melissa’s surgery was a long one (4 hours) but it took care of a lot: the hernia was large and messy, repaired with a good strong mesh; she had an abscess (part of the damage done by the crohn’s) near her appendix that was “fixed” by removing part of her cecum; 14 inches of chronized small intestine was removed and good, healthy bowel was attached to good, healthy bowel. the surgeon opted to not remove her gallbladder because she felt it was too risky to do everything at one time. she said she felt real good about the anastamosis (where she joined bowel to bowel) so one of the major potential complications is minimized. she stated that she’d been very careful and was confident that she’d gotten the bad stuff out; now she feels we can manage everything medically (remicade treatments). this is such a relief for all of us, but especially for my brave daughter. melissa is having a lot of pain, but just knowing that her healing is happening gives her hope that she hasn’t had in quite a while. eric and emma came by the hospital and eric went up to see mel for a while, so that lifted her spirits, too. melissa doesn’t like to talk about the pain that she has had to learn to live with day-in and day-out, but trust me, she’s been miserable with it. i’m so grateful that this will finally put an end to it—once the incision is healed, she’ll feel better than she’s felt in about 6 years. today is the 9th anniversary of her move to nyc. i’m so glad she’s here with these great doctors. thanks again for all the prayers. i’m exhausted. we left for the hospital at 6 a.m. and it was 4:30 when i finally talked with the surgeon. melissa was safely in her room, pressing her pain pump button when i left at 7 p.m. emma’s a joy—worth a messy hernia, her mother would say.
melissa has to report to the hospital at 6:30 in the morning after a night of…er, um…bowel cleansing. the surgery will be around 9a. thanks for your prayers.
i arrived at la guardia with my 70+ lbs. of luggage yesterday afternoon. it was a beautiful day and the jose’s and i immediately walked down to my yorkville favorite, merrion square, for cheap burgers and beer. emma has changed so much in the 3 weeks i’ve been gone: she is so much more interactive vocally and physically, wanting to walk and “swimming” across the floor on her belly. i love her personality–i swear she often winks at me as if to say, “look what i’m getting you all to do for me”.
we still haven’t heard from mt. sinai regarding a surgery time for melissa, so will give them till noon today, then call dr. ky herself. some of you may not know that melissa had a gallbladder attack last friday–gallstones–and so they will probably also remove her gallbladder when they repair the hernia and take out her ileum. she ought to be good as new with all that, so i’ll of course expect her to do everything but lift by next week! her after-school wards have been down to say hello with their mom; they are out of school this week. eric and i are ready to take on the every-day care of miss emma and we’ll keep you updated prn.
i’m sitting here in my pj’s thinking about lauren’s comments on my last post. it sounds like living in your pj’s with no make-up on is a bit of a dream for her. if so, i’m living her dream. sometimes i only get dressed/made-up because casey might catch me being non-productive and/or not-very-attractive! my list exists only to remind me of what i must do within a day-or-two and i never schedule anything more than a week ahead of time (unless it involves getting tickets, reservations, or my sister). i clean my house when i can see the dirt; do the dishes when the dishwasher is full; do laundry when i’ve run out of clean jeans (i have tons of underwear to last). in contrast, when i’m in nyc i’ll have to actually get up when emma says, get dressed because the neighbors might drop in, and keep things clean in order to be helpful. i’ll have to do my laundry all at once instead of leaving it in the drier for a couple of days, and check my make-up often to be sure my red-nose hasn’t poked itself out again. i’ll also be doing moon’s after-school-care job for her which involves appropriate outerwear and comfortable footware. my schedule will only be 24-hours at a time, but it will be considerably more regimented. in short, my everyday life at sonnystone is a vacation. i’m actually going to nyc to work! there is plenty of love and cuddling to do there, too, so don’t think i’m complaining. emma and i will be having many expotitions and adventures; moon and i plan to see some shows, opera, and museums; eric and i will trade war stories as we stroll emma on sundays; we’ve all got some music nights planned and on thanksgiving we’ll be very thankful.
saturday was the mg fall garden conference and i sat in on a class on ornamental grasses and this one about roses. both were taught by folks from olbrich gardens in madison, wi and were very helpful. this is probably the most i’ve learned since i joined the mgs. there were dozens of volunteer mgs buzzing around, but a lot of them were out at the state hospital seeding the new garden they’re building out there. busy, busy. i wonder if any of them ever work in their own gardens? i’ve been getting mine ready for winter and my departure, but most of them still look good. i probably won’t take down the ferns before i leave, but i’m sure husband will take care of everything when it’s time.
