The Death Angel

Last month when Tom went to meet his radiation oncologist at the Radiation Oncology Building on North Interstate,  I was not with him. He described Dr. McDonald as a young, pretty blond with a ponytail and Ugg boots.  Very outdoorsy looking. Of all the doctors he had met, she was the only one to say something to Tom that immediately earned her a nickname.  Her second comment to him was "This will eventually kill you."

He had to return today to North Interstate to again be scanned to determine the exact location for the radiation.  This was the facility that gave us a schedule of twelve, 3:30 am appointments when we left the hospital. (They told us their computer has been broken for 10 years so they assign "ungodly hours" and wait for people to call.    ?    )      I wanted to meet this Death Angel doctor.

We took the winding route over Germantown Road, across the St. John's Bridge and all the way down Lombard Street until we came to Interstate.  I lived in St. Johns when I first moved to Portland.  Way down past the bridge on North Syracuse Street.  My Portland friends never wanted to drive "all the way out to St. Johns". It was not really considered Portland to most Portlanders.  Where is that?  When I got pregnant with Amanda, I was teaching Kindergarten at James John Elementary School. I drove the Germantown route from Dixie Mountain to St. Johns five days a week for two and a half years.  I enjoyed seeing today what had changed and what still remained from 29 years ago.

The drive took an hour and we arrived 5 minutes late.  I was not allow to accompany Tom in the back area. I did manage to find the tea area, some good magazines, and snagged a comfy chair that elevated my feet. Of course I was ready to give it up at a moments notice if someone looked at all like they wanted or needed to sit in that chair. The waiting room was filled mostly with people waiting for someone getting a treatment, and predominately older woman. Like me :-)

Tom's appointment went smoothly and we were given a more-godly schedule time-wise. Five days a week for three weeks starting on the 26th.  When I asked Tom if he saw the Death Angel again he shook his head no and slowly said "My eyes were closed but I think I heard her voice."

* All other doctors feel Tom has a chance to beat the cancer or at least hold it at bay for quite a while. I have heard so many stories starting with "my (insert relationship) had advanced cancer and the doctors told him/her that he/she had 6 months to live" and ending with "and that was 20 years ago and she/he is still alive and doing well".

All I have today are boring waiting room pics, but as Katie commented about Sunnyside,  Kaiser facilities look kind of zen. They've come a long way from the
very old Catholic Hospitals (St. Mary's in Orange, St. James in Newark) that I visited my grandmother at in New Jersey years ago, They were dreary and forbidding places.

Just for fun.  In the shark mouth are clockwise from left, Tom , Allison, Aaron, and Amanda.  Aaron is Amanda's fiancee. We were at the Portland Aquarium before it closed for good, celebrating Amanda's birthday this past January 21st.