Lungs for Mandy

I add the post about WICKED in all caps because the show was OUTSTANDING!

Mom and I attended the 8 o’clock show last night and it was one of the best shows I have ever seen. I love the fact that it is the real-story of the Wicked Witch of the West and how she really never got the benefit of the doubt…ever. And that maybe, just maybe she wasn’t as evil as we have all been taught since we were young.  The show was not only great, it really added on to the book which I read about three years ago. The two work together and you should go for both, if you haven’t already!

Thank you Mom and Dad for such a great birthday present. 34 was a great birthday that seemed to last almost an entire week… Every birthday is special since I’ve been given another chance.

Fate is such an unusual thing-

I’ve spent the last few weeks worrying about the stomach surgery I was required to have. It was so nerve wrecking for my psyche that I was getting stomach aches and headaches. I was scared to go under anesthesia and running into an illness like in March. Well, on the way to the hospital this morning, we received a call from the surgeon’s office stating that a set of lungs had become available and the doctor had to perform a LUNG TRANSPLANT instead of my elective stomach surgery (Yea, it was really something I wanted to do) Anyway, I had to reschedule for early July which really screws up my schedule for the rest of the summer,  although I am happy that someone was given the opportunity to live on due to a wonderful organ donor and a GREAT surgeon who can save so many lives.

A

What a great birthday I had last night! I am so thankful to be celebrating another birthday especially after the year I’ve had. We spent the evening at the Atomic Cowboy eating, drinking, visiting and dancing (near closing time). Cindy and I started the dancing party with Snoop Dogg’s California and then Gin and Juice. It was pretty funny to watch a bunch of white girls trying to cut a rug.  

In the photo from left to right: Shelly, Me, Amy, Cindy, Amy and Denise. I wish we could have gotten all the girls in the photo, but things were a little crazy.

I want to say thanks for everyone coming out to celebrate and making my 34th one of the best in years.

Happy Birthday Eve to me.

Hello there. Well tomorrow is my birthday, more importantly I have five days until all solid food is eliminated from my diet…I mean my surgery. I received my list of items I can eat for three weeks past surgery and the list stinks. Have you ever heard of cornmeal pudding? It sounds disgusting and I wouldn’t eat that if my life depended on it, ok maybe if my life were depending on it. I can have honey, but I’m wondering how full I will really be after a bottle of honey..? Doesn’t strained or blenderized soup sound yuck? I’m very happy to report that I can eat/drink milkshakes — WOHOO. I’ve decided to not eat any meat after my surgery, I think its going to be a good transition from a liquid diet to a vegetarian diet and I’ve wanted to stop eating meat for a long time. I did stop eating pork almost a year ago, but now all meat is going to be eliminated except seafood. Although, now with the oil spill in the gulf, I can’t afford seafood anyway. Can you believe the mess down there? I feel terrible for the families who depend on the the ocean for their livelihood.  I’m so mad about the whole thing that I don’t even like to mention it.  Anyway, I will not be eating meat. I just heard a group sigh from all the chickens and cows…. Especially chicken since I eat so much of it.

This evening a friend and I went to a new coffeehouse and watched a woman play the hard. It was really pleasant and the woman played so beautifully. I can’t say I have ever seen anyone up close play the hard, but it was really cool. She played a Janis Joplin song which was so cool!

Mom purchased new Wicked tickets yesterday and we are heading to the theatre on June 22 at 8pm to see WICKED! I can’t wait. I’m trying to talk Mom into Ethiopian food, but I doubt she will budge.  I’m going to find somewhere new for us to have a nice meal together. It will be nice to hang out with her, it seems we are always rushing when we are together so it will be a good change to be able to slow down and actually hang out. I have the best Mom. and Dad and brother and dog and Grandpa and Aunts, and cousins….okay I’ll stop!

Funny thing, when Creagle first came home, she always laid under the desk on my feet. Right now she is trying to get under the desk and her booty is too big to fit there. She is really getting frustrated with this one, I bet she is going to start howling—just as I thought, she’s howling and trying to push my legs out of the way. Silly girl.

Namaste’

Hello. My 34th birthday is Friday. It seems insane that I am turning that old. Just kidding! It is, however, much older than anyone had planned for me and I am thrilled. Mom bought me Wicked tickets for my birthday and we were planning on attending the show on June 24th. Well, Dr Amazing wants me to have my stomach surgery sooner than I had anticipated. Coincidentally, the date has been written IN PENfor June 23rd, the date before the show. What a freakin’ bummer! We are trying to sell the tickets, but I pretty much think Mom is going to get ripped off on the whole thing since there are plenty of other tickets still available. Hopefully we can get them sold at a reasonable price on Craigslist or Ebay. It’s just WICKED! Anyway, if you know anyone, contact me.

Oh, I have forgotten to tell you all about Dr. Meyers (Amazing). He is the doctor that will be performing my stomach surgery. Can you believe someone is smart enough to do both lung and stomach surgery? When I visited him, I couldn’t stop thinking about how smart he is. Seriously! I wish I had 1/10 of his smarts. A friend of mine had his lung transplant performed by Dr Meyers and he really thinks he is a great doctor. I too received a nice feel from the doc too. So, the surgery will take place next Weds in the hospital, The actual surgery will be two hours and I will be there for another 23 hours unless something else occurs –let’s hope there is not an issue, I’ve done my time in the hospital for the year. I won’t be able to eat solid food for three weeks after the surgery, so I am bulking up this week for sure. I hope the 3 week time frame was an overestimate and I’ll really be eating tacos sooner.

I ended up taking a break from classes, not by choice, but because a financial aid staff member screwed up my paperwork and I missed the deadline to get into a late-starting summer class. Iwas anger at first but then the more I thought about it, the more it sounded good. I hope I will be able to travel after I’m healed from the surgery. I’m not going anywhere when I’m on a liquid diet unless I can have Pina Coladas. 

My nephew Jacob is doing well after his bout with Mono (poor kid). He should be fine by the end of next week, but I think he has to sit out the rest of the summer in baseball. I guess we should all be thankful that he made it through that ordeal okay.

I also wanted to mention the 28+ people who lost their lives in Arkansas. I feel really sad for all the families who were lost in the floods. I can’t imagine how scary that was for the victims. My thoughts are really with everyone involved in the whole ordeal and I hope with time, the hurt will dissipate.

Be Well.