Preparations and stories

First of all, a comment was left a few posts ago by "Janice." Janice, if you are reading this, I left you a message under your comment. I'd love to get in touch with you!

Today, it is snowing, sometimes heavily and sometimes lightening up. But it is not sticking. I woke up to my husband calling me to look at the wild turkeys in our back yard. About ten of them were looking for acorns left behind by the deer this winter. I hated to do it, but Mickey and Quincy needed to go do their morning ablutions, so when I opened the door, the exurberant black doxie took off to rid the "ranchito" of the menacing birds.

Turkeys fly very well, so they were in no danger. Mickey spent about an hour sniffing out the trails and tracks of the wild birds, using his natural-born instincts. He's a hound-dog!

I've been whittling on all that needs done before my departure on April 26. I still need to reserve our hotel rooms and buy my flight tickets. I don't know why this seems hard for me to do, but I'll get there. Perhaps today, I will get one of those things done.

Monday, I did the 24-hour urine collection thing, for the 4th time since late February. And when I took that into the hospital yesterday, they also drew blood for more tests and asked for another cuppa. Interesting.

I don't need another echocardiogram! My local doctor felt it was not necessary since I'd had one in Nov. of 2007. I asked TCI and they said if I have had one within 18 months, I do not need another one. I'm glad! I'll been overdosed from doctors by this time next month. One less, I'm glad to cull that one out!

While in town yesterday, I bought a light, white robe for the hospital and in the hotel room after. I also bought two hats to wear TO New York with my shaved head. One is a soft knit, blue, very simple one, called a "Soother." That name works for me! The other was a floppy black one that looks like a fishing hat. I look forward to wearing that someday while I'm actually fishing!

Coming home from NY, if I have a halo, the hats won't work. But going to....I'd like to keep my head warm.

I also bought a disposable camera. I took one last time, it was great for photos of me during the traction.

Good news, I have a traveling partner! My friend from Seattle, who came and rescued me last time, flying unexpectedly to NY to help me get home, is able to fly there and be with me the last 6 days and then fly home with me. Phew!! What a load off my mind this is!

Kathy and I get along great and she is a patient at TCI as well, so she knows the ropes, has had this same surgery herself. In fact, she is my inspiration. It's taken her quite a long time to really feel good post-fusion, but she says now, she is feeling really good. And she's been pretty active and busy during this time, too.

I think I'll take some of my husband's Hawaiian shirts for the loose-fitting, button in the front shirts I need to go over the halo vest.

Want to know how sweet this guy is? This morning, he told me that the other day, he found a big, long earthworm in the middle of the driveway. He said he scooped it up and then laid it gently into my flower bed.

He watched it awhile and it wasn't doing much, so he poked a hole into the dirt with his finger in front of the worm (how did he know which end was the front?). The worm didn't crawl into the hole, so Pete then covered the worm with earth and watched the dirt move with the worm underneath it.

What a guy! I'm sure he was thinking of it because yesterday, there were about 20 robins on our front lawn.

So, the clock ticks down, it is April 1 and in 27 days, I'll be 3000 miles east and going through some major stuff. I feel so confident, so peaceful about it.

In fact, I feel peaceful about everything right now. The situation with the economy and the government....the surgery....my future....even if I were to die during the surgery, I feel very at peace about it all. It's a wonderful place to be, in the palms of God, safe and protected.

People say to me, "You're NOT going to die during this!" and I agree, I probably am not. I don't have a sense that I will not survive it. I feel very confident that I will come home...and eventually, I will be a lot better.

BUT, no one really knows, now, do they? And I feel very peaceful about however it all goes.
For to me, "to live is Christ and to die is gain." I have said, for five years, "God has a plan." And that mantra has obviously settled into my psyche after saying it for so long.