Cleveland - Danbury
- otomola
- 12 hours ago
- 6 min read
December 1-15, 2025
On my second day in Cleveland (11/24), the weather had turned to an early, winter-like environment. Night temps were in the low to mid 20s, days high 20s and low 30s. For the next several days, there were snow showers mixed with mostly overcast skies. We had 3” snow Thanksgiving Eve and light accumulations on other days. The general forecast for the next ten days was similar.
On Sunday 11/30, I stayed moved from my original Airbnb to a very cold, uncomfortable Airbnb. I wrote about it in last post. I only stayed one night, cancelling (with refund) the rest of a planned one week stay. I left there around 9AM on Monday morning heading to another Airbnb in a section of Cleveland called Little Italy. It was a densely populated area, houses and restaurants packed together, little driveways separating the houses. My new place was on a one way street, cars parked tightly on both side of the road, with older, two story homes the length of it. The driveway was deep and easily fit my van. I had a two bedroom apartment downstairs. The Airbnb host, Delfina, messaged me that someone was doing some electrical work upstairs but no-one was staying there tonight.
I walked into the apartment and the heat was obviously on high. It was nice and warm. Even though I had not mentioned the experience the day before, with that Airbnb being 59 degrees, it was as if Delfina knew of my trouble with the last place and made sure I felt warmth upon arrival. It was a very nice apartment.
But when I turned the lights on, they did not work. I met Dominic, the guy doing the electrical work, as he was coming down the stairs. I told him about the lights. He told me there were “two boxes” up in the attic, one for each apartment. It appeared though that was the intent, some of the wires were mixed. He had done some work shutting off the upstairs lights, but it resulted in shutting off the downstairs lights. He went back up and made some changes and the lights came on.
Dominic seemed like a friendly tradesman with various contractor skills. We laughed and seemed to hit it off as fast friends.
The next morning, I took an Uber to my appointment with Dr. Harasimowicz. There was a couple inches of new snow, I wanted to be sure to arrive in time, so I opted not to walk the mile and a half to Cleveland Clinic. My driver was a nice guy, David, with a Tesla. He said Teslas drive well in the snow due to the extra weight of the battery. He also mentioned snow days were excellent days to work because people who normally might walk or drive themselves opt for a ride.
Summarizing the appointment with Dr H, there was still uncertainty as to what might be the problem. She thought it was possible it had to do with my smoldering multiple myeloma and associated blood proteins that had risen. My hematologist in Danbury saw my bloodwork results and did not think it was the problem. He suggested it was possibly from my low-level prostate cancer. Maybe it has metastasized to my bones, he said. My urologist said that was not likely based on recent biopsy, Gleason Score (6), and PSA. He said get a new PSA and if it was close to last reading he is not concerned and he’d see me in March, as planned.
Dr. H thought it might be polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR), though she noted my symptoms do not overlap with it in some ways. She ordered more bloodwork, including a new PSA, and MRIs of my shoulders and hips. She also recommended I see a hematologist at Cleveland Clinic.
One thing I like about Cleveland Clinic is they seem to work fast. Coordinated efficiency. I had bloodwork done right after the appointment and I was able to get the MRIs the next day (Wednesday) with results posted to the patient portal on Friday. But I would have to wait a week for the appointment with the hematologist.
I walked back to the apartment after the appointment with Dr. H. I noticed that the sidewalk, all down the street, was cleared nicely with a snowblower. I’m talking sidewalks of about twenty houses. It seemed odd, uniform in appearance. I thought of days on Jefferson Ave when I would use the snowblower and do the sidewalks of the adjacent houses as well if my neighbors had not done their own already.
I was over halfway back to the apartment when I looked up on the porch of a house, and there was Dominic, the contractor. We started talking. Turns out he lives there. I mentioned the uniformity of the snow blown sidewalks. “You know who does that?” He asked. “I do. I hate seeing older people have to get out and shovel snow. I go up and down the street, both side.” I was impressed.
While staying at this new Airbnb, I entertained myself by walking around the University Circle area, very close to Little Italy. The main campus of Case Western Reserve University is located here. It also borders the Cleveland Botanical Gardens, Cleveland Museum of Art, and Cleveland Museum of Contemporary Art. I did a lot of walking and visited the Museums on Thursday and Friday. The walking felt good mentally-emotionally, great to be outside doing something. But the five mile walks definitely put some hurt into my hips and right knee each day.
I needed to find another Airbnb beginning Saturday. It was not an easy thing to do because most places I contacted said they did not have room for me to park my van. It’s simply too long for standard parking and/or in places that had parking garages with limited height.
Contemplating my situation, I decided to come back to Danbury. The combination of weather and housing was a big part of this, as was a desire to be in a familiar area in terms of environment: people, places, and activities. I did not want to stay in Cleveland for several more weeks. I let Dr. H know my plans. She said we should stay in touch and she would remain my rheumatologist until I find one in Danbury. That is good because I could not find an appointment with one in Nuvance in Danbury until January 22! I cancelled the appointment with the hematologist at Cleveland Clinic.
I drove the 500 miles to Danbury on Saturday, December 6. It was an easy drive, much of it along beautiful countryside – forests, farms, and scenic views - on I-80 through Pennsylvania. It was a ten hour drive including stops for lunch and gas. I arrived in Danbury around 5PM.
I have been in Danbury for over a week now. It feels good mentally-emotionally. I still wish I was where I had planned to be, volunteering with the National Park Service in Death Valley for three months. They tell me the invitation is open for a future season if I don’t get there for this one. The weather there this week has been sunny in the 70s with 50s overnight. Bring it on.
I was supposed to have a full body PET can at Nuvance on Saturday (12/13). They called me to remind me Thursday afternoon and again Friday morning. Then I got a call Friday afternoon telling me they had to postpone it because the form for insurance authorization had been submitted with the wrong test, and they rescheduled the scan for the coming week.
Hopefully in the coming weeks we can rule out some things and find out what is actually causing my inflammation and joint pain. I’d like to do this in a timely manner, get back on the road to warmer weather, and return to my bike riding and hiking.
On the plus side, I have been going to Planet Fitness every day since I arrived here, riding a stationary bike for about an hour at a time. There is no discomfort at all in doing that.
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