because the nurses at Stanford have to go through 7 rounds of interviews before being hired. Their care is exceptional.

After eating, we went to a Starbucks restaurant at Town & Village, a plaza in Palo Alto. Nolan also got gelato from a nearby shop. Nolan is doing great at his elementary school. He skipped a grade so he’s in 4th grade instead of 3rd. His teacher is actually a friend of his mom. His mom explained to the teacher about what happened. He has special accommodations, for example, he doesn’t participate in PE. Instead, he helps the teacher carry basketballs, We talked to his mom about a 504 plan.

Nolan’s parents said it was really lucky that I had my Mom. My Mom cares about me a lot, that’s why she brought me here today.

After saying goodbye, we drove back home.