October 30. 2014. Harper, Texas. Fredericksburg Memorial Hospital.

The volunteers greet you with a big smile. After you register, which is done immediately, the volunteers walk with you to your first appointment, chatting all the way. When they leave you, they take your arm and give you a squeeze and wish you well. Of course, they have already given your paperwork to the working folks. This introduction is a forecast of what will come. Every person was competent. Every person was careful. And everyone seemed to care very much with my welfare. It was really quite astonishing. Today I arrived at 9:45 and left at noon. During that time I had blood drawn. Then they withdrew 1500 cc's of fluid from my chest, followed by an ekg. The whole procedure surprised me in that I was sitting on the side of a stretcher the whole time, the radiologist telling me what was happening every step of the way. I assumed I would feel better when the fluid had been removed but that was not the case. Evidently my left lung has been deflated so long that it must inflate at it's own time. Now with any luck I will never have that procedure done again, but as I have no idea how I developed this pleural effusion, I will not be able to prevent it happening again. This does not please me. But if you need a procedure, the Fredericksburg Memorial Hospital would be the right place to have it done.