The Day of the Doc

Alright, I mentioned previously that I went to New York to see the doctor, and that finally happened on day 4. Dr. Yazici is the only Behcet's specialist in the world, as far as I know and his office is in the Bronx. We took a cab to his office and ended up getting there over an hour early, but it wasn't worth risking being late to an appointment that we flew all the way across the country for! Sitting in his office made me pretty nervous, but also ended up making me feel a little less alone. I have only actually met one other person with Behcet's and that was before I had even been officially diagnosed. People are great and sympathetic and understanding, and for that I'm very, very thankful, but they can't understand as well as someone who also has the disease. I didn't even talk to any of the other patients in the office, but just knowing that there were other people out there going through the same things I am was really comforting. There was a girl in the waiting room who looked to be about my age and who was having a rough day. She was being short with her mom and was in tears off and on. I just wanted to go up and hug her! I'm not sure if that would have scared her or made her feel better. (There I go trying to fix other people again...)

The visit with the Doc was brief and very fast-paced. It was really intense, but now that I've had time to process, really great. First off, he confirmed my diagnoses of Behcet's. A relief for sure! He then proceeded to tell me that my local Rheumatologist had me on 1/3 the dose of the immumosuppressant that I should be taking and that they should have tried 2 other, less intense meds first. Interesting. After that, things were kind of a blur. I was frustrated at my past care and relieved that there was something else that could be done about the pain. He now has me on a new immunosuppressant and it's been a month, so I'm actually discontinuing 2 of my old meds tomorrow. Wish me luck! I've been feeling pretty lousy the last couple of weeks, but I think I'm just having one of my periodical flare-ups. I think the new med is actually helping! Woo!

After the Doc, I was in my usual post-doctor daze/depressive state, but there wasn't much time to sulk, we had a statue to see! The Doc's office was decently close to the Statue of Liberty, so like the tourists we were, we headed over. The Statue of Liberty is definitely something I recommend seeing, but you should know that it's nowhere near as tall as they make it seem. The base is about the same height as the statue. Just an fyi. We were waiting in line to go up on the pedestle and to climb part of her but decided that we were too tired and the lines were way too long. That was a good choice! We walked around the island for a bit and took lots of pictures before heading to Ellis Island.

Ellis Island was also really cool. So much history. It's incredible to me that so many people passed through those doors and corridors hoping for a better life. Amazing. In the early 1900s. over 11,000 people passed through Ellis Island. That is the record. I can't imagine how anywhere near that number of people fit on the island, let alone in the main building! We did a little searching for our ancestors on the computers, but it turns out that they came to the states before the days of Ellis Island. It was worth a shot.


That night, we headed back toward our hotel and ate at a pizza place that was recommended to me by a friend. The pizza was definitely tasty and helped ease our sheer exhaustion and hunger. On a whim, we decided that it was worth a try to get tickets to see Jersey Boys, although we were pretty sure it wasn't gonna happen since the show had been sold out for months and months until that day. We hauled our tired bodies and aching feet as fast as we could toward hustled the theater. We got there about 20 minutes before the show was supposed to start. The guy at the box office said that he didn't have any student tickets left but that we could buy tickets for $120 each or something. Way too much after all the money we'd already spent, trust me! After a minute, he said that he had 2 tickets: $56. I tried to hand him my debit card, but he said cash only. Defeat....or not? Between the 2 of us, we had exactly $60! Done and done! So we did it! We got tickets and cheap ones to boot!

Jersey boys was just as cool as the other shows had been. They were all so different that they can hardly even be compared. The guy who played Frankie Valli had an awesome voice and I have no idea how he pulled it off! Amazing! Since the play is about The Four Seasons, and their lives off stage, there was a lot of swearing. I can say that I've heard worse, but it was a bit awkward to be sitting between a 70 year old couple and a family with young kids and watching their reactions to the swearing. Mom really seemed to enjoy that one and I'm so glad that we decided to give it a try instead of going back to the hotel to lay down, which sounded like a great idea! I bought a CD after the show and, much to Jared's disappointment, it's all I listened to for many days.


After we took one last trip through Time Square at night and had one last vendor soft pretzel, we headed to bed. As a side note, apparently each and every business on Time Square has to have a lighted sign, which leads to what you see below...


We took one last quick lap around Time Square the following morning then it was off to the airport and back to reality. Overall, it was a great trip! Very fun and just as memorable! Can't wait to do it again, mom. Where are we headed next?