Surgery

I am on the docket for surgery for Monday at noon—a week from today (that means that the OB approved the procedure, and we're moving forward). I have to be there at 10 a.m., and I have to fast from midnight until the surgery (that scares the crap out of me—I don't know if I can go that long without food while pregnant). It's going to be an outpatient-type procedure, and I'll be put under general anesthesia (so I will be completely put to sleep). It should only last about an hour or an hour and a half.

There are a lot of questions that I need to ask in the next few days to clear up some confusion. For example, I'll probably ask about how they will biopsy this thing once it's out and how long it will take. I plan to double-check to make sure that there's no other way to biopsy this thing before actually, like, going under the knife and general anesthesia. I've got some other questions, too. I'll get some answers.

We ran over to the hospital for some blood work this evening (in preparation for the surgery). My blood work from May apparently wasn't recent enough. (Yay for getting poked and prodded one more time during this pregnancy!) This is the first time I didn't leave with a huge bruise in my inner elbow region. That lady really knew how to stick a girl, I guess.

When we came home from the hospital this evening, we chit-chatted with our neighbors, the Bergrens (Pam was outside watching "Paul Bunyan," also known as Bill, cut some tree limbs down—a popular activity in our little neighborhood this summer). Pam noticed the cotton on my arm and asked me if I had blood work done, and then she asked what was happening. I brought her up to speed, and then she asked me what surgeon we were using. I said, "Dr. Cornwell."

Pam responded as though she knew Dr. Cornwell, and I asked her more about him. Apparently, Zach (their son) is a good friend of Dr. Cornwell's son. So, they interact with that family a lot. She said that they are really good, kind people. That made me feel so much better about things. I had a hunch that Dr. Cornwell was a good guy, but it was nice to see that reinforced by someone out in the community who knows him on a more personal level (and it was nice to hear it from people that I know and trust as well).

Pam also mentioned that a relative of hers requested him for a surgery (I believe it was putting a stint in for chemo therapy treatments?) because she trusts him. That was nice to hear, too. It's fairly clear that this guy isn't trying to make some money off of a pregnant lady 'cause he can. I'm glad that I was accurate in my gut assessment of that guy. (I know I'm shamelessly tooting my own horn, here, but I feel like I've got a good 'dar' for judging character.)

We've got an interesting week or two ahead of us. We'll take it one day at a time, I guess. What else can we do?

I'm rather tired, and I'm never, ever up this late. It's been a helluva day.