Waiting for Test Results

The Stream of Results Begin

After the barrage of tests I went through over the past two days, I was ready to relax and have some fun with my friends and family members in the Denver area. Already that evening, new test result messages starting pinging on my phone. Most showed my results fell in the normal range for those tests. But a few results puzzled me. The echocardiogram showed my heart beat in an abnormal rhythm during the scan. Not surprising given the strenuous lead up I went through before the echocardiogram. Would that turn out to be a problem? I hoped not.

A few other test results seemed bizarre to me. The test for syphilis and hepatitis B showed positive for antibodies, though I'd never had either of those diseases! How could that be? I felt confident that Dr Piquet could explain the anomalies. All evening, more test results arrived, lengthening the list of test results on my UC Patient Portal. Certainly, before leaving Denver, any previously undetected medical problems I might have surely would come to light.

Visit with Cousin Gayle and Uncle Tom

That night, I connected with my cousin Gayle and we made plans to spend the next day together. Thursday morning, Gayle picked me up at the hotel. We stopped first for a visit with her dad, my mother's brother Tom, who turned 100 years old this past December. He looked great for his age, with wrinkle free skin on his face and hands. I'm not sure if he figured out who I was, but we cheerfully conversed about the good old days. My mom made it to 96, still in good shape until she unexpectedly suffered a fatal stroke. And their other brother Frank is still in great shape in his mid-90s. The gene pool on my mom's side is hearty!

For lunch, Gayle suggested we go to her favorite Indian restaurant. Since I'd lived four years on the subcontinent, I'd gained a love for Indian food. "I'm all in!" I agreed. On the way to the restaurant, my cell phone rang in my bag I'd stowed in the back seat. I made a note to check if I'd received a message once I could retrieve my bag. Shortly after we got seated, my phone rang again. The caller ID showed UC Anschutz. I answered it to hear Timber's voice. She explained that Dr Piquet wanted me to return to the hospital to get fitted with a heart monitor to wear for three days because of the note about an abnormal heartbeat on the echocardiogram.

I told her I was an hour away from the hospital about to have lunch with my cousin, who I hadn't seen in years. I asked if perhaps I could go to the hospital early the next morning. Her answer distressed me. The clinic would only be open until 3 pm and the person I needed to see would not be in the next day! It had to be that afternoon.

Monica had asked me to call her if I heard anything from Dr Piquet about my tests. So I called her and explained my dilemma. "No problem. Finish your lunch and stay where you are. I'll pick you up and get you to the hospital before 3 pm." My angel Monica would save the day once again. That news elated my cousin. She wouldn't have to figure out where I needed to go on the giant campus. I enjoyed our delicious lunch despite the mad dash I knew I'd need to make back to Aurora. When Monica arrived, we switched all my things to Monica's car and took off.

Meeting my Cousin Gayle for Lunch

My Heart Needs a Monitor

With 20 minutes to spare, we reached the campus, but had a difficult time figuring out which building I needed to enter. At a building that looked like what Google had identified, I got out and Zingered up the ramp into the building while Monica fiddled with the parking meter. The silence inside led me to wonder if it was vacant. Worse yet, I needed to find a room on the third floor, but the building had NO elevator. While I searched for someone to help, checking offices along the first floor hallway, Monica snuck in and took the stairs just inside the doorway to look for me. We now had just10 minutes to find the right clinic, and I had no idea where Monica had gone.

Karma kicked in. Monica happened to cross paths with Timber upstairs. She volunteered to lead us to the correct building about 10 minutes away. She used her badge to get us in and went with us up to the third floor. A young woman met us. Because the man with whom Timber had arranged to put the monitor on me was in a meeting, she did the fitting for the monitor. She cleaned and roughed up the skin in the area before sticking the Zio patch monitor on my chest. The adhesive used is nearly the equivalent of superglue. The patch they used transmitted real-time data so I could get results for just three days. Still, I would need to mail the device back to Zio's lab for analysis.

On the way out of the building, we got onto the wrong elevator. When we pushed the button for the first floor, it took us to an empty dirty concrete basement. A door that required a badge to open appeared to be the only egress available. We also needed a badge to operate the elevator back to any other floor. Inside the elevator, I found a phone button. Monica pressed it. Finally, a voice answered. Monica practically screamed that the elevator had locked us in the basement and they needed to send security to find us! Two security guards came through the door, wearing astonished looks on their faces. "How did you get in here?" one asked. Ironically, I wondered if my new heart monitor already would be recording the stress of our scary situation. Later, my safe, cozy hotel room felt like a peaceful haven.

