Jeff's Journal

The Subpoena

I was subpoenaed yesterday. It was not for a jury, but to be a witness. I was in a multi car wreck last April. I was at the intersection of El Dorado and Highway 3 waiting in the turn lane to turn south on Highway 3 when a convertible (top down) sports car came flying over the median on El Dorado and impaled itself in the side of my van.

Fortunately, the speeding schlemiel driving the sports car was wearing his seatbelt. If he had not been wearing his seatbelt, he would have been propelled like a javelin through the back windows of my van. And fortunately, he hit right behind the driver side door. If his trajectory had been one more degree west, I don’t think I’d be concerned about kidney problems anymore. I don’t think I’d have a care in the world, or at least this world.

The impact of his hit sent me to several physical therapy appointments and pushed my van into the next lane causing me to hit another car. All told, this was a four car collision and sporty got the ticket. (The funny part about the ticketing experience was the officer dispatched to the scene. The officer was a woman, nothing against women. She took everyone’s license and was trying to get stories and a crowd was beginning to gather. She was rather nervous, short tempered was having trouble getting the story and kept calling for back up. When some backup showed up, she announced she had to leave to go to the BATHROOM. So, she hopped in her squad car, sped out of the parking lot WITH our licenses leaving this other officer to figure out what to do with a parking lot with four wrecked cars, the usual horde of wrecker vultures, and a growing crowd. Only I have these types of experiences.)

The collision totaled our van. We were very sad to know our van had been totaled. In the previous week we made a decision to do extensive repairs and to keep the van rather than start another car payment. Besides, it was a great van – even if it was over a decade old. It had years of NASA All-Star stickers, it could haul all the baseball and other sports equipment which is a necessary part of our suburban life, it had a fairly new CLIS “honor student” sticker, it was the van in which we brought the dog home when we first got her, it was a great van for our vagabond traveling since we don’t really know how to pack “light.” When the van was taken from us, we did not know for sure if it would be totaled or not, so we never really got to say goodbye.

We had a rental from speedy’s insurance company for the deliberation period and as that took a while, it was looking like Donor #1 was going to make. The transplant team told me once I have a transplant I cannot drive for three months. (I think they are cautious.) That was when my dad stepped in and offered me his truck. The offer was for a couple weeks back in May since the surgery was going to be in early June. Recovery was going to be the summer and then by the fall I could drive again and we would have had time to make a decision on what to do.

As the testing of donors has strung out, the couple of weeks have become a couple of months. Other than the gas costs, I really like his truck. It has personality from the years of driving to IAH and the accidents – emphasis on the dents. The boys like it because it has the smell of Old Spice and it reminds them of their Papa.

Back to the subpoena. I have been ordered to appear on September 6 at the courthouse on Lubbock downtown. I don’t know why I have been summoned. I would really like to appear and get this whole wreck thing behind me. But I called the courthouse today to let them know I will not be able to make it on September 6.

I found out I have another “subpoena” of sorts for my attention. If all goes as planned, September 6 will be my last day to do dialysis. Word is back on Donor #9. He has passed all the tests and we have set a transplant date for September 7. That is a writ I’d rather honor. I am cautiously optimistic as I have been here before and there are two other tests to pass, but it is close. Hopefully by Christmas, a gently used kidney will be fully functional and I can get back in the drivers’ seat.

posted by Jeff Waldo @ 11:13 AM