That's a wrap!

At 4:30 pm last Friday, Director Bob Holden uttered the title of the blog entry after filming me and Dr. (Saint) Misbach for a Providence Hospital tv commercial. I thought it appropriate to use his quote because this past week was the busiest since being discharged from the hospital about four weeks ago.

Monday I started my 3-days-a-week cardiac rehabilitation sessions. Needless to say it was an emotional time because reality hit me that I have a loooog way to go before I can start running again. Losing 10 pounds of mostly muscle mass doesn't help either. At 56, I'm the youngest person in the session...I suspect most of the other dozen are in their late 60s and early 70s. For sure, there is a woman in her 80s. On the first day I was floored to see a person I know very well...Sister Loretta! I know Sister from her years at my church, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. She conducted Marian and my marriage preparation classes, was a house guest a few times, and just fell in love with Hannah. Currently she is at another parish and we've lost touch. Sister, who is in her late 70s, is a recent breast cancer survivor and most recently an open heart patient.

My sessions revolve around walking on the treadmill for 20 minutes (currently at a 3.5 mile pace, 3% grade), 10 minutes on the elliptical, and 30 minutes of very light (less than 5 pounds) weight work. I got in trouble Thursday when I was caught cranking up the treadmill to a running pace ... the session leader came running over and scolded me for doing that ... the others in the class now poke fun at me calling me a "trouble-maker." In addition to the workout, we do warm-up and cooling-down stretching exercises, and once a week we get a back massage...that's sweet! The great thing about my workouts is that I'm hooked up to a device that monitors and electronically sends my heart rate and EKG profile to the front desk and there a person continually reads the results (of all 12 of us).

Tuesday, Marian drove me to and attended my follow-up visit with my cardiac specialist Dr. Linda Ireland. Because Dr. Ireland gave me permission to start driving, Marian happily stated that she was free from being my chauffeur! Dr. Ireland has a great sense of humor and hearty laugh, which make my visits with her very relaxing and reassuring. Two things...I still have some fluids accumulating in the right side of my chest cavity and my resting heart beat of between 95 and 100 is too high. As a result, I'm still on medication (although on a lower dose) to reduce the fluid and I may have to start taking beta-blockers to reduce my heart rate. My visit with her next week will determine how to address the latter issue. Good news was that my blood chemistry is normal and my surgical incision is healing nicely.

The rest of the blog entry pertains to my call-back to be involved in the production of a tv commercial for Providence Hospital. I was asked to arrive at the ConocoPhillips Cancer Treatment Center in Providence hospital on Wednesday at noon (after completing my cardiac rehab session), and to dress in neutral colors. When I arrived, the production team hired by Bradley Reid to film the commercial was already filming the interview of a woman being treated for cancer. I was quickly ushered away from the set and taken to make-up...there I was powdered, eyebrows trimmed, goatee brushed, age-spots covered, and my hair hair sprayed. After that I was taken back to the set, introduced to some of the production crew, and invited to feast on the large spread of food they had laid out on several tables. I declined the food, as I had a full lunch before arriving...too bad. I sat quietly and intensely observed the interview being conducted with the cancer patient. I was struck with the respect the production crew gave the women...I could tell that they were moved by her story, even though they were concentrating on the production. The production crew consisted of about 20 people...cameramen, lighting crew, video footage crew, sound crew, make staff, and go-fors. Everything has focused on the woman, who sat in a sofa chair and was dressed in a green dress...her bald head was wrapped in a matching green scarf. John Tracy, a local ex-news anchorman and news director for a local tv station (NBC KTUU) and currently a Bradley Reid partner, asked the woman questions he had prepared from earlier interviews with her. Numerous times the woman was brought to tears, which stopped production and required the makeup person to do her thing. When her interview ended and after a 15 minute break, it was my turn. I was determined to not get emotional.

The scene of the production crew from the "hot seat" was very different than from behind the scenes...lots and lots of camera lenses staring at you and bright lights from both above, behind and from the side. However, comforting the scene was John Tracy sitting just outside of camera range...he reassured me that everything was going to go smoothly and that his job was to have a conversation with me and ask questions based on the interview I had with him the week before. Even before the first question was asked, the makeup lady had to come in and dry up the sweat already forming on my forehead. However, once John started asking me questions and the director started filming I calmed down. John often would have me repeat an answer if my reflection and/or tone wasn't right and the sound man recording my answers also had the same right to ask me to repeat a response. The director often had me repeating a response looking in different directions, like into the camera lens or looking at John Tracy or looking out the window, etc. Once they got the type of response they wanted, John would say "that was great" or "that was beautiful." After 35 minutes, John asked me a final question...he asked me if I ever wanted to run another marathon. Well, that one got me...I feft a lump form in my throat and I fought back my tears...unsuccessfully. Entering stage left and running came the makeup lady with her stuff and a tissue. Predictably, both I and the production crew started to laugh. After a few minutes, I was able to answer "Yes!" John Tracy said "That was great!" and the director said "That's a wrap!"

I was asked to return to Providence Hospital on Friday afternoon so that they could film me working out at the Cardiac Rehab Center...no interviews (thank God) just workout footage. I was really excited about doing that mainly because Dr. Misbach, my surgeon, was also invited to show up and be filmed with me. When I arrived I was surprised to see that the workout room was packed with production equipment...I foolishly thought this would be less of an effort. I brought several different sets of workout clothes because I didn't know what was appropriate...the director selected the plainest things I had...a navy blue long sleeve shirt and my black running pants...boring! However, I did have my new pair of Asics. Because the director wanted to film using the bright sunshine coming into the room, we had to work fast. I was first filmed from many different directions walking on the treadmill. Once Dr. Misbach arrived, I was filmed on another aerobic machine while Dr. Misbach was directed to interact with me. That was funny because we were directed to have make-believe conversations, move our heads closer together, put hands on each other's shoulder, tilt our heads, move our arms into different positions, etc. Dr. Misbach said this stuff was harder than doing surgery. After the filming, Dr. Misbach and I were photographed together and separately for some publication stills and other Providence PR stuff. I had some time before I left to chat with Dr. Misbach...to my surprise I learned that he is a hell of a good snowboarder and he may run another marathon (his first was in the mid-1990s at St. George Utah) but will use the Galloway run/walk method instead. After saying our good-byes, we all headed our separate ways after a very busy week for all of us...that's a wrap!