Pride Infusion

 My infusion wound up on the same day as ACT UP’s Grand Central action demanding money for AIDS and healthcare instead of ICE and warfare.  Even though I can’t get arrested  until we’re sure the bones in my neck have fused, I would have shown up to do support, but despite a lot of effort, Misty could not get another infusion slot before Pride.  I had to do it before Pride because being around a lot of people with waning, end of the month antibody levels is inviting trouble.

 

I showed up at the infusion center and Kayla got the IV in easily enough, but couldn’t draw blood from labs from it, so she used my hand for that.  She asked me about my cats and told me that she is planning to bring her senior cat to New York – he’s been staying with her mother in California.  “He was just in the hospital,” she said.  “He had a urinary blockage.”  “from crystals?” I asked and she nodded.  “The holistic pet store in the East Village makes an herbal blend called Crystals Away that has helped cats of mine,” I told her.  “How do you give it to them?” “I put it in capsules,” I said.  “He won’t take pills,” she said, a common cat problem.  “He’s a fussy old man and he won’t eat the urinary food either.  When he gets here, we’re going to try a very gradual transition.”   “I had a cat who had surgery to open up the urethra because he kept getting blocked,” I told her.  “If it keeps happening we might consider that,” she said.

She went off to see other patients, and I sat waiting for the medication to be sent up from the pharmacy. I needed to get this over with so I could get to the office, but half an hour went by, and then another 15 minutes.  Kayla was puzzled.  “I put in the order as soon as you got here,” she said.  Finally the small glass bottle full of clear bubbly viscous liquid showed up, a full hour late.

 

At first I was able to be productive, answering various emails.  “You type really fast for just one hand,” said Kayla, doing one of the multiple vital sign checks that happen during the infusion.  I was holding my left arm still so that the infusion didn’t glitch, but I can’t type with my left hand anyway.  I used to type with the right and write with the left, but these days I often write with the right too to avoid the painful arthritis in my left thumb.

 

It takes a lot of energy for the body to absorb this sudden flood of new antibodies, and I fell asleep suddenly.  When I woke up, the infusion was done and I stumbled out into the bright afternoon in a daze and headed to work.

Knowing everyone was going to be busy during Pride weekend, I had cancelled the staff meeting but the staff decided they wanted to get together anyway to celebrate Kevin’s birthday.  We celebrate all staff birthdays to some extent, but the staff know Kevin is on his own after his Dad’s death this year, so they wanted to do something extra.  Rachel brought in donuts from her wife’s bakery and Misty sent Robin to go pick up better pizza than what we can get on the corner.  Then Misty kept Kevin distracted in our office while they set up everything in Rachel’s office.  Kevin is shy, so his expression was a combination of sheepish and pleased when they burst out singing.

 

I yawned my way through the rest of the afternoon, at one point realizing I had said a sentence to a client that made no sense at all because I was falling asleep at my desk.  It reminded me of my very first therapy patient, in the basement training clinic where some idiot had installed motion sensor lights, not considering that not much motion is involved in therapy.  She was also a student at Yeshiva, in the rabbinical school, and as I did her intake I was really struggling to stay awake.

 

The Friday of Pride weekend is always the drag march, but it’s an evening march and there was no way I could stay awake, so I headed home and crashed into a pile of heavily shedding cats.