To Frisco and Back

About 10:30 one morning in the early ‘80s our next door neighbor, John Kierstead, walked into our living room and said, “Good morning, Brian whatcha been up to?” I said, “Good morning, John. I’ve been to San Francisco and back this morning.”

John looked at me, like, what the hell is he talking about! I can understand his incredulity. It did seem a little strange. But it was true!

I had an angiogram that showed I had a partially blocked coronary artery. This was in the days when angioplasty, the expansion of an artery with a balloon on a catheter, was a new procedure and was preceded by an angiogram to determine the severity of the arterial blockage.

I was scheduled for an angioplasty in a few days, to be administered by a Dr. Simpson who practiced in the San Francisco area. Dr. Simpson’s office had called the Los Angeles office of my cardiologist Dr. Katus telling them that they had not yet received the results of the angiogram, which they needed in order to perform the angioplasty.

Dr. Katus’s office had sent the results but they likely had been lost in transit. There was not enough time to resend them and have them arrive before the scheduled procedure. So I said, “Just give them to me. I’ll take them there.” So, very early the next morning I left home for the Ontario airport, paperwork in hand. I boarded my very early flight and in a little over an hour I was in the San Francisco airport on the phone calling Dr. Simpson’s office for driving directions. When my call was answered, I was told that the previously mailed papers had arrived and that there was no need for me to bring the replacement papers.

I scurried to the counter to find out when the next flight would leave for Ontario. By a stroke of luck, a flight was about to leave almost immediately.

I boarded that flight and about an hour later I was in Ontario. It took another hour to get my car and drive to Apple Valley and be able to say to John Kierstad, “I’ve been to San Francisco and back this morning!”