A Visit to Morrison and Red Rocks

Before coming to Denver, I told Monica I'd like to try the food at the restaurants she raves about in her daily text messages to me in Maine. So for Friday's lunch, she chose Wayne's favorite Tex-Mex restaurant, The Morrison Inn, in the quaint village of Morrison just outside Red Rocks. They gave us one large room almost to ourselves.The shrimp fajitas I ordered deserved all the praise heaped on them. For dessert Wayne & I had fried ice cream served in a cup-shaped cinnamon sugar coated tortilla drizzled with chocolate sauce and honey. Needless to say, I had a hefty sized doggie bag when we left.

Monica & Wayne at The Morrison Inn for Lunch

Since we were so close to Red Rocks Park, I asked if we could drive through the park and see the natural outdoor 9525 seat amphitheatre. On the drive through the park, we came upon a herd of mule deer. They blend perfectly into their surroundings. Can you find all five deer in the picture below?

Mule Deer near Red Rocks

While writing Becoming Fearless, the gentle, cascading notes of pianist John Tesh's music, playing softly in the background, provided inspiration. He recorded one of his albums at the Red Rocks amphitheatre accompanied by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra in 1994, so I wanted to see the venue. (You can view and listen to Tesh's Live at Red Rocks concert on You Tube) The previous night on the local news, I saw that their maintenance crew had begun to power wash the enormous seating area prior to the start of the 2025 season. Someday I'd love to attend a concert in this magnificent acoustically perfect site.

The Famous Red Rocks Outdoor Amphitheater

Afterward we spent the afternoon at Monica's house, where Wayne taught me the basics of chess. He's a skilled player while I'd never played before, so you can guess how that turned out. However, after several hours, I'd absorbed most of the rules. Whether I'll remember all of them is another question. That evening at the hotel, I felt a scratchy patch in my throat. I prayed it came from the extremely dry air that constantly parched my mouth. I could not afford to get sick before my apheresis!

Gayle teaches me how to play Wingspan

My cousin picked me up early on Saturday morning. Unfortunately, my throat still felt scratchy, so on the way to her house we stopped at a Walgreens to buy a bag of Hall's honey lemon cough and throat relief lozenges. I spent the day with her and husband Bob. I gladly signed her copies of my books. Then we got serious about playing Wingspan, which I discovered has as many complicated rules as chess. But I enjoyed learning about both the strategies of the game and lots of information about the birds. Gayle made us a wonderful chopped salad with breaded shrimp lunch. Then we continued with our second game of Wingspan. I found it to be a relaxing way to spend an afternoon and reconnect with my cousins.

Cousins Gayle & Bob (with my two books)

That evening more tests results arrived (mostly normal) but my throat started to feel worse (not good.) I got right into bed, praying for a good long sleep and to wake up feeling better.

Worried About Catching a Cold

I slept until 9:30 am and probably could have slept longer, but Monica planned to pick me up and bring me to her house for a homemade lunch of grilled ribeye steak, (kind of hard to resist), shrimp fried rice and blue cheese fondue. I learned that fondue drizzled on the steak tasted great. On the way back to the hotel, Monica and I made a stop at Trader Joe's so I could stock up on a few of my favorite TJ's non-perishables. During that time, I noticed that my head started to get slightly congested. Monica drove us to a CVS where I got a Covid test and some cough syrup to tame a newly developing cough. Still, I didn't have a fever or feel sick. I took the Covid test as soon as I got back to my room. Gratefully, as I watched for minutes, no line appeared in the tester tray. My result was negative! Thank God!

Sunday night I wrote an email to Dr Piquet to tell her I'd gotten fitted for the heart monitor as she requested. I also told her about the cold I had, but that I'd taken a Covid test with negative results, had no fever or much congestion and I'd rest to be well for Thursday.

This morning I received her reply that she expected that a simple cold would not exclude me from the trial. She would verify with the sponsor. Meanwhile, she recommended rest and lots of fluids. So I cancelled the activities I had planned for today and have just stayed in the hotel working on this long blog post and answering emails, rescheduling some doctor appointments back in Maine listening to the entire Tesh Red Rocks concert. I really love his music.

P.S. Timber explained that I'd likely gotten positive test results for some of the bizarre conditions from antibodies in the blood donated for the IVIG infusions I depend on. Phew!