Tag: Ronald McDonald House

June 7, 2018 (Sick Pt. 5)

~ Campjustin ~ Leave a comment

My coughing was better today. It’s not as bad as before. I can soothe it with tea. Luckily the Ronald McDonald House provides free tea.

I made key lime pie with Angela today. Angela is my friend at the Ronald McDonald House. We followed a recipe from AllRecipes. We squeezed a lot of lemons and limes for our key lime pie. Squeezing was okay though because it was fun making the pie.

At the Ronald McDonald House there’s a community fridge where you can give food. Angela and I shared our key lime pie with the community.

June 16, 2018

~ Campjustin ~ 1 Comment

My Mom’s friend, Joanna, visited me at the Ronald McDonald House today. Joanna was my piano teacher, and I’m friends with her son, Andrew. We went to eat at Calafia Cafe & Market A Go-Go. We went there because I saw that restaurant on a TV show called Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.

Update: Calafia Cafe & Market A Go-Go is permanently closed.

When Joanna and Andrew left, I made mushroom cups with Angela. We followed a recipe online. Angela is my friend at the Ronald McDonald House (see June 15, 2018 for her condition). I already made the filling for the mushroom cups yesterday, so I brought it out from our community refrigerator. I put the premade filling into the filo cups and baked it in the oven.

Angela’s family had a BBQ today. I joined in their barbeque and they liked my mushroom cups. I met Angela’s sister and her English teacher. I had a great time with them!

After the barbecue my Dad visited me at the Ronald McDonald House. Dad brought Julia, my sister, too. This is the first time after transplant that I’ve seen Julia. The reason is because UCLA doesn’t start summer break until June 10.

We went across the street to the Stanford Mall to eat dinner. We ate at Tender Greens, a restaurant that serves salad. I couldn’t eat so much since I had to walk to the Stanford Mall. Although it’s across the street from the Ronald McDonald House, that distance is enough to make my heart start pounding. When I do activity, my heart starts pounding. I can feel the thumping in my chest and ears. When heart pounding happens, I’m usually too uncomfortable or nauseous to eat.

June 17, 2018

~ Campjustin ~ Leave a comment

Today Angela and I watched The Incredibles.

Angela is my friend at the Ronald McDonald House (see June 15, 2018 for her condition).

The Incredibles is a movie released in 2002, and the sequel will be shown at the Ronald McDonald House on Thursday (see June 21, 2018). Since Angela hasn’t seen The Incredibles before, we watched it today because we want to come into The Incredibles 2 prepared.

June 17, 2018

~ Campjustin ~ 1 Comment

Cosplayers came to the Ronald McDonald House. There were a lot of Star Wars characters. It’s embarrassing, but I’ve never bothered to see Star Wars until I was in the hospital. Since I had time to waste, I watched episodes 1-6.

There was Darth Vader, Princess Leia, Obi-Wan Kenobi, a Stormtrooper, and others I forgot. My Mom loves Star Wars.

Miss California Latina was also here today. She gave me a signed copy of her headshot, which was cool.

June 20, 2018

~ Campjustin ~ Leave a comment

I had a biopsy today. A biopsy is when they take a sample of your muscle tissue. For me, I’m having a cardiac biopsy, which means they’re taking a sample of my heart’s tissue.

We went in for the biopsy at 11 AM, however the biopsy was delayed until 1 PM. Then the biopsy was delayed to 3 PM. It was okay; I watched some movies while waiting. Someone also came in and gave me a $15 Apple gift card for waiting.

This biopsy I wasn’t put on much anesthesia, so I could recover faster. I went in and out of consciousness during the procedure, but I was high so that’s okay. I love being high. When I was in consciousness, all I felt was pressure: no pain.

I left the hospital at 5 PM. The procedure was very short, but recovery takes a majority of the time. That’s why I left so late.

June 21, 2018

~ Campjustin ~ 1 Comment

Today Pixar came to the Ronald McDonald House. They’re showing The Incredibles 2 in the activity room. I watched The Incredibles 2 with Angela and Noah. Angela and I watched The Incredibles on Sunday to be prepared for the sequel (see June 17, 2018). Noah is my friend being treated for stomach cancer.

