Fragile as Wrapping Paper (and SDCC 2012 recap)
Well, I realized back in March that I forgot to write anything about adventures or happenings from 2012. Even made a point of saving a placeholder for a post. And then I let three months slip by. Whoops!
2012 was a busy year. I said farewell to a few coworkers (and that added more to my to-do list), hit San Diego Comic Con (aka SDCC) for the third time (missed 2010...I sorely regret that), and the ConGaloosh team and I hosted our fourth gathering since the famed Disney's Adventurer's Club closed.
SDCC in 2012 was so much fun, and I think my meet-up buddy** and I did pretty well in terms of seeing the panels we wanted to see. The heavy hitters for last year were in Hall H on Saturday, and after a wonderful dinner at the Marina restaurant at Marriott next door on Friday night, on a lark we decided to rough it and stay the night in the Hall H camp out line.
**(Dad, because he truly is the best companion for a weekend like this.)
That was easier said than done.
The first few hours (7 to midnight) were fun, as we made idle chitchat with our neighbors, listened to music or watched movies, and someone even passed along extra pizza to whomever might want some. Then as folks were starting to wind down, Sir Ian McKellen showed up, surprising dozens of bleary eyed, bed/grass-headed folk as they got up to greet him. I didn't have anything on me that I could've had him sign, so I stood back and watched the spectacle of it all. Everyone gave Ian and one another space, and plenty of Thank you's and cheers were heard amongst the crowd.
After that spazz-worthy surprise, I decided to drop down next to my Dad and try to get some shuteye. We both had jeans on, shirts and jackets/hoodies and shared a small blanket I bought at the Marriott (took turns using it, really), but despite that we were shaking during attempts at sleep for most of the overnight hours. That surprised me because I've camped out in sub freezing temperatures and yet I was chilled to the bone in 50 something degree weather. We figured it was due to being near the water with dampness in the air and on the ground that made us so cold. I think the two of us slept a few hours each. When the sun rose, I grabbed breakfast from a nearby hotel (Dad got free coffee from a neighbor), and we waited in line until around 10:30am before they let us into the building.
Note: We caught some shuteye during a few of the early panels. I can't believe I zonked out during Silent Hill part 29, but I did.
The highlights of Hall H were Pacific Rim (del Toro's enthusiasm for his work is infectious), the test preview (??) of Godzilla, which had nearly everyone in the Hall screaming with excitement, Iron Man 3 (Robert Downey Jr's entrance, a literal dance from the back to the front of the Hall was priceless), news on what the next Marvel movies would be, and of course, The Hobbit panel.
Sure, we had fun doing other things. Going to panels, talking to others in line, seeing the setup for the NBC series Grimm outside of the convention center (including a replica of the infamous trailer full of Wesen deterrent and killing weapons, potions and whatnot), that rounded out the long weekend rather nicely.
Now for this year's SDCC, I can tell you with certainty this time that I'm set for the overnight Hall H line, I know what panels I want to see, and who I may want to meet, if they're there. But I'll give that another month or so, let the adventure happen and tell my tales here once again.
Onto the topic that helps give sense to the name of this post. Health issues. I occasionally have them. My intracranial hypertension comes and goes, forcing me to go through more eye tests and medicine, though for now it seems to be improving. But this isn't about me. Oh no...this involves two individuals who in my eyes do pretty well in this area. Or they did until recently.
Moni, my eldest cat (and a Munchkin aka short-legged kitty) who turns 17 in July has had a tumor on her tummy for a few years. Hadn't caused any severe problems, and I figured she might not make it if I took her in to have it removed. (She may have been fixed as an adult by her first owners, which upped her chances of tummy tumors and breast cancer.) She ended up with another tumor (literally in the past week or so) that surfaced and ulcerated (in other words, eww). I got her in to see my other cat, Josie's vet and within a few days time she had surgery, had the tumors removed (they were cancerous, but hopefully all was removed), and she's such a tough cookie that she survived! I was worried about her at first due to her age, but now, I feel she's tougher than I thought she was.
And the other individual in this story is...my Dad. Yeah, I couldn't believe this either. He's not uber healthy, but he has generally had it good in this department until recently. He was diagnosed two or so years back with gluten intolerance (my mom's was ruled out, so I know I got my mild version from him). His is pretty violent. He can stand cross contamination of wheat, barley and rye, but can't have it literally in his food. If he does, he ends up doing an imitation of Linda Blair in The Exorcist. This past week while he was in town (thankfully for Moni's surgery and recovery), he had a day of gluten free food, but got sick shortly before we were to head out for dinner. So I waited while he was sick, and when I knew he was going to rest I went out to get myself a meal and get him some light food (7-Up and gluten free soup). I get back, just start to change into pajamas when I hear a knock on the door and my Dad moaning "Jen" in pain. I open the door, and he has his hand clutched to his chest.
