Waiting By the Phone

After my hair appointment this morning, I will be home waiting by the phone for my interview with an anesthesiologist. This is preparation for the endoscopy next Tuesday to take at look at the valve inside my Nissen Fundoplication surgery site and possibly the hernia. The valve seems to not be working properly, which is allowing acid reflux to flow into my lungs.

I want to confirm with them that I will be given light sedation for this procedure but I want it in my file that I, like my mom, become very ill after general anesthesia. We also need to review my medications, what I can take that morning, what I need to stop taking immediately, list of previous surgeries and a couple of other questions.

There is a two-hour window for this phone call so I will be just hanging here at home. That is not a bad thing as a big storm blew through last night and it is expected to rain on and off all day. A good day to stay home.

Michael has a Boys-Night-Out tonight. They are meeting at the same restaurant where we have a reservation for Thanksgiving luncheon. I am so grateful that he has a large group of male friends, several whom had dealt with illnesses and one a death of a spouse. He can talk about living with someone dealing with a chronic fatal illness and the reality of being a caretaker. They understand. They are his support group.

When William was in kindergarten, I met a woman who was a transplant from Boston with a son in his class. JR and William became friends as did their parents. Sue continued her teaching career and just retired last June. I sent her an email last month wondering how she was doing not getting up early every morning and heading into the classroom. I received her reply this morning. She wonders how she ever found the time for work! Her son, wife and grandson are living with them as they save to buy a house so they are keeping her hopping. We are making plans to meet for coffee and a good chat. Our lives have been so busy that I hope we will now have the time for a proper friendship with lots of conversations and coffee and walks along the ocean. Old friends are the best.