First page of the next chapter

After the big news of yesterday, today seemed rather mundane! This morning I completed an Endocrine Test. It was really rather taxing. The first thing I had to do was take a 30 minute nap nestled under the blankets that came right out of the blanket warmer. Tough stuff. After an easy, breezy and beautiful blood draw from my PICC line, I had to walk around for 15 minutes. The nurses like to be able to see you, so I did laps in the endocrine lab, much to the amusement of the row of octogenarians getting their lab work done. I asked if I got a sticker for each lap, but sadly, they were fresh out of gold stars (which, by the way, is a tragedy). After my "workout" they drew blood again and sent it off to the lab. The test compares the hormones in my blood while resting and while under "stress." Frankly, if a 15 minute stroll is considered stress around here, I may need to re-consider the length of my stay.

Next I met with the amazing dietician again and I am scheduled for surgery Monday morning to get a new feeding tube and stoma revision. A stoma is any kind of hole in an organism (I would know, we study the stoma on leaves in fourth grade). I know this may come as a surprise to my blog readers, but I'm allergic to silver nitrate, which is the typical treatment for an unhealed wound. My body likes to expand my medical horizons, and when I tried silver nitrate in December, I ended up earning a 2nd degree burn and a visit to a plastic surgeon. Oops. The doctor so thoughtfully shared with me that he had, "never seen a reaction like this before!" Puhlease buddy, of course you haven't, I blaze my own trail (burn pun most definitely intended).

So because they can't use silver nitrate, the doctor will have to cauterize the stoma. A very thoughtul nurse called me today to make sure I was prepared that it was going to hurt quite a bit, once the anesthesia wore off. Why yes, I would imagine taking a blow torch to my belly button may not rank very high on my favorite moments, but I do appreciate the extra warning.

In other news, my dad and I punched the twelfth hole of our Frozen Yogurt Frequent Buyer card and enjoyed a free tasty treat! The owner now greets me by name...clearly my celebrity status is spreading like wild fire. I'm expecting a red carpet to be rolled out for me next week...directly to the non-fat chocolate/vanilla swirl.

On a different note, I want to share how appreciative I am of all of the love and support that has been shown to me and my family. Your thoughts, prayers and expressions of care mean the world to us and we are incredibly grateful for the gift of your friendship and love.