Aww shit, I thought to myself. And I took action.
Back into bed he went, and I dialed 911 to get the EMT's to my place. I begged him to take some aspirin, but he noted he couldn't (due to some medicine he was taking that might interact). Double damn. And he was getting pale, though thankfully not clammy nor incoherant. I gave the person on the line my address, Dad's vitals and waited for the paramedics to arrive. They checked him out, ran an ECG (heart monitor test) and cleared him at that moment, though they recommended because he was still in pain in the center of his chest that we get him checked out. So that's what we did, but we went to where they recommended first (a local Care center) and they turned us away (possible heart issues should ALWAYS go to the hospital). So, off to the hospital we went. I think we got there at 8pm, and just shy of midnight they finally got information to us on lab tests they ran on him. His heart was looking good, though his white cell count was still up, and his pain lessened but still going.
He ended up spending the night, having a bunch of heart and stress tests done the next day. It turns out his blood pressure and cholesterol was great. (He could've told the doctor's that.) That morning my Grandmother, Mom and I exchanged phone calls, and we were all on the same wavelength. My Dad likely had his first gallbladder attack. The doctor overseeing my Dad's care wasn't sure that was the case, and pointed where the gallbladder was. Now I wasn't even there and heard this later when I picked him up, but I told my Dad the doc was way off, and that gallbladder pain is often in the center of the chest, just a few inches above the bottom of the rib cage.
Since he's cleared his heart as the culprit, before our next vacation (at SDCC) he has orders to go visit his GI doctor and check out that gallbladder of his and anything else in the area. I'm glad what happened to him wasn't a heart attack, but if it was gallbladder it's going to happen again. He'll need to form a gameplan with his doctor to either eat the right foods to lessen the likelihood of another attack, take medicine for it (like Josie the cat), or have it removed.
Anywho, tying back to the fragility of paper, I did feel in the past week or two that a few very special individuals were just that. I was worried that if I touched them they would rip and tear, but then they showed me how much they wanted to overcome their health issue, I supported them and they succeeded. I'm glad they both did well.
Before the month is up, I hope to chime in on ConGaloosh, a project that has been very near and dear to me and others. That and other goings on so far for the year. But for now, it's back to work.
2012 was a busy year. I said farewell to a few coworkers (and that added more to my to-do list), hit San Diego Comic Con (aka SDCC) for the third time (missed 2010...I sorely regret that), and the ConGaloosh team and I hosted our fourth gathering since the famed Disney's Adventurer's Club closed.
SDCC in 2012 was so much fun, and I think my meet-up buddy** and I did pretty well in terms of seeing the panels we wanted to see. The heavy hitters for last year were in Hall H on Saturday, and after a wonderful dinner at the Marina restaurant at Marriott next door on Friday night, on a lark we decided to rough it and stay the night in the Hall H camp out line.
**(Dad, because he truly is the best companion for a weekend like this.)
That was easier said than done.
The first few hours (7 to midnight) were fun, as we made idle chitchat with our neighbors, listened to music or watched movies, and someone even passed along extra pizza to whomever might want some. Then as folks were starting to wind down, Sir Ian McKellen showed up, surprising dozens of bleary eyed, bed/grass-headed folk as they got up to greet him. I didn't have anything on me that I could've had him sign, so I stood back and watched the spectacle of it all. Everyone gave Ian and one another space, and plenty of Thank you's and cheers were heard amongst the crowd.
After that spazz-worthy surprise, I decided to drop down next to my Dad and try to get some shuteye. We both had jeans on, shirts and jackets/hoodies and shared a small blanket I bought at the Marriott (took turns using it, really), but despite that we were shaking during attempts at sleep for most of the overnight hours. That surprised me because I've camped out in sub freezing temperatures and yet I was chilled to the bone in 50 something degree weather. We figured it was due to being near the water with dampness in the air and on the ground that made us so cold. I think the two of us slept a few hours each. When the sun rose, I grabbed breakfast from a nearby hotel (Dad got free coffee from a neighbor), and we waited in line until around 10:30am before they let us into the building.
Note: We caught some shuteye during a few of the early panels. I can't believe I zonked out during Silent Hill part 29, but I did.
The highlights of Hall H were Pacific Rim (del Toro's enthusiasm for his work is infectious), the test preview (??) of Godzilla, which had nearly everyone in the Hall screaming with excitement, Iron Man 3 (Robert Downey Jr's entrance, a literal dance from the back to the front of the Hall was priceless), news on what the next Marvel movies would be, and of course, The Hobbit panel.
