When we got to Tel Aviv (Sde Dov Airport), I walked over to the Ichilov Hospital, taking a few pictures along the way. At the hospital, my first task was to find the Maccabi office there (my health fund) so that I could get a "green card" which will eliminate some of the paperwork that would otherwise be necessary for Maccabi to pay for my treatments there.
I had quite a bit of time left before my appointments, so I went over to the adjacent mall (within the same security perimeter as the hospital), browsed the shops a little, and then just sat checking e-mail and Facebook and cropping and uploading photos.
My appointments went very smoothly. After the receptionist and the nurse, I met with an anesthesiologist and a urology surgeon who asked me questions about my medical history and checked all the documents about my diagnosis and tests so far. Everything was in order for my surgery. The secretary will call within the next 2 weeks to give me the actual dates and will then send me the special form for hospitalization. I also have the secretary's number so that I can call her if she doesn't call for some reason. I carried out all of this entirely in Hebrew, and I felt comfortable that I understood everything I needed to know about it all.
I also signed a form to allow any tissue left over after the pathologist's analysis to be used for research purposes. That WAS in English, and, of course, I was happy to possibly be of some benefit for research. Who knows? It might someday save someone's life or at least improve treatments.
Next, I called my friend, David (who lives in Tel Aviv), and walked over to meet him at Kikar Rabin, where we sat and talked for some time. Then he took me out for pizza, and another friend of his, Ernest, joined us. Afterwards, the 3 of us went over to David's place for a few minutes, after which Ernest left. I stayed at David's and continued chatting with him until it was time for him to go to an appointment with a volunteer who helps him.
After that, I walked up Ibn Gabirol and across HaYarkon River. Then I walked on a trail near the north shore of the river in a park. This was right about at sunset, so I got some nice pictures, including today's pic of the day, the colors of the sunset reflected in the river:
I walked a ways past the Ayalon Freeway and then came back towards the Sde Dov Airport along Rokakh Avenue (until Namir Road). On my way back to Rokakh Avenue, I saw an emu and an ostrich. Then were in separate fenced area, but I have no idea why they were there. After arriving at the airport and checking in, I had a butter croissant and some red grapefruit juice.
I had a good flight back home. We landed in Eilat southbound instead of northbound, as planes usually do, but that was good since it meant we didn't have to circle around over the gulf before landing. On the other hand, I didn't get much of a view of Eilat because I was setting, as I had requested, on the left side of the plane. :-)
After arriving in Eilat, I walked back home from the airport. So, I went EVERYWHERE today on foot except, of course, for the 2 flights. My total walking for today was 18.4 kilometers.
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