According to my blood test, I can be a donor for this type of transplant. Yeahhhhhhhhhhhh! Don’t ask what exactly they look for as long as they work their magic. Dad’s results will be known on Monday. He may be a better match in which case he’ll be the primary donor. Both my Mom and uncle are on stand by just in case. It’s important to have one donor and a back up. Tomorrow they’ll draw more of my blood and next week I’ll do a series of medical checks to make sure I’m up to the job. Perhaps now’s not a good time to tell them I’m terrified of needles…I’m such a coward! Mar’s endured her share of punctures to last for a lifetime…And here I am cowering away at the thought of one little bite. Mar’s been reassuring me all day about how I won’t feel a thing. She’ll hold my hand and I’ll keep my eyes shut tight. Professor Martelli would approve.
We’re more and more pleasantly surprised by the Italian medical system. There’s an apartment complex at walking distance from the hospital. Not more then 5 minutes away. Patients and family can stay there for free. It was built by Franco Chianelli in memory of his son Daniele who passed away from Leukemia a few years ago. We’re even introduced to him while being given the tour. He seems like a quiet man with kind eyes. Unfortunately at the moment there isn’t any availability. Not a problem. There’s an older annex called La Foresteria a little further down where we can stay for close to nothing. Francesca and Guiliola, two volunteers accompany us there. We walk through a short pebbled avenue bordered by pine trees & cypresses. It’s striking how green and quiet it is around here. The annex is behind a residence once belonging to a “Contessa” from the aristocratic Sforza Family. It’s since been sold to the hospital and converted to administrative offices. The Villa is named Capitini and it really looks like one of those typical old faded peach colored Tuscan holiday houses one dreams of vacationing at. There’s even a panoramic view over Perugia and its hills.
Is this for real? Could this be some elaborate scheme designed by the Universe to give us a holiday? I wish…
After the hospital, we treat our Italian contacts, Eros and his wife to lunch in Perugia’s city center. They choose the restaurant ( L’Altro Mondo- the Other World) and drive us to it. They are a nice couple….Though later this evening, Dad mentions a conversation he had with the wife. All in Italian:
- “Rocco, you should do some sight seeing while your daughter is in the hospital. There are beautiful places to visit.
- Forgive me but I’m not really in the mood to be a tourist in a city where my daughter is undergoing chemo and radio therapy in the local hospital.
- What? How do you mean? On the contrary, you should admire this place and be grateful to Perugia and Perugians, if it weren’t for them, for Eros and I, and for our friend who knows the Professor, you would no longer have your daughter!”
Dad probably thought it wise to bite his tong knowing after all that there is always more then one road leading to Perugia. While grateful to “our benefactors”, I wonder what the going rate for gratitude is these days.
We move to La Foresteria tomorrow morning.
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