written on November 2, 2014
I ended up going trick-or-treating last Friday night. One week later, and so far so good, no signs of illness or infection. I had a lot of fun – so wonderful to be able to see my wife and kids in person. Our daughter could not get enough of me – she kept wanting me to hold her (I did not lift her up – I could only hold her if someone handed her to me). Our son didn’t like me wearing my mask, but he loved my outfit. My brother-in-law (a doctor in San Francisco) sent me a surgeon’s outfit, complete with gown, boots, and surgeon’s gloves (the kind that go down your wrists). It was a great costume for Halloween – I had a lot of people on the street say “Look, it’s an ebola doctor!” I didn’t want to say an ebola doctor would be wearing the face shield also – I took their comments as compliments. Most people didn’t realize it was more to keep me safe and protected rather than just being a good costume.
Prior to leaving, there were several people telling me I should not go. With Friday traffic, it took about an hour to get back home. I ended up having my brother drive me – a fact he was none too happy about. He lives down in Irvine and had spent two hours driving up to the apartment, because he was planning on seeing a movie with my parents. Then before he arrived, I called and asked if he could drive me to the Valley so I could go trick-or-treating. My parents were very adamant that I not take a taxi or use Uber – they were afraid there would be too many germs, even though I assured them I would be wearing a mask and gloves.
My brother said yes, he would take me – and then he complained the entire hour-long trip. Turns out he enjoyed going though – he loves seeing his niece and nephew and he really liked the fact that we go trick-or-treating with a group of friends and neighbors, so in addition to the kids collecting candy, all the adults get to socialize.
We had pizza and beer before we left (no beer for me – I’m not drinking anything but water yet) and then spent about an hour walking around the block. Our son dressed as the Flash, and that kid was speedy. He was literally running from house to house, well ahead of everyone in our group, because he couldn’t wait to get more candy. Our daughter spent the first half hour in her stroller, just watching all the kids doing their thing. Eventually she wanted out so she could walk up to each door herself and put candy in her bucket. They are both so cute (I know, I’m biased) and I loved seeing their excitement at being out and about on Halloween night. I am so glad I went.
Both my wife and I were pretty tired by the time the first hour ended. So we ended up heading back home with my brother, and some friends took the kids around for another half hour or so. They ended up coming back because our son had to go pee really bad (one benefit to him being potty trained – he definitely knows when he has to go and he wants to use the toilet when he does). His little black pumpkin was almost full with candy – he had quite the evening. Our daughter’s bucket was only half full, but that’s okay. We won’t let her eat most of the candy she got anyway – she spent a few minutes Friday night putting it in her little kitchen playset. That was far more fun for her than eating it would have been.
I ended up leaving to come back to the apartment a little after 8. Still took about an hour to get back here – it doesn’t help that our apartment is only a few miles from the WeHo Halloween parade. It started to rain on the drive back and it ended up raining most of the night. It’s been a long time since we had rain here in southern California. It was the perfect way to end a wonderful Halloween. I spent most of Saturday just resting, making sure I didn’t overdo it on Friday night. Turns out all the walking is helping though – I've been doing 40-minute walks all week, which is the furthest distance I’ve gone since the surgery.
I still can’t quite believe it’s November already. I’m into my third week of recovery, and continuing to feel a little better every day. To make for an even better weekend, I talked to the editor of the last show I worked on in May, when my kidneys failed. That show (Young & Hungry) is coming back for a second season starting the week of December 11. And he, and several others, want me back on it. So essentially he offered me a job, starting in either December (if I’m feeling up to it) or January. It’s nice to know I already have a job lined up whenever I’m ready to go back to work - one less thing to worry about.
It’s been a long year, filled with a lot of hurdles and stresses, but it’s definitely shaping up to end so much better than it started. The holidays are right around the corner (can you believe it?!?) and I’m really looking forward to being home again - healthy, rested and with a working kidney. This year, Thanksgiving and Christmas will definitely be better than they’ve ever been.