Angela had to leave halfway through the movie for her therapy, so it was just me an Noah. The activity director gave us a pixar bag with a pixar hat inside. After the movie, I waited in line to get a picture drawn by Pixar artists. I choose to get a drawing of Remy from Ratatouille.

  • Tony Maki – Story Artist
    Paul Topulos – Digital Art/Painter

June 22, 2018

~ Campjustin ~ Leave a comment

My Mom and I walked to the Stanford theater today. The Stanford theater is a theater in Downtown Palo Alto that plays classic movies. Downtown Palo Alto isn’t far from the Ronald McDonald House.

Even though Downtown Palo Alto isn’t far from the Ronald McDonald House, it’s still a tiring walk for me. I have a sensation of heart pounding when I do any physical activity. Although it’s not as bad as it was in the hospital, it still inhibits me from doing a lot. I wore my pixar hat I got from the Ronald McDonald House (see June 21, 2018) to protect myself from the sun. After transplant, I’m also more vulnerable to skin cancer.

The Stanford theater has showtimes on their ticket booth and online. If you’re staying at the Ronald McDonald House at Stanford, I recommend you check them out. We watched the Royal Wedding at 7:30 PM. The Royal Wedding was released in 1951, so it’s pretty old.

June 23, 2018

~ Campjustin ~ Leave a comment

Dad visited me today. Julia, my sister, also came. We decided to eat ramen at Downtown Palo Alto. Despite the ramen being good, I couldn’t eat it all. In the car I drank an entire protein shake so I felt nauseous.

These are my daily requirements:

  • 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

I set these requirements for myself after transplant so I can recover faster. I need to drink protein shakes because my doctor recommended me to eat more protein. I have a tube inside of me that I used before my heart transplant. Through the tube I would insert nutrient shakes (Nutren 2.0). After my heart transplant, I have an appetite so I can eat my entire day’s calories. If I stop using my tube for 6 months, I can have it removed.

My Dad drove us to California Avenue. California Avenue is where the Palo Alto farmers market is held. My Mom and I went to that farmer’s market and it seemed pretty cool (see June 3, 2018). California Avenue also has a Caltrain station. Caltrain is a public transport train in Palo Alto.

After we explored California Avenue, we dropped off Julia at the Stanford Mall. The Stanford Mall is across the Ronald McDonald House. She wanted to buy clothes at Urban Outfitters.

My Dad and I went to a bookstore in Menlo Park. Menlo Park is a city right next to Palo Alto. The bookstore is Kepler’s Books. We also bought drinks from a nearby cafe, Cafe Borrone.

When we went back to the Ronald McDonald, we met with Julia. We both went to Downtown Mountain View for dinner. Mountain View is farther away from Palo Alto, but their downtown is nice. Mountain View is the headquarters for Google, so you see a lot of young employees in Downtown Mountain View. We ate at an Indian restaurant.

June 24, 2018

~ Campjustin ~ Leave a comment

Today there’s a Stanford run for kids. The Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital is hosting a 5k/10k run, and the money will go to the hospital.

I didn’t participate. My heart pounding is still very strong. In case you didn’t know, I have a heart pounding sensation after transplant when I do minor physical activity and my heart starts to heavily beat. I could walk as little as 100 ft and have to sit down. Also, I don’t have much endurance. After my transplant, my heart has to readjust to my body, and it hasn’t yet. I try to push my endurance often, but doing a 5k is too much.

My Mom did. She told me that she met the doctor that took care of me in the PCU (aka a doctor I can remember).

June 24, 2018

~ Campjustin ~ Leave a comment

I walked with my mom to downtown Palo Alto today. The Ronald McDonald House is a challenging (for me) yet reasonable distance from Downtown Palo Alto. Since I need to build my endurance, I always take a chance to walk to Downtown Palo Alto.

We ate New Orleans food at NOLA in Downtown. I loved NOLA’s atmosphere and their food was great.

  1. Pages:
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5