UCSF Medical Center
Wednesday November 18th 2009, 9:33 pm
Filed under: Life

For two years now, I wanted a picture of looking UP at the trees from the 12th floor at UCSF’s Moffitt Hospital; this is via my phone after my camera conked out.

I love San Francisco. And as someone with terrible balance, I’m glad this time we didn’t park outside in the lot where the earth is many stories’ worth straight down from the nose of the car.

I’m in a longterm study of lupus patient outcomes, and it’s been two years (note on that link: I got sent the most beautiful picture of that newborn baby and his mom later.)  Time for me to come back for the in-person part of the study. Actually, they wanted me in July… When I told them what my surgery was going to be, Sandi, my interviewer this time, pushed the appointment way back to November over my protests that surely I’d be up to coming in sooner than that!

Wise woman.

Michelle drove.  A wise woman, too.

And by the way, Haight-Ashbury just down the hill still looks exactly like you’d expect it to, psychedelically colorful storefronts and all. Peace, man.

So I have now been pushed, prodded, bled, challenged, tested, and assured that there are no points taken off for the artwork in not drawing my lines straight in their tests.  (“Oh, I LOVED doing this in first grade!”) I now know I can spot and connect ABC’s in order faster than 123’s. Is anyone surprised?

Get strapped into a machine and swing your leg in resistance as hard as you can: set the timer, GO!

Take the words blue, green, and red, printed in varying colors, and say the colors the words are printed in, not the words themselves, line after line: set the timer, GO!

Repeat as many of this string of unrelated words as you can think of: set the timer, GO! (Note to self–if you repeat each word after she does as she presents the list, you remember fewer, not more of them: there is much to be said, in this and in all things, for simply quietly listening.)

Note that I had a mental image of a termite with its shorts hanging low, pliers stuck in one pocket, chomping on a tangerine, a nice warm summer watermelon on the picnic table in front of it and its drill at the ready to slice the thing up, trying to remember that list that just blew off in the breeze.

Then I had to explain why I was cracking up.

Actually, we did a lot of cracking up.  Sandi is a delight.

Overall bone mass, good, but 10% loss in that hip since two years ago. Yowsers! Bring on the extra hot cocoa in milk, it’s a bit chilly near the Golden Gate.

But the people are as warm as they come.


14 Comments so far
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You are a ringer, my friend! They didn’t write the curve for those tests with knitters in mind. Heh!

Let’s see: bus, soup, grass, keys, car, door, pan, book, …the list from Psych 101 lecture, 1986.

Comment by Barbara-Kay 11.19.09 @ 1:05 am

Why the memory stuff? You always remember to knit lovely things, isn’t that enough? 🙂

Comment by afton 11.19.09 @ 6:27 am

Have you ever considered doing tai chi? There are classes in your area (I’ll send the link by email). We do offer “special needs class” where you can do tai chi sitting on a chair and still get all the benefits.

I’m happy to read you had a good time and honest crackings up. Laughing is a good way to relax.

Who knows? All this brain activity might have spurted more knitting ideas. 😉

Comment by Suzanne in Mtl 11.19.09 @ 6:38 am

What a beautiful post…full of fun, etc. It really touched my heart to link to your post of the expectant mother and how you sent her the shawl. What a treasure of happy memories!

Comment by Joansie 11.19.09 @ 6:42 am

I’m so glad it was a pleasant day! (But 10% bone loss… wow.)

Comment by Channon 11.19.09 @ 7:27 am

But are you OK now? I worry about you.

Comment by Judy Foldi 11.19.09 @ 7:53 am

Interesting. So, overall, the bone mass is sort of ok and what about the rest of ya?

Comment by sherry in idaho 11.19.09 @ 7:58 am

Looks like not much has changed since I was there. (Other than the name: in my day, we called it Moffitt. Heh.) It was indeed a great location, overlooking Golden Gate Park, near the Haight, hop on the N-Judah trolley for a ride downtown. Our house was on Cole Street, at the dead end against Tank Hill, where those trees spread out. Walking distance to the hospital. Great memories.

Comment by Sid Schwab 11.19.09 @ 9:17 am

(Oh, oops, where did Merritt come from–fixed it, thanks, Sid.)

Comment by AlisonH 11.19.09 @ 10:15 am

Ah, but which of those gorgeous yarns from yesterday are you knitting? Or is it something else altogether? Enquiring minds, etc.

Comment by RobinH 11.19.09 @ 10:58 am

I’d probably flunk all those memory tests. Mental clarity has not been strong with me lately.

Comment by Marlene 11.19.09 @ 3:31 pm

Yay for warm people!

Comment by RobinM 11.19.09 @ 4:06 pm

I’ve managed clinical studies – you are an ideal participant! And so like you to give in this way. It is meaningful.

Comment by twinsetellen 11.24.09 @ 9:13 am

bone mass is helped, oddly, by taking Folic Acid. And take 2000 IU of Vitamin D–you do NOT go in the sun, you NEED it. (Me too.) Not enough and you get osteop. Finally catching up on your blog. Hope you had a good Turkey day. I enjoyed seeing Amy in Maine. 🙂

Comment by Karen L 12.03.09 @ 7:22 pm



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