Exploring Minneapolis

Dear Readers,

Since we had a week off before starting chemo, my mom and I decided to try exploring the city a little bit. After transplant, I won't be able to get out a lot so this was our chance to see what Minneapolis has to offer. We definitely found more than I expected.

Friday: On Friday we decided to head over to the midtown area. Janet, my social worker, told us about a place called the Midtown Global Market. It's basically like a flea market in a huge building. There are tons of booths with different kinds of food from all over the world. I decided to try some seafood. I got a crab cake burger with lettuce, onion, tomato and chipotle aioli. It was delicious and spicy. It also came with some sort of beet salad, which I did not care for. Here are some pictures:

My mom decided to try some authentic Mexican food. She got chips with a few different sauces and guacamole and two other dishes that I couldn't tell you the names of. They both were made with chicken. The guacamole was ridiculously fresh and semi-chunky.

There were also tons of booths with different things you could buy from all over the world.

There were Mexican bakeries, international candy shops, clothes from African countries, Eco-friendly products and more. I bought a bracelet made by women in Ghana. It's made of clay beads and the money from my purchase will go back to the women who made it. I also bought a hand-braided bracelet with a bamboo cross on it. Lastly, I bought a t-shirt made out of bamboo. It looks just like a regular t-shirt but it's completely Eco-friendly and it's also supposed to be really good for your health. Here are some pictures of the booths:

I also saw my first White Castle ever!

Afterwards we drove around the midtown/uptown area. Both areas were pretty trendy and hippie-ish. We could definitely tell that we weren't far from a college campus.

Saturday: On Saturday we went to Trader Joe's and picked up tons of snacks. My mom's

favorite are these crackers that taste like everything bagels. My favorite is the herb goat cheese. The Trader Joe's here is so big that they even have their own parking garage for all of the customers. When we arrived, we were greeted by a parking attendant who had to direct us where to go because they were so full. There's a picture on the right.

For dinner, we went and had sushi. Sushi is a food that I won't be able to eat for awhile after transplant because of the raw fish. My mom got a Philly roll- made with smoked salmon, cream cheese and chives. I got the spicy tuna roll- my favorite. We also got two pieces of crab and two pieces of scallop.

Later that night we went to see the movie 'Date Night'. It was hilarious! Definitely worth seeing. We also got lost on the way to the movie and ended up in an area that is very similar to the Power & Light District.

Sunday/Monday: We mostly spent Sunday and Monday just relaxing and hanging out around the Ronald McDonald House. We ordered Punch Pizza on Monday. I got the same pizza as before. It was delicious, of course. I think this might be my favorite pizza ever.

Tuesday: I spent Tuesday trying to finish up my graduation announcements and relaxing. We went to the Dinkytown area for dinner and ate at a great place called Kafe 421. Dinkytown is another college area with cool coffee shops and restaurants.

Wednesday: Wednesday morning I got up and walked over to the BMT clinic to get my labs done to check my blood counts to see if I'll need a blood transfusion before my surgery on Friday. Turns out I did need it. After that, I went back to bed for awhile. Later, my mom and I went to check out the 'best hot dog in Minneapolis. It was at this hole-in-the-wall type place called Weinery. Clever. It was a very...interesting...place. It was super tiny and was run by one guy who kept running back and forth between tables and the kitchen. It had an old diner type feel and they only took cash. I got a Chicago style hot dog, cheese fries and cole slaw. The Chicago style hot dog was pretty close to being the real deal and the fries were made from fresh cut potatoes. Not bad. The only down side was that the place looked pretty grungy so I doubt I'll be going back after transplant because of the germ issue. Later that day I wrote my will and filled out my health care directive. Not exactly fun but it needed to be done. Doing things like that makes it hard not to think about what's about to happen.

Thursday: Today I went up to the BMT clinic again to get a red blood cell transfusion. I got two bags so it took most of the morning. I slept through the entire thing because they gave me a dose of IV benedryl beforehand. IV benedryl is one thing I will miss after I'm healthy. It puts you to sleep in literally minutes. After that, I came back to our room at the Ronald McDonald House and took a nap. Then we went out to the Mall of America to have dinner at this Italian place I really like. Now I'm just counting down the hours until my surgery tomorrow. I have to get up insanely early tomorrow morning because I'm the first surgery of the day. I'm starting to get a little nervous because I'm actually starting to think it's going to happen this time. The offices are closed for the night so I don't think I'll be getting a call saying 'transplant is off again'. This should be reassuring. It's not. I'm mostly starting to get nervous about my surgery tomorrow morning because they have to deal with my jugular vein, yes- that's the vein that can make you bleed to death if hit. In case any of you have no idea what I'm talking about, you can read about my surgery here. Thankfully I'll be able to get my hickman removed when all of this is over. A hickman is really important because it's used for giving me chemo drugs and transfusions and my actual transplant. This surgery is riskier for me because my blood counts are so low and that makes me more prone to uncontrollable bleeding. I'm sure that everything will be fine but I can't help but be nervous. Starting tomorrow I'm going to attempt to blog daily so that everyone can hear the details about my surgery/chemo/transplant. We'll see how that goes.

**Reason of the Day: Tuesday, I talked to my little brother, Ethan, on the phone. He was telling me about his day at preschool and said that he punched a boy named Trevor in the 'dinger' because he wouldn't play with him. I asked Ethan how he would feel if somebody punched him in the 'dinger' . He said he would be "very sad". If only all conflicts could be resolved by a few punches in the 'dinger', this world would be a much different place. Preschool drama is always a reason to smile (RTS).