We began the day with a very, very kind hotel manager helping us to cancel our reservations at his hotel so we might be able to be closer to the hospital.  He could not have been more compassionate, and we are so grateful for his consideration of our predicament.  We packed up all our stuff and moved to another hotel in Gardena, quite a bit closer to Harbor UCLA Medical Center in Torrance.  I guess one really needs to know the distinctive neighborhoods of L.A. to make plans, not to mention the multiple crazy freeways and how to avoid them!

By the time we reached the hospital Jacob was tired and had a head ache, so I stayed with him for about an hour and then, after he fell asleep, I joined his brother and dad at a nearby Starbucks for some cool drinks and lunch.

By early afternoon, Jacob’s girl-friend from Seattle had arrived and was with Jacob, so we went back to the hotel and rested.  I think we are suffering from a little “car-lag.”  That’s when we heard the news that yesterday the I-10 bridge in Desert Center – which we had just driven over three hours earlier – was washed out from flood waters.  The list of things to be grateful for grows steadily.

About 6:00 p.m. we got a call from Jacob informing us that he had been moved into a new room.  This was good news because it was a move from the “trauma” area to a more “normal” area where he did not have to be hooked up to blood pressure and heart monitors around the clock.  But, in the process of the move, he wanted to inform us, they had lost his dinner.  Could we get him something . . . like a pizza?  I can only imagine what life would be like for over a week with only hospital food and no “Vitamin P”  So, “Parental Pizza Pick-up and Packing” to the rescue.  Everyone in the elevator wanted to know where we were going so they could come and share a piece of that delicious smelling pizza!  Yes, it did smell much better than the usual smells around the hospital!

As the sun was setting, we met up with Jared and his friend (who had come with Jacob’s girl-friend) and found a traditional California “Frosty Freeze” for a hamburger and a malt.  We sat in the dark at the picnic tables outside the little burger stand and talked and laughed and relaxed for the first time all week.