benEzra Does Beantown

[benEzra]

My son just had heart surgery here at Boston Children's yesterday, so we're parked here in the hospital for a while as he recovers. (We'd appreciate your prayers, BTW.)

Any of you who have had relatives in the hospital know that there is a lot of sitting around and waiting involved, so I went yesterday to try to find some reading material for the times I'm not with my son. Unfortunately, both of the CVS's I tried had no outdoor or gun-related magazines at all, so I went across the street to the Coop (bookstore run by Harvard Cooperative) and looked there. They have an extensive magazine section, including everything from Horse & Rider to rock climbing stuff to tabloids, car magazines, even controversial stuff like the Advocate. But the ONLY magazines they carry even remotely related to firearms issues or hunting are Field & Stream and Hunting in New England--bummer.

Is this "selective diversity" just a Harvard-area abberation, or is this common throughout the Boston area?

Anyway, greetings to all of you folks in eastern Mass.

bE

 

[benewton]

That be Mass, Boston, in particular, as a whole, which is why they're known as m*******s, up here in NH!

Haven't been in that area since I last had some body work done, but I did do Boston University a very long time ago....

You might try a place called Ivanhoe's, if it's still there, which is, of course, a gun shop, but I'm afraid it'll be phone book time for you.

My guess is a 5 mile cab ride, or so....

Best wishes for your son...

 

[islander-11]

Hello, BenEzra -

First of all, my prayers to you, your son and the rest of your family. Our gun laws may suck but our medical facilities are top notch. May he recover soon!

As for where you were - consider it the bastion of liberal idiocy. You'd have a better chance of finding a magazine about left-handed lesbian professional bowlers than you would a gun magazine. Those morons keep Kennedy in power... :banghead:

Good luck to you all. Please let us know how your son makes out.

 

[benEzra]

So far, so good. Surgery yesterday went 12 hours (some complications, long story), but he's doing pretty well considering. He'll be on the ventilator a couple more days, probably.

Our gun laws may suck but our medical facilities are top notch.

Top notch indeed. It's been said that Boston Children's is the best pediatric hospital in the world, and I believe it.

bE

 

[shermacman]

guns and prayers

First off, my prayers to you and yours. My son spent a good part of his first few years in and out of hospitals and surgery. He is now a strapping 14 year old with no medical problems (other than the hearing loss associated with one of the operations). He also has his NRA Firearms Safety certificate, a black-belt (junior) in Kempo karate. Hopefully things will work as well for your son as mine...Second problem, welcome to Massachusetts you are surrounded by Liberal ideology. If I can help in any way please email me. I live just south of Boston and work in town.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Prayers said for both your son and your family benErza.

Never knew that Boston was called Beantown (Boston Beans?).

 

[Eamonn Wright]

benEzra,
As was mentioned, Children's is the best pediatric hospital in the world. Your son could not be in more capable and caring hands. All the best to him, and the rest of your family.

Please let me know how long you're going to be in town. I'd be more than happy to throw a few gun magazines in the mail, and you could have them in a day or two (I live south of the city). Do not feel like you'd be putting me out, it would be my pleasure to help any small way I can. Best of luck. Feel free to email me at [email protected] if you would feel more comfortable.

 

[benEzra]

Eamonn Wright,

I would like to take you up on your offer, and I really appreciate your generosity. Since my son is in ICU, there's not a lot for us to do at the moment except sit by his bedside or in the family area. (He's presently heavily sedated, and probably won't even be off the ventilator until Tuesday.) I've already gone through all the reading material I brought, and it's pretty slim pickings in the bookstores within walking distance.

You should have an email with contact info.

Thanks again!

bE

 

[Shazbat]

The two Barnes + Noble's and the Borders in Boston all sell gun magazines, of course thats across the river from you...

And on Mass Ave. near the Porter Square T (subway) station in Cambridge, is Roach's - an actual gun shop.

 

[PATH]

Mt prayers go out to your son and your family. I pray he will have a speedy recovery.

As for gun mags near Harvard......better luck finding chickens with teeth!

 

[Khornet]

Hello Rabbi!

What ben Ezra would say about Boston:

"Finished and finite clods, untroubled by a spark!"

Children's is indeed tops....did a great job with my oldest boy. Prayers said.

 

[Khornet]

Hello Rabbi!

What ben Ezra would say about Boston:

"Finished and finite clods, untroubled by a spark!"

Children's is indeed tops....did a great job with my oldest boy. Prayers said.

 

[Khornet]

Hello Rabbi!

What ben Ezra would say about Boston:

"Finished and finite clods, untroubled by a spark!"

Children's is indeed tops....did a great job with my oldest boy. Prayers said.

 

[WyldOne]

I actually had a very interesting time looking for my very first gun magazines in Boston.

I ended up finding quite a few actually right in Harvard Square. I looked in the newstands, as opposed to actual bookstores (well I looked there, but to no avail as you experienced ). There's a newsstand that I haven't gotten around to checking, right by the Harvard Square T stop-- called "Out of Town News".

Practically across the street from there is a stand called "Nini's". This is where I found gun magazines. More than I had ever seen in my life, which is to say at that point in time, more than one. If memory serves, you should have quite a bit of selection there.

Good luck with the magazines, and good luck with your son.

If you're still in the area, and you ever need anything, feel free to give me a shout via PM or email, and I'll see what I can do.

 

[benEzra]

Khornet,

"Finished and finite clods, untroubled by a spark!"