being out at usi made me want to take some classes. i really do enjoy going to school–as long as it’s not nursing. or 3 months of soil and tree lectures. maybe real estate.
i played a jazzed-up version of “he’s got the whole world in his hands” with a teen-age bass player for the offertory on sunday. all toes were tapping and many folks told me how much they enjoyed it. i wonder if i can find some good music arrangements for christmas while i’m in nyc.
shoe shopping for tennies can be so frustrating. i don’t like white and need a lot of padding; at the same time, i’m cheap. can’t decide whether to compromise the color or the comfort.
we’re counting down the days until my big adventure. how do you pack for a month? take everything you own, i suppose. i’m trying to clean the house and fill up the pantry with food for the husband, pay the bills, and talk nice to the cat. husband has thurs and fri off, so we’ll probably head up north a little early to enjoy some quality time together.
mel brooks is a genius…this musical deserved all of the awards it won—and it won a record amount, you know. we had a great time and laughed our asses off. rent the movie, you’ll enjoy it. even if you’re not usually into musicals, this one is like a marx brothers…every line is funny, so you miss some because you’re laughing at the one before. terrific actors, great dancing….the place was pretty empty and i’m sorry that more people here in podunk didn’t realize this is a show worth the bucks.
i’ve been thinking again….my soundtrack reflects the movement of my thoughts. the other night, listening to beethoven’s 9th i was stirred…followed up with a compilation of great opera arias and was transported to a place in my past by “che faro senza euridice”. listening to that melody put me into a memory as real as the music. it’s maddening sometimes to have music manipulate me that way. i do try to listen to “new” music, most recently the latest bob dylan effort which is near-perfect. since i’ve started my regular library visits i’ve been borrowing and recording some new and/or old songs. today i got an old one though: american stars & bars (neil young). what a lot of mind-travel that one is providing: saddle up the palomino; homegrown’s all right with me; you are like a hurricane..there’s calm in your eye….. i’ve always played the game of what 5 albums (?) would you take on a desert island with you and a couple of them have never changed. nowadays, i’d definitely do a compilation or two. of course, i realize that this addiction of mine has become more socially acceptable, even normal, with ipods and i just might have to embrace that technology. it might be dangerous……sounds like fun.
i’ve bought my tickets to return to nyc and am finishing up some chores here around sonnystone in preparation. i got a great deal at a rummage sale: large pull-around suitcase for $2 and am quickly filling it with clothes to last a month. in addition to anticipating the future, i’ve had some interesting beherenow experiences:
i found out that the hospice i worked for last winter had had a change of director and that a nurse who i greatly admire is now working there. i called up the director, who had become a friend during my 3-month employment, and we arranged to meet for dinner. at dinner it wasn’t just the friend who showed up, but also another gal who is god’s gift to nursing—i think she’s the one god goes to when he has a question. i was real disappointed to say the least and also bummed to find out that all the other bad players are still working there. all of the changes have come about in the last 3 months, so maybe they’ll keep changing toward a group of humans. i really want to pal around with the director-lady, though, and made sure she understood that i’m not looking for a job.
one of the parents of my regular asc kids raised hell with me about trans-fats in the snacks….i refrained from slapping him, even though his kid is my biggest junk-food-junkie. you may say i should take that complaint seriously and i may say, “i didn’t take the kids to raise”. i really do try not to kill the little monsters, which takes less restraint than allowing the parents to live.
even though i’ve been looking forward to the cooler weather, i feel unprepared for today’s cold. back to the coats, hats, gloves. the last of my herbs were brought up to the porch last night and the place smells loudly of rosemary, lemon verbena, and mint. in a few days i’ll put up the basil and lemon verbena, but keep the rest on the porch for a few more weeks. 
the card went into the mail on friday, so i’m skeptical about its on-time arrival. this is my niece, the one who looks like me…..i wasn’t around when she was born 33 years ago, so my first recollection of her is when she was around 6 months old, big blue eyes and a bonnet. her head was square and she had no hair, but she had plenty of teeth and smiled a lot. she taught melissa to read and write; now she’s a teacher for-real. love you, lauren, and praying for many happy birthdays ahead.
i had a great trip…but you want pictures……
emma loves to swing…
mom & dad love taking her to the park……
gee, are these two related?
i know i’m gonna catch hell for posting a picture of mel’s arm, but all eyes should be on the baby….she’s a sweet little wiggle-worm….i can hardly wait to go back…..good thing, too, since i’ll be back soon.