Day after Surgery

Well, contrary to all expectations, the minute I was semi-alert, they let me go home from the hospital. The ride home was horrific, to say the least. Instead of a horizontal incision, the surgeon made a vertical one, about 4 inches long, starting right under my breast bone. This morning I was supposed to remove the dressing, so I remembered the tip the nurses told me after my hysterectomy : get in the shower and get the dressing wet with warm water. It does peel off very easy then. Now I just have butterfly strips and dissolvable stitches holding me together.
Coughing is a nightmare, as is turning over in bed. You really don't realize how much your abdominal muscles move until you have surgery like this. Of course, everyone has been petrified that Grace, our 50-lb. Rottie/pit mix, will jump up on me, so everyone yells at the poor thing everytime she moves. The cats have been in heaven, and I usually have to shove one of them off of me everytime I try to move in bed.
I have an appointment with Dr. V next Tuesday, which I guess will be the reveal of what type I have, and when I start treatment. Please keep praying that I can hang on and heal quickly.

Book I Must Have....

Harry Turtledove's American Empire: The Victorious Opposition is the last book in this series...and I desperately need to finish this series.
Since I read over 1,000 words a minute, books tend to be a two or three hour feast at the most. But Turtledove's books are so packed with characters, details, and plot changes, that it takes me a long time to read his books. And they are wonderful!
The Guns of the South asks the question, "Would the Civil War have been different if the South had been supplied with semi-automatic rifles/grenades/other futuristics weapons?" The answer is "You betcher Aunt Tilly, it would have." The surprise is that South African neo-Nazis have come from the future to make sure that the South wins, and that blacks are kept in a subservient position. Of course Robert E. Lee wins the war, but also when he finds out the real reason the soldiers are helping, he refuses anymore help and destroys them.
In How Few Remain, he returns to basic revisionist history, telling how the South wins the Civil War, and then wins a second Civil War over Mexican Territory.
The next set is The Great War: American Front, The Great War: Walk in Hell, and The Great War: Breakthrough which parallels the first World War, and how the two countries in America and their allies would have fought. Socialism is born, and Reds revolt in the South.
American Empire:Blood and Iron, American Empire: The Center Cannot Hold, and this last book I NEED DESPERATELY chronicle the South's anger and plans to regain their autonomy, and the rise of a radical political party in the South that mirrors Hitler's regime.
http://www.sfsite.com/~silverag/turtledove.html tells you more. If you love American History, these are a must read for you!!!!!

Memorial Day Weekend

My family never grew up in the traditional Midwest tradition of cooking out and picnics. Being Southerners, we still called it "Decoration Day", and went to the graveyard to put flowers on all our kin's graves. My father, halfway up the steep hill in the tiny graveyard. Grandmother and Grandpop, only two steps to the right. Uncle Roy, and now Aunt Hazel, just to the left. Uncle Frank and Aunt Arlene, who died before I was born, and whose Amana freezer is still quietly puttering away in our basement, one year older than I am. And all the older relatives I never met : Uncle John, Aunt Teeny (Clementina), great-grandfathers, great-great grandfathers, and even more. It was always very peaceful and a history lesson...Mom gently pulling any stray weeds away from the heavy headstones, patting them gently, and telling stories about their lives. Now Mina's there, too. Five years, now...or is it six? I know Mom wants to be down there right now, but it's three and a half hours down there, I'm quarantined to get rid of this cold before surgery on Tuesday, and I don't think she could get up the hill now, and couldn't see the graves if she did get up there. Of course, the last grave we always visited was the Baby's. I don't remember his name...John, maybe. He was stillborn, a first-born son of my cousins', who had two daughters after that, but no other boys. His grave is at the bottom of the hill, almost to the road. I hope MariB and Floyd go down there this weekend, and I'm sure they probably will, with their daughters and their grandkids. I wish I lived closer. Maybe this summer, after everything settles down. Meanwhile...it's Decoration Day, people. Remember your own history. Where are your people buried?

Be Like Me!

Okay, I'm having surgery at 7:30 on Tuesday, the 29th. The surgeon is Dr. Gillman, who is very nice, but makes obscure Greek mythology references when he talks (sword of Damocles!). He is going to make an incision from the middle of my stomach to the ribs in search of the largest cancerous lymph node. He will remove it, and send it to the pathology department. They will make the final determination which of the two suspected types of cancer I have. If it is the more fast-growing kind, they will start chemo right away. If it is the more slow-growing kind, they will give me anti-bodies (7th grade...definition???) and wait and see. So you can take a red marker, find the middle of your stomach, and draw a line from the middle till you touch your ribs. Voila! Now sneeze. Oops. Forgot to tell you to hold on to your intestines. Put those back in. Ewwww.

ABC Meme

Well, I'm counting the "you" from Barb at anewchelseamorning as being ME!! So, here we go....

A: attached or single? As attached as you can get -- 19 years this July, and I depend on David more and more. Love ya, Babe!

B: best friend? Well, probably my hubby .... but I've had some great ones over the years : Roxanne, Pam...

C: cake or pie? Definitely cake...pie is so-so. Cherry pie if necessary, and then scrape all the gooey goodness out of the middle.

D: drink of choice? Up to about two months ago, it was milk....sigh....but since they banned it for me because of my RA, I guess it would be orange juice and cranberry juice (mixed together).

E: essential item? BOOKS! MUST HAVE BOOKS!!!! Oh, and Vicodin.

F: favorite color? Red

G: gummi bears or worms? Assuming they meant gummi worms, actually....neither. After I threw up a pound or so of them in high school, they sort have lost their attraction.

H: hometown? Decatur

I: Indulgence? BOOOOOOOKKKKKKSSSSSS!! I love amazon.com

J: January or February? February -- Valentine's Day!!

K: kids? Yep. Three of them. Oldest: Katie (will be turning 17 soon) Middle child: Sarah (14 today, baby!) Youngest: Jon (12 1/2 and going on stud muffin)

L: Life is incomplete without __________? BOOKS! and CHOCOLATE!

M: marriage date? July 2, 1988

N: number of siblings? Biological: 3 Adopted : 4

O: oranges or apples? oranges...you can get some really nasty smushy tasteless apples.

P: phobias? HEIGHTS!!! CLOSED-IN SPACES!!!!!! PEOPLE BREATHING MY AIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Q: favorite quote? Anything that has been written down by the genius Terry Pratchett. I want to be Susan when I grow up, so I can TALK IN CAPITAL LETTERS WHEN I AM CHANNELING MY GRANDFATHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

R: reasons to smile? My classes at school: Hannah Woollard and her blonde crew in 7th grade, my wild man Owen, my mad scientist Connor....
My dogs and my cats

S: season? Fall, definitely, and winter. I love cold weather.

T: tag three? Okay, you, and you, and you over there in the green shirt.

U: unknown fact about me? ummmmmmmmm....I tend to share pretty much everything and anything............ I had my tonsils out when I was 2??

V: vegetarian or oppressor of animals? definitely oppressing animals. I've butchered my own chickens, pigs, etc. I will oppress a big thick juicy rare steak at any moment!

W: worst habit? procrastination. I'll tell you about it later.

X-rays or ultrasounds? I've had both, plus lately CAT scans, PET scans... everything they can think of.

Y: your favorite food? Wow. chocolate. pasta. meat. chocolate. raisins.

Z: zodiac? I am a capricorn, but I don't ever read a horoscope. God plans my future, thank you very much.

Thanks for reading along!

Lisa