Eamonn,
I REALLY appreciate your going out of your way like that for a total stranger. Thank you, and thanks to all for the generous offers of help. You High Roaders are great.

WyldOne,
Thanks for the info. But, pardon my ignorance, how far is Harvard Square and T stop from Children's (300 Longwood)? Also, remind me next time to pack gloves and a hat! We just walked half a mile or so to the closest Star Market to get groceries this afternoon, and it was, well, brisk!

Update on my son:
He's still in the cardiac ICU, on the ventilator. They were hoping to wean him off the ventilator and extubate him today (surgery was Friday), but are now looking toward tomorrow instead. His surgery went very long due to complications--12 hours, with more than 5 hours on bypass--so the recovery is a little more protracted. Still, he's stable, and steadily improving.

He has not yet regained consciousness, since they want to keep him under until he is closer to to being extubated. They have lightened up on the morphine and Versed already, though, so they no longer want us talking to him or holding his hands, since if he realizes we are there, he is liable to "break out" of the anesthesia and wake up, which is quite unpleasant for him due to the respirator and gastric tubes. So we're letting him sleep peacefully and rest, for now.

Thanks to all for the prayers and thoughts.

bE

 

[WyldOne]

WyldOne,
Thanks for the info. But, pardon my ignorance, how far is Harvard Square and T stop from Children's (300 Longwood)?

Oh, hmm. Well, it's not exactly close. I thought, for some reason when I read your first post, that you were staying in/around Harvard Square.

Harvard is in Cambridge; you're currently in Boston. Not a great distance, but far enough to be annoying. On the subway, all you'd need to do is take the Green Line (which should be really close to you) to Park Street. Then, get off and switch to the Red Line (outbound/Alewife). That will take you right to Harvard Sq. $2 round trip.


And yeah, winter's here--Take care of yourself!!! Bundle up.

 

[blades67]

Best wishes for your son and the rest of your family.

 

[benEzra]

I thought, for some reason when I read your first post, that you were staying in/around Harvard Square.

You might have gotten that impression because I mentioned that we have a Harvard Cooperative bookstore ("the COOP") across the street, since Children's is affiliated with Harvard Medical School. We're actually not far from the intersection of Longwood and Brookline, and a block over from Beth Israel Deaconess.

We probably won't be making any across-town trips for the forseeable future. The plan is to take my son off the sedatives and ventilator sometime after midnight tonight (early Wednesday morning), so my wife and I will be doing round-the-clock tag-team parenting for the next several days. (He'll be feeling pretty miserable initially.) We hope to be out of the ICU and into the step-down unit by the weekend, at least.

bE

 

[hansolo]

Just Ask....

Dear benEzra,

I just got home from my Oncologist's...thank G_D, I'm doing well.

I passed the Pediatric section and thought of you and your son. Anything you need that I can do, just ask...really

My wife and are praying for your son.....

Steve Pirosh
Desert Hot Springs, CA

 

[WyldOne]

bE,

Oh dear. I think that sounds good, but at the same time I'm sorry to hear it. Well either way, I hope your son has a quick recovery.

If I had thought about it before 1:30 am (oopsie), I would have offered to just bring ya a magazine or two. Then again....I have horrible (I think) taste in gun magazines, since I hardly understand what they're saying and just go for the pictures.

Hmm come to think of it, you're probably better of w/o my help in this matter.

 

[benEzra]

My son just went off the ventilator about 4 hours ago! Thanks everyone for the thoughts and prayers. That was the next big hurdle we had to get across.

This will probably be a busy night, since he's pretty uncomfortable right now (not only tube trauma, but some narcotic withdrawal symptoms; he'll get some methadone tonight to ease the transition). We finally got him settled down and sleeping, and he's doing great.

Thanks again, folks.

bE

 

[pax]

benEzra,

I pray for a swift recovery for your son -- and G_d's own blessings upon you and yours.

pax

Anyone who doesn’t believe in miracles is not a realist. -- David Ben-Gurion

 

[Byron Quick]

God's blessings for your son and family. Keep us posted.

 

[Steve B]

I live here in Massachusetts and you`re right about Cambridge and their "selective diversity".

If you`re still in town and need anything, please shoot me an email.

We all wish your son a speedy and complete recovery.

 

[benEzra]

update 1/28/03

Well, we're still here at Boston Children's, but at least we're out of the cardiac ICU. Our son got off the ventilator OK, but had a bad time with the morphine withdrawal because he was on the vent so long. Got a mild case of pneumonia, which was resolved with antibiotics. Pneumonia caused a pleural effusion, leading to enough fluid buildup in the chest that he needed another chest tube put in for a couple of days.

We've cleared all the hurdles so far except one--the upper lobe of his left lung is completely collapsed and is stubbornly refusing to reinflate (it's been over a week). Doctors are scratching their heads a bit and running tests. It's not something that's dangerous, but it's something that will prevent us from going home until it's resolved (I don't think he can fly with any lung collapse). Had a bronchoscopy yesterday, but no blockages or anything were found in the bronchi.

Eamonn (I'm assuming it was you), thanks for the second batch of gun magazines! I got them today. Our son is fairly high maintenance now, but things get really boring while he's sleeping, so the magazines are a GREAT help. (Also, one can only watch Monsters, Inc. and Toy Story so many times in one day before they cease to be quite so enchanting . . .)

If this continues to draw out beyond this week, I may have to go home and go back to work and leave my wife here alone with our son, since I'm on unpaid leave at the moment.

Thanks again to all for the thoughts and prayers.

bE