Sleeping with the Desperate

You can sense the deep despair as soon as you walk into the building. The front desk staff dispensed with the phoniness of business pleasantries long ago and seem irritated by my presence. The sickening smell of sweet curry, forbidden cigarette smoke and harsh chemicals permeate the hallways. Through the thin walls, you can hear the loud, stressful arguments taking place in foreign languages and even muffled sobs coming from some rooms. My room reeks of strong cleaning chemicals that make my eyes water and my nose run. I shudder to think what actual smells the toxic solutions are hiding. The guests walk around in a stupor, their eyes lost in past memories or trying to focus on the future. Where am I? In hotel with the damned and sick outside of Lourdes, France? Or with desperate pilgrims on their way to Mecca? Close, instead I am staying at the Extended Stay Hotel next to the Medical Center in Houston, Texas. People from all around the world visit the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, spending all of their resources, praying for a positive diagnosis or hoping to accept the inevitable. It’s a depressing place.

Nothing seems to go right on this trip…horrible hot and I have forgotten my toiletries bag. Not one or two items but ALL of my bathroom items, including my medications. The lap top computer I brought with me to work on my presentation for the next day does not have a PowerPoint application.

Only 6 ½ years until retirement.

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Despite everything working against us, we manage to put on a really good educational Hepatitis Summit. We had several physicians attend the event and they stayed throughout the whole day, and they gave us some positive feedback. We had a state representative who also attended. I switched hotels, picked up my toiletries bag at the bus station (my partner sent them overnight and it only cost $12.00, who knew Greyhound was still relative?) and suddenly this trip has gotten better.