Hello Blood+Platelets, Goodbye 2008

Amazingly, Pablo sat through two movies with, as he calls them, humans. He's been so into animated stuff lately, he refuses to watch us humans acting in a fictional story on a TV screen. Tonight, Fred and I walked him through 'E.T.' and 'Star Wars' back to back. What else were we gonna do with a kid who's on isolation orders, stuck in a hospital room, all jazzed up after his afternoon nap?

The cool thing about watchin a moov with P is that the best show, for me, is always snuggled up next to me. During the first 20 minutes of 'Star Wars,' Pablo quietly recited the names of some of the more bizarre characters. Even with the sound cranked up for maximal theatrical effect I could still hear a little voice say, 'Sand People' or 'Chewie.' Of course, he loved seeing his beloved R2D2 in action. Tomorrow I'm going to bring his R2 robot as a surprise guest.

On the medical front, everything is OK. He got red blood and platelet transfusions today. Jo Ann took a few hours off and went home for a shower and some R&R. She came back a little after 8 p.m. to spend the night. We'll be in the hospital until Pablo's blood counts start rising. We are fully expecting to be at CHLA until at least Friday. Hopefully no longer.

What makes this stay easy so far is having our own room in 5 East, and a pleasant view—as opposed to the ventilation shaft or a wall, our two frequent views in 4 West. We aren't there for the aesthetics, to be sure, but there's something about sunlight and a 20 mile view across LA that makes the hours go by easier.

Well, only 50 hours of 2008 left. Somehow, I don't think many people are grasping to hold on to this year. If you are, hold on loosely....