Viva Las Vegas!

Today is Thursday, January 31, 2019.  As I sit in the infusion chair at the hospital, receiving my life-extending medications and reading the results of my most recent echocardiogram and CT scan (both stable), I reflect on the few days I just spent in Las Vegas.

To set the mood, watch this: Viva Las Vegas/Elvis, then come back here.

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

You watched it?   Fun, right?   Nothing like a little Elvis to get you in the mood!

Now,  here's my adventure:

I was invited to attend the national field meeting of the biotechnology company that manufactures the medication that I take.  Of course I jumped at the chance.  To spend time with the people who make the meds that are keeping me alive.  Well, it's just surreal, amazing ... well, you get the idea.


The plane ride out wasn't so great.  I made the mistake of having a crab omelette for breakfast, along with a mimosa, after not eating anything since breakfast the day before.  Big mistake.  Although it was very tasty, it apparently wasn't the right thing to eat just before a flight.   Almost immediately after taking off,  I started to feel queasy and lightheaded.  So, I got one of  my trusty Zofran, Jimmy ordered me a Coke and some pretzels from the flight attendant.   It took some time,  but the combination of all of that, as well as the cool air coming down and Jimmy fanning me with the menu from the seat back.  Such love from that man.   He was exhausted, but still made sure I was comfortable.

I have to tell you, these smurf-blue colored seats weren’t nearly as comfortable as the flight attendant said that would be.  Maybe that’s why he laughed when he said it.   😂  I have to tell you, though, that as much as my butt cheeks and lower back hurt, and I queasy as I felt for most of the flight, the view out of the plane window made it all worthwhile.  Being above the clouds!  I know that for those of you who fly often, this is no big deal.  But for me, who can count on one hand how many times I've flown, it's surreal.  The view is ever-changing, and always amazing!

After our plane landed, we made our way to the hotel and crashed for a few hours, until it was time to meet with a few other people for dinner.  We opted for the buffet in the hotel.  Man, was it good.  Prime rib with mashed potatoes, fried shrimp, one of those gather-your-ingredients stir-fry deals.  And that’s just what I had.  There were so many options, and everything was really good. After dinner, we lost $20 at the Wonder Woman slot machine, then went upstairs to sleep.  By then, it was 12:30am by my body clock, and I was beyond completely exhausted. 

The next day, we were due for rehearsal at noon.  As we walked in to what I thought would be a meeting room in a convention center or the hotel ended up being the MGM Grand Garden Arena. 
No, it wasn't the whole arena, but a little under half where the stage was set up and floor seats were set up.  Wow.  We noticed that the seats on the floor were arranged and spaced, and thought that that would be a lot of people.  So, we sat through one rehearsal, and took part in the next.  Then we went to the green room for the remainder of the rehearsal, until it was our time to take part in the event.  We ate lunch, we talked, and time flew.  It was all of a sudden time for the event.  Singers took the stage for forty-five minutes as people filed in.  Then Odd Rod took the stage, and told our stories.  He is a spoken word artist, who watched our video clips, listened to our phone interviews, and wrote about us. (A few weeks before the meeting, two super nice people came to my workplace, my home, and the hospital on infusion day to film. 

They captured me going about my daily life with my family, friends, and coworkers.  To see the finished product at the meeting was phenomenal.  They did such a great job.)  He spoke as the video clips played behind him.  There were three of us (patients).  When he was done, we all three walked out on stage.  My Wow before was an understatement.  Those floor seats were filled up, and all of the seats behind them!  WOW!  I was amazed at the amount of people there.  I'm told that there were just under 4,000.  I'm glad they didn't tell me that beforehand!  I definitely would have had stage fright.  😉

It was such an amazing experience!  We each answered a question posed to us by the CEO, and then we were done.  Man, that feeling, walking off stage to the applause.


That evening, Jimmy and I met some friends for dinner.  They had moved to Vegas a few years ago, and I was so looking forward to seeing them.  We had such a good time at dinner, catching up with each other.

After dinner, Jimmy and I went to Freemont Street.  We were going to zipline.  We even got in line and almost bought tickets.  We decided to watch it a few times first.  When we realized that we would have to actually walk off the ledge, we chickened out.  I think I could do it if someone pushed me, or if the feet dropped out, or something, anything other than me having to walk off into nothingness.  I don't think I would have been able to do it.  So, we spent time time people watching there, then back to the hotel for much needed sleep.

The next morning, we Ubered over to the local yarn store, where I bought a skein of yarn that will be turned in to a cowl to commemorate the trip.  We Ubered back and had lunch at the food court between our hotel and the casino.  That's when, apparently, the group of people I had spoken to the day before were breaking from their meeting.  We were stopped by so many people, thanking us for
being there.  Telling me that what I said made so much sense, that it really touched them.  I can't tell you how that made me feel.  The smiles.  The hugs.  The well-wishes.  Meeting people who are responsible for the medication that is keeping me alive.  They tell me that for them, it's amazing to meet patients who are thriving on their medication.  I tell them how surreal it is for me to meet them, and to be able to thank them.  All around, it was an amazing experience, one that I'll not soon forget, even with chemo brain.

The flight home was better than the flight out.  I made sure I took some Zofran before boarding to ward off any queasiness that might happen.  I didn't sleep as planned, but did blog about the flight, practicing mindfulness.  Read that one here, if you're interested:  Mindfulness/Living in the Moment.

I'm sure I've forgotten pieces (chemo brain); please forgive those omissions.  I know there's more that I want to say about the experience, but in my mind I'm just repeating what I've already said.  I can't say enough about what an amazing experience it was.

*This is not a video of the event itself, but this is Rod telling my story:  Her Masterpiece.  If you look on his YouTube page, you'll also see his story, and that of Rick, the other patient with us.

Comments

  1. Tammy, it was great to meet you at NFM. You are a true inspiration! I have shared your story with many of my colleagues . . . my photo of "Wonder Woman" really helps drive it home.

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    Replies
    1. Oh, that is so sweet! You guys made us feel so welcome and special. Thank you so much! Glad we ran into each other!

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