The Date is Set for My Next Surgery

My plastic surgeon's office called today to advise that we are a go for my next surgery for Friday, March 7, at 7:30 a.m. So we have to go see him for pre-op on February 19. I've got to call back tomorrow and see if he's going to remove my mediport at the same time. Hope so. Maybe we can wrap up all these loose ends at once.

Interesting. Just today I noticed that the outer skin over the tissue expander is actually loose. That means the skin has stretched over it and it's time for him to insert some more saline. And I am soooooo looking forward to that. That breast and all the muscles attached to my right arm have been really sore ever since the last insertion on 1-8-08. Writing this made me get out my little appointment cards and see when the next appointment is. . . rather was, to go put some saline in it. I was supposed to go to his office this p.m. ----OOPS! But the date didn't register with me. I'm surprised that they didn't ask me where I was when they called about the pre-op visit. I'll have to call and reschedule that this week or next.

I go in the morning for an annual pap test. Interesting. I read in a magazine this week that one of the things that hurts the survival chances of cancer patients is that they are so glad to be through with all the doctor visits after treatment is over, that they neglect the routine checkups, like pap tests and mammograms and self-exams. Please schedule your's today!

Stairway to Heaven

Thursday as I was driving home from work, my cell phone rang. It was David wanting to know my coordinates. He said there was someone at the house who was waiting on me. I'm thinking it's a PERSON, which was exciting because we rarely have guests at the house. So I asked who it was. Well, it was our adopted child who is staying with us while his parents are in Kiev. Kowboy was in the house playing with David.

When I got to the house, Kowboy met me in the garage. He was wired. We go into the house and he goes to the end of our staircase and sits there waiting. David is holding his prized red ball. This ball is the control button for Kowboy. If you have the ball, you are in control. If he has the ball, you can forget it.

David throws the ball up to the landing on our second floor. Kowboy takes off like a rocket to retrieve his ball. Watching him come down the stairs was a hoot. He came down really fast, almost head over heels, taking 3-4 steps at a time. Sounded like an elephant. He was proud of himself and came back to David with the ball. He wants you to throw it, but first you have to get it away from his slobbery mouth. The ball is back in human control, and David throws it up the stairs again. Kowboy bounds off after it, but this time he's a little bit slower coming back down the stairs. Guess it scared him, too, on the first trip down. He's a real hoot. He's such a good dog. He has ruined us. Now after his parents come back to Austin, we have to get another dog. We are hooked.

Kowboy & His Ball

We are really enjoying Kowboy. He is so pretty and is a really sweet dog. We were just having trouble keeping him in line. Like the Saturday I was vaccuuming out my Durango, so I opened the gate and let him out to play with me. Everything was going great until our neighbor lady opened her garage door and came out of her house to get in her car. He goes in the garage to see her---slobbers and all. With David's help we got him back in the fence. The next time David talked to Tony, he told him that Kowboy doesn't mind very well. Tony told him the answer: You have to keep control of his ball.

If you have his ball, he is alert and stays calm and right with you---thinking he will get the ball back soon. He can be running down the alley, but if you squeak his ball, he comes galloping back. We took him walking Saturday and he stayed right with us because David was holding the ball. He is a different dog if you are in control of the ball. If he has the ball, he's in control and will not come when you call him.

That would have been a nice discipline tool for two little boys I know. Wish I would have known about it 30+ years ago! I was going about it backwards. Remember those paddles with the long rubber band stapled to it and a little ball on the end, that you're supposed to hit over and over? Well I always took the rubber band and ball off of the paddle and carried the paddle in my purse. If either Kelly or Tony tried anything in a store, all I had to do was open my purse and remind them of what was in there. Little did I realize that I should have shown them the ball and not the paddle to control them!!!!

Happy Birthday!

I called Mama & Daddy driving to work this morning so they could tell me happy birthday. They answered the phone and as soon as I spoke, they both started saying it.

Tony & Elena called this morning to wish me happy birthday from Kiev, Ukraine. Tony said that they told Elena's family that they needed to email me, but her family would have nothing of that. They said he had to call. We talked for just a few minutes so it would only cost one arm, not two.

55 years old in 2008 sounds so young and so good when you were told in 2006 that "I think we can save your life but it's going to be a long hard year." And it was. But I'm here and doing well. And life goes on with each day being a blessing.

Nikita & Ana Visit Washington D.C.

Nikita and Ana called last night from Washington D.C. They were there on a brief layover on their way to Kiev, Ukraine. Elena's dad passed away in December, so they are over there for 5 weeks visiting her mom and family. Nikita said it was really neat on the airplane. He said they got snacks and cokes and everything. But he said that their plane to Germany will have MOVIES on it. I told Nikita that the President lives in Washington D.C. He answered real dead-pan, "yes, I know."

Tony sent an email this afternoon telling us that they arrived safely. He said the kids were tired, but were really good on the long flight over there. I told them to stay warm over there!

DL Success!

I was at the TX DPS license office this morning by 8:15 with my proof in hand. At 9:30 the automated woman finally said "Now serving number A020" and I got to go in the room. The woman behind the counter took my SS card, input my number and asked me to go over to the little eye tester thing. I explained to her that someone else is in their system using my SSN. She told me that SHE didn't see anything wrong. So I told her that I spent 2 hours here yesterday and that someone else is using my SSN. She told me that she could go out of the system and go back into my info and I said "Please." Sure enough, a man in Austin with an ID card is registered with my SSN. They put an alert out to the troopers to bring this guy in if they pull him over.

I read the 4th row of numbers, then gave her my left and right thumb prints on this little optical reader, then stepped back to get my photo taken. She had me to take my glasses off so there wouldn't be any glare. Never had that done before. So for another 6 years, I'm legal. Which is a lot more than I can say for a whole lot of the people there trying to get driver's licenses!!! There were all sorts of violations there. Just needed the INS people there and we could have cleaned up.

At least in 6 years I can renew my DL online. That place was just awful.

My Birthday---My Driver's License

I'm having a birthday on Thursday. I'll be 55. I got a post card from the friendly Texas DPS telling me that I have to go in to a licensing place this year to get a renewal. Great. So today I took off before lunch to go to the nearest DPS place. I was there over 2 hours, just waiting. Just waiting with bodies with B.O., with screaming kids, with parents screaming at their screaming kids telling them to "shut up", with the dregs of society. Just made me want to bathe before going back to work.

I spent all that time, and was finally called by their automated numbering system "Now serving number A142 at counter 1." When I got there, they were serving number A117. I swear they get their help from the same place as the USPS. But I digress.

Finally, I get up to the counter. The lady asks for my social security number. I tell it to her. She informs me that someone else has that SSN and that she'll need to see my SSN card. It's at home. She then tells me that I'll have to come back, loaded with my SSN card, my birth certificate and with my marriage license to "prove" who I am. She said that they will 'flag' the other person's info that it has the wrong SSN on their profile. So I have to go back in the morning and get a lesson in humility, loaded with my proof. This just started this year apparently.