Sure, we had fun doing other things. Going to panels, talking to others in line, seeing the setup for the NBC series Grimm outside of the convention center (including a replica of the infamous trailer full of Wesen deterrent and killing weapons, potions and whatnot), that rounded out the long weekend rather nicely.
Now for this year's SDCC, I can tell you with certainty this time that I'm set for the overnight Hall H line, I know what panels I want to see, and who I may want to meet, if they're there. But I'll give that another month or so, let the adventure happen and tell my tales here once again.
Onto the topic that helps give sense to the name of this post. Health issues. I occasionally have them. My intracranial hypertension comes and goes, forcing me to go through more eye tests and medicine, though for now it seems to be improving. But this isn't about me. Oh no...this involves two individuals who in my eyes do pretty well in this area. Or they did until recently.
Moni, my eldest cat (and a Munchkin aka short-legged kitty) who turns 17 in July has had a tumor on her tummy for a few years. Hadn't caused any severe problems, and I figured she might not make it if I took her in to have it removed. (She may have been fixed as an adult by her first owners, which upped her chances of tummy tumors and breast cancer.) She ended up with another tumor (literally in the past week or so) that surfaced and ulcerated (in other words, eww). I got her in to see my other cat, Josie's vet and within a few days time she had surgery, had the tumors removed (they were cancerous, but hopefully all was removed), and she's such a tough cookie that she survived! I was worried about her at first due to her age, but now, I feel she's tougher than I thought she was.
And the other individual in this story is...my Dad. Yeah, I couldn't believe this either. He's not uber healthy, but he has generally had it good in this department until recently. He was diagnosed two or so years back with gluten intolerance (my mom's was ruled out, so I know I got my mild version from him). His is pretty violent. He can stand cross contamination of wheat, barley and rye, but can't have it literally in his food. If he does, he ends up doing an imitation of Linda Blair in The Exorcist. This past week while he was in town (thankfully for Moni's surgery and recovery), he had a day of gluten free food, but got sick shortly before we were to head out for dinner. So I waited while he was sick, and when I knew he was going to rest I went out to get myself a meal and get him some light food (7-Up and gluten free soup). I get back, just start to change into pajamas when I hear a knock on the door and my Dad moaning "Jen" in pain. I open the door, and he has his hand clutched to his chest.
Aww shit, I thought to myself. And I took action.
Back into bed he went, and I dialed 911 to get the EMT's to my place. I begged him to take some aspirin, but he noted he couldn't (due to some medicine he was taking that might interact). Double damn. And he was getting pale, though thankfully not clammy nor incoherant. I gave the person on the line my address, Dad's vitals and waited for the paramedics to arrive. They checked him out, ran an ECG (heart monitor test) and cleared him at that moment, though they recommended because he was still in pain in the center of his chest that we get him checked out. So that's what we did, but we went to where they recommended first (a local Care center) and they turned us away (possible heart issues should ALWAYS go to the hospital). So, off to the hospital we went. I think we got there at 8pm, and just shy of midnight they finally got information to us on lab tests they ran on him. His heart was looking good, though his white cell count was still up, and his pain lessened but still going.
He ended up spending the night, having a bunch of heart and stress tests done the next day. It turns out his blood pressure and cholesterol was great. (He could've told the doctor's that.) That morning my Grandmother, Mom and I exchanged phone calls, and we were all on the same wavelength. My Dad likely had his first gallbladder attack. The doctor overseeing my Dad's care wasn't sure that was the case, and pointed where the gallbladder was. Now I wasn't even there and heard this later when I picked him up, but I told my Dad the doc was way off, and that gallbladder pain is often in the center of the chest, just a few inches above the bottom of the rib cage.
Since he's cleared his heart as the culprit, before our next vacation (at SDCC) he has orders to go visit his GI doctor and check out that gallbladder of his and anything else in the area. I'm glad what happened to him wasn't a heart attack, but if it was gallbladder it's going to happen again. He'll need to form a gameplan with his doctor to either eat the right foods to lessen the likelihood of another attack, take medicine for it (like Josie the cat), or have it removed.
Anywho, tying back to the fragility of paper, I did feel in the past week or two that a few very special individuals were just that. I was worried that if I touched them they would rip and tear, but then they showed me how much they wanted to overcome their health issue, I supported them and they succeeded. I'm glad they both did well.
Before the month is up, I hope to chime in on ConGaloosh, a project that has been very near and dear to me and others. That and other goings on so far for the year. But for now, it's back to work.
Labels: breast cancer, cats, gallbladder, Grimm, heart attack, Ian McKellan, SDCC, SDCC 2012, The Hobbit
posted by Jennifer Lynn at Sunday, March 10, 2013
