05.23.09 - 6:28 pm

i did it. i just finished.

well, almost.

i ate the last meal OHSU will prepare for me. praise allah. my dinner was spaghetti with sauce and parmesan cheese. three oatmeal cookies. a glass of lactaid milk. half of a wheat dinner roll. canned peaches.

now, two and a half more hours left for me here. thats five more blood draws. then, if my appetite has returned, im either going to the 24 hour hotcake house for some steak and hashbrowns. then im getting a gallon of orange juice. and a six pack of beer.

its been a wonderful experience, this whole research study business. i enjoyed the people i met and worked with. sometimes i enjoyed the food. i enjoyed the numerous conversations it started at parties or family get togethers while i ate out of peculiar brown paper sacks. i enjoyed the money i saved and the money i received. with my hours being severely cut this month, the extra $200 earned from this will be a nice life line. i did not enjoy the chili on either of the high fat diets. i did not enjoy the excessive amount of spaghetti sauce compared to the small amount of spaghetti. i did not enjoy my first hopsital stay, when i could feel the tug on my upper forearm as they tried to drain blood from my wrist. the cold flush of saline inside my arm is quite the unique experience as well. i did not enjoy the mothers day barbeque, the burrito julie ate the other day or the egg mcmuffin and orange juice i got for ashton earlier this week

but that will no longer be a problem.

and then im going to church tomorrow to surprise my grandfather on his 85th birthday. i hope it works.

following this im taking ashton to the beach to meet julie, her sister and brother in law and their nephew. for a brief evening and hopefully long day on the coast.

where it will be beautiful.