Today is Kayano’s 15th birthday! Kayano is a patient at Stanford, who’s also my next door neighbor at Ronald McDonald. Kayano has kidney failure and he needs to be put on dialysis until he’s healthy enough to be put on the kidney transplant list. Kayano is having less and less energy, so he needs his kidney transplant soon.
We went to Redwood City Downtown to watch a movie. Kayano doesn’t eat food, but he still buys popcorn. He licks the popcorn. After we watched the movie, Kayano’s mom wanted to get birthday decorations at Safeway. As we drove along El Camino Real, Kayano’s mom told us she never knew that Stanford had so many attractions. She thought Stanford was in the middle of nowhere.
When we got back to the Ronald McDonald House we celebrated his birthday in the community dining room. Yesterday Kayano’s mom cooked brownies. We stuck 15 candles into the brownies and Kayano blew them out. Kayano’s mom also bought ice cream at Safeway, so she served the brownies with ice cream.
Every Wednesday at the Ronald McDonald house there’s a movie night. Usually no one goes (I don’t know why?), but I invited my neighbor, Kayano, and his family to come. I also invited Johanna (pseudonym) and her mother Tanjila (pseudonym) to watch the movie with us.
Tanjila is a really sweet person. She was nervous about bringing Johanna to Stanford, since they live far away. She said I made them less nervous, which I felt great about. Johanna needs a lung transplant, but she’ll need to be on an oxygen machine in the meantime.
We watched Trolls. Trolls is a movie about trolls. It’s so bad it’s hilarious. I loved laughing at the awkward moments.
If you’re at the Ronald McDonald house or the hospital, you’re most likely in pain. I suggest finding something to occupy your time to distract from the pain.
At the Ronald McDonald House there’s tons of activities for you to enjoy, such as bingo night, arts & crafts, or movie night. My personal favorite is sitting at the kitchen and reading a book. People are more open to talk to you if you make yourself seem available. The Stanford Mall is across the street, and Downtown Palo Alto and Safeway are walking distance away. Safeway has a food bar, and Downtown Menlo Park is not far from Safeway. If you can make it to Downtown Palo Alto or Downtown Menlo Park, you can hop on a CalTrain and travel to neighboring cities.
At the hospital, check out the Family Resource Center. I rented so many movies at the Family Resource Center that I finished the Captain America, Mission Impossible, Lord of the Rings, and Avengers series. The hospital also has a great garden to explore, and each unit has a balcony so you can have fresh air. I remember my room had so much stenk that outside smelled like heaven. Stanford has playrooms for you to enjoy. The playrooms include games, and there are other people at the playrooms you can play with.
Today was my doctor appointment. At 7 AM I woke up and got into the car. I slept on the whole ride to Stanford, except waking up to take my medicine.
I remembered to grab the cards we made at the Pink Dot Club meeting (see September 18, 2018). After putting on my mask, we went to my appointment.
After my echo, which is an ultrasound (the ones the doctors use to take pictures of babies in their womb) of the heart, we were told to wait outside. After a room was available, we quickly went inside.
The doctor examined me and told me the results were good. My Prograf levels were good, and they didn’t change anything. I talked to the doctors about my leg pain. Last year, I was hospitalized for extreme calf pain. After being discharged from the hospital, I had to be homeschooled for a month before I was able to walk around my school again. My mom expressed concern about it being from my hypereosinophilic syndrome, a blood disorder I contracted leading to my heart failure. The doctors told us to book an appointment with the doctor that deals with my hypereosinophilic syndrome (see October 16, 2018).
After the appointment, we delivered the cards. We went to the Cardiovascular ICU (Intensive Care Unit is where patients are admitted when they have a serious illness that needs constant monitoring) and delivered as many cards as we could. We also saw Jessica (pseudonym) and delivered her card. We couldn’t say hi because she was too busy with her VR game. Nicole’s room was empty.
The rest of the cards we donated to the Family Resource Center. The Family Resource Center is a department in the hospital that allows patients to rent games, movies, books, or is a place for families to relax or get work done. It’s where I rented the Mission Impossible series, Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Avengers series, the Captain America series, Matilda, Tom and Jerry, and other movies.
Later that day I had a swimming lesson at 4:30. I’m still a beginner at swimming, but I know I have the ability to get better. After transplant, I can even be on my High School’s swim team! After swimming, we met up with Joanna and Andrew (see June 16, 2018) for ramen.
Yes! I’ve finally finished my videos for the UCSF videos (see November 15, 2018). Unfortunately, they’re 2 videos each about 12 minutes. The Pink Dot Club just posted that the UCSF videos can only be under 5 minutes. I’m hoping that UCSF will make an exception because:
They’re hearing from a relatable person who has been in their situation
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