ADDITIONAL UPDATE

Phew – thanks for posting Beth. I went to bed thinking, I’ve got to update news on our site! Sorry to all of you who faithfully check to see how I am doing.  Your participation is so encouraging to me and is a large part of what keeps me optimistic and happy.

Surgery is indeed scheduled for this Wednesday, April 25 at 7:30 a.m.  Craig and I are to arrive at the Registration Desk of Fletcher Allen Hospital in Burlington at 6 a.m. Good thing we have all that practice in ‘rising early’ from boating! The Registration Desk people will tell us where to go – and until then we have no clue where we will be. Craig will let folks know more as we learn it. Sarahjoy and our friends Ginny and Tony will be keeping Craig company during the 3-5 hour surgery. After the operation I will be assigned a room and, depending on which floor that room is on, Sarahjoy may or may not be able to spend the night in the hospital with me.

Yesterday I had a rather blissful day at Porter Hospital (just 2 miles from our house) having 2 pints of blood dripped into me. This process takes a long time, about 2 hours per pint, and during that time I read, ate, listened to my relaxation tapes and enjoyed a really good rest. I welcomed every drip of that new blood into my body and already feel increased energy from it. Does it ever feel good to have ENERGY! Gained two pounds too! (that’s a GOOD thing – imagine that!)

After that I went to my office so I could squeeze in a couple more hours of training for my wonderful replacement, Barbara. Barbara is a real gift. She started at the office on Tuesday and is everything I ever dreamed plus more. You know – the kind of warm person who listens well, takes notes, already knows ‘things’ and seems to absorb the pile of information I was throwing at her. Needless to say, the 9 hours we managed to spend together this week only allowed me to cover the most basic of the jobs I do – but if anyone could manage to take the reins with that little training, Barbara is the one!

Let’s see….this week has been so packed that I must have more to report. As Beth says in her post, the CT Scan pleased my surgeon, Elise Everett, a lot. She liked the way various spots had shrunk, she said my being thin (honey to a woman’s ears!) would make her work so much easier. The incision would go faster, there would be less blood loss, etc. etc.  I know no one ever expects to need surgery,  but if weight loss classes just invited a surgeon to speak, a whole new level of motivation for losing weight would ensue! Love my surgeon! Also love that she suggested I get a couple of pints of blood prior to surgery. She herself is a small woman and has experienced anemia, so she knows personally how I have been feeling of late. Her thought was that I should get the blood right away and present for surgery that much more robust.  She also ordered an EKG – just because – and that test showed a picture-perfect heart graph.

And, YES, I am retired now. So far it feels like an ordinary weekend. I am guessing that I will not notice that I am retired until after I start recovering fully from surgery and, SURPRISE, have no obligations outside of what Craig and I want to do. Hummm….. now that sounds sort of fun, doesn’t it?

Please pray for me both as I approach surgery in the next few days, during the actual event and then my recovery. I am feeling relaxed and optimistic about the procedure but no doubt there will be moments of fear and discomfort. And perhaps fury, if they wake me during the night to do routine tests. I’m not the sort that is pleasant about being needlessly awakened, grrrrr.

Meanwhile, see you up ahead. Craig and Beth will probably be doing all the posting for the next couple of weeks — but I’ll still be eagerly reading comments!
Anne / Tammi