Ground Control To Major Pab

Pablo has had a fantastic day–smiling, laughing, talking and talking and talking. You get what I'm saying, right? Today, Pablo has been...Pablo! With the exception of the 10 tubes and wires connected to every region of his body, you wouldn't have even known he was in the hospital today. Polly says Pablo's been holding court. I agree. Even while Dr. Hardy and I spoke at his bedside, he carried on, deliberating which chapter on the BBC 'Planet Earth' DVD to watch. This is a rarity since this cancer stuff started. When other people are around (even close friends), or when there are just too many people in his vicinity, he goes inward. Not a bad idea, actually! While all that was going down, Jo Ann and her mom, Patricia, were running errands out in the world. Jo Ann returned to the room with a gift for P: Star Wars Legos! He was SO HAPPY to see that Lego box. He shot his arms up in the air, and with a full-on smile screamed, 'Thank you!'

Here's what they made with the Lego set:
While they were having fun with Legos, I was at home meeting with a my cycling friend Garry, who is also a home theater contractor. He is going to connect Pablo's TV to our existing media system. We have to keep the play room remodel front moving at a steady clip, so it's done (or close to it) when we get home. Even though being at home working on the remodel is helping our family as much as being here at CHLA, I got sad when Jo Ann showed me the Lego spaceship. I felt like I'd missed something.

That something was Pablo's trip to outer space. Star Wars, Planet Earth, tubes to deliver his liquid astronaut food–today was a total Space Oddity. And his Halloween costume–a space robot–that he ordered through the mail, arrived at home yesterday. It made me ecstatic and sad-as-eff at the same time. I don't care how many cables and cords he has on October 31, we're hitting Armstrong Avenue in Silverlake for some serious trick-er-treetin'.

I know everyone is waiting for the pathology results. The fact is, we are not going to get the results until at least Tuesday. Not sure why it's taking so long. I assume it's cos they are testing the tumor as carefully as possible. One doctor even suggested that the USC/CHLA lab could be sending slides to other hospitals around LA for secondary testing. But this is a great opportunity for us–all of us–to zen out, and practice acceptance. Looks like we are going to need to exercise that muscle a lot in the coming months.

As ever, the thing we can actually focus on this weekend is getting Pablo's bowel to wake up. One small complication with getting Pablo on his feet is that his right foot has been getting very cold, even when covered with a sock and blankets. The docs ordered an ultrasound on his right leg, to look for any potential problem. None of the doctors actually think there's a problem–this cold foot thing is likely nothing. The ultrasound is a precautionary measure.

Anyway, a question about one of Pablo's feet made us very careful about walking today. He walked around the room twice, and wanted to save his longer hallway walk until I got here. He got tired before I returned, so he told Jo Ann he wants to walk with me when I come tomorrow. That will be mid-afternoon cos I am going for a 55 mile ride with my dear friend Joe Scully, my coach, Rick Babington, and 44 riders from Rick's vast circle of pupils. Can't wait!

Once I hit CHLA Saturday, I'll give Jo Ann time to do her thing. She'll sleep at home Saturday night, and I'll pull the overnight shift.

That's all I got for now. Gonna go to the conference room to eat my Zankou chicken dinner. Thanks for Gattas and Connor for the dee-livery.