Day 5 of 10 - October 2, 2010

We were out onto the street early, hailed a cab and arrived at Beth Israel ahead of schedule. Nothing could be started until a doctor arrived at 10. When D2 came in to speak with us she said that she had checked with the pharmacist about the withdrawal issue and he told her that Pete may still experience some again tonight but that the last night and the night before would most likely have been the worst. I sure do hope he's right.

Pete was much more alert today and his color was back to normal. When I asked if he felt like having tea and maybe even some graham crackers (there are "snack centers" located throughout the building), he amazingly not only said "yes", but also that he might like soup for lunch.

The doctor was leaving just as I returned with herbal tea for each of us, a package of graham crackers, a Nuti-grain bar and a single serve container of Cheerios. He had already eaten the banana that I had picked up for him when I went out to get my breakfast and coffee before we left the Lodge. D2 was already in the room hooking up his iv. He opened the Cheerios and started snacking on them almost immediately. Since he was awake and had started watching a movie, I decided it was a good time to go for a walk and check out the area.

When I returned, Pete was ready for lunch, so it was off to Hale and Hearty for soup and bread: White Bean and Spinach with a thick slice of sour dough bread for Pete; Tomato and Eggplant with a thick slice of whole grain bread for me. We both finished our bread and about half the container of soup, putting the remainder into the refrigerator in the "snack room" for later.

By the time the iv drip was finished Pete was feeling well enough to start walking back to the Lodge. Beth Israel is on 15th Street, mid-way between 8th and 9th Avenues so we walked toward 6th Avenue which heads uptown toward Hope Lodge on 32nd Street between 6th and 7th Avenues. We turned onto 6th, but only went about a block when Pete turned quite pale and said that we needed to take a cab, so that's what we did. We had only gotten to 21st Street when traffic literally slowed to a crawl. Three more blocks and 6th Ave was closed to traffic. By then it was getting really warm and stuffy in the cab so Pete and I decided to exit. The time we spent sitting in the taxi was enough to allow Pete to recover, so we walked the rest of the way to the Lodge at an easy pace.

We have no idea what was happening along 6th Avenue, but as we turned onto 15th Avenue we could hear a band playing farther up 6th. Pete was really wiped out by the walk, so we just headed up to the room. I knew I had plenty of sheets to wash and dry before we settled in for the night, just in case we need them again.