As the stomach turns

[smileswhf]

A few weeks ago, my brother Jeff, who lives in Colorado, went to the hospital because his leg hurt. It turns out he has a 24"(read 2 feet) long blood clot in his leg. When the nurse went to draw blood, his blood was so thick that they could barely get five vials out of him. The doctor gave him some anit-coagulants and told him to switch from beer to whiskey then sent him home to wait until the drugs kicked in. (Most people have made some snide remarks about the doctor telling him to switch to whiskey. Personally, I respect him for it. It's not like Jeff is going to quit drinking. Clearly the doctor understood that.) The situation has been so serious that I guess Jeff even talked to our mother on the phone. But it is not serious enough to speak to our other brother, Roger, who is newly out of prison and as much an a**hole as ever. Meanwhile, our Aunt Paula (who lives in Oregon with husband Geoff and baby Willow) has decided that she is the family expert on all things related to Jeff, his problems and his medical treatment. Paula is taking it all pretty hard as evidenced by the number of times she gets drunk and calls Jeff and me at inappropriate hours of the night. When last I spoke to Paula she told me that Jeff has hepatitis C. When I asked he when Jeff was going to have his liver biopsy, which is used to determine how much liver damage has resulted from the hepatitis, she got all bent out of shape, insisted that they don't use biopsies anymore then hung up on me.

Here we return to our regularly scheduled episode....

So I finally got Jeff on the phone on Friday night. Earlier in the week I had tried calling but the phone was temporarily disconnected. This is pretty much par for the course with Jeff. He has spent most of his life a half step above homelessness. The fact that he has a phone and medical insurance these days is pretty impressive. I guess we all slow down as we get older. Anyway, Jeff says that the doctor said he had been exposed to hepatitis C but they didn't know if he had it. Then the doctor referred him to a blood specialist for that and for some bone marrow tests. Dare I say that I don't think the doctor has been completely forthcoming with Jeff? Still, sending him to a specialist is a good thing.

I've been thinking lately about what I would like to do differently. I mean, Jeff's condition is pretty serious and it's not like life gives us an guarantees anyway. Jeff and I were never close as children. Mostly I remember that he used to steal my candybars and that his room was always decorated like an opium den. I try to call and talk to him. He even tries to talk to me back. But we don't have anything to say to each other. We just have nothing in common. I have a doctorate and Jeff barely graduated high school. I've spent my life with my nose in a book and Jeff gets along with all the guys at the local bar. I have a retirement account and Jeff is happy if he has enough money to keep him in beer until his next pay check. The last time he came to visit I had to order him not to hang out smoking pot with the local homeless guy. I'm thinking postcards are the way to go. A couple of sentences once a week or so. It's not enough but what are the options?

On Tuesday Carly and I went on a full moon hike with TreePeople. It was so amazing. TreePeople is at Coldwater and Mulholland. From all around you get these amazing views of the lights spread across the basin. The Santa Anas had been blowing all day so the air had that sparkly quality that makes everything seeem to twinkle. Carly and I took the high road, of course. The pace was a little faster than I would normally go, but otherwise not very difficult. Afterwards there was a band playing in the amphitheatre. When you sit in the amphitheatre all you see surrounding it are the hills. If you aren't used to that sudden contrast of wildernes to city, it can be quite astonishing. But the best part about the night was being with a group of people who understand that how we treat our environment is directly linked to how we treat our soul. It was all the things that make Los Angeles the amazing place that it is. I felt connected again. I felt like my city loved me again. I felt like I was home. It's been a while.