Preop appt., Surprise from friends and laundry party

Friday, December 7th - Preop appt.

Today I had to go to a preop appt. I thought they were going to take blood, do an exam, make sure I was in tip top shape for the surgery on Wednesday. First of all, my GPS took me some wonky way to get to the appt. Luckily, I gave myself enough time to take a trip around the city prior to making it to my appt. When I arrived, someone in a lab coat took my vitals, set me in a room. Another person came in and asked me if I would like to be involved with a research study. (I had been asked to be in a different one last Monday during the oncology team meeting, but that one was more involved). I agreed to be a part of this one. All that is involved (on my part), is giving them some blood for them to study, and taking a 15 min or less survey about my pain after the surgery. That is doable.

Another white labcoat came in and completed a general exam (measured my range of motion, strength in my hands, pushed on my belly, etc...nothing personal, I got to keep my clothes on and everything! (which felt weird, really). A third white labcoat came in and talked with me about the surgical precautions and risks, reminded me not to eat after a certain time, etc. That was about it. I spent more time waiting in the exam room than actually talking to a person.

On my way home I called my Dad (who was at my house watching my girls so that I could go to the appt.) He said that some friends had been there at the house, and I will see a surprise when I got home. I had a feeling that my friends were up to something today, but I didn't know what. You see, I know that my friends want to help me right now. They are feeling the effects of this "diagnosis" too, and they want to do SOMETHING. As tough as it is for me to ask for help, I do know that I am going to be needing it very soon. That's a tough place to be in for me. I have always considered myself a strong woman, that I could do almost anything without needing anyone to do it for me. Maybe I'm a bit of a control freak. Maybe it came from being raised primarily by my single Dad who raised me to be tough and to take care of myself, and not have to rely on others for help. Either way, I know that I am going to have to "suck it up" and be vulnerable, and not only accept the help that is going to be offered, but (gasp!) even ASK for help too. I am not looking forward to that. Luckily I have an awesome group of friends that will probably make that part a lot easier for me. :)

*I have heard about a great page that can help organize the "help" for someone like me, or someone that has had a new baby, etc. it's a website with a calendar where you fill in the calendar with things that you need (child care, meals, rides to appts, house work assistance, etc.) It's located at www.carecalendar.org  and it's free to set up a page. I am sure there are other sites like that one, but I thought I would mention it, in case someone reading this could use it as a good resource to help someone else.

So, I arrived at home, knowing that my friend Joanie was planning on coming over. My friend Suz had told her the other day that I was "down to my ugly scrubs" at work (meaning I had not done laundry in a couple weeks). My poor kid had run out of pants to wear and had to wear a skirt to school for the past 3 days - whoopsie! So, Joanie told me that she was coming over and we were having a "laundry folding party" and it somehow involved wine. I knew there was no arguing with her, so I agreed that she could come over after my appt. She was in the driveway when I pulled in. As soon as I pulled up I could see what my Dad was referring to when he said that "my friends had been there". The front of my house had been decorated with Christmas decorations!

 I was so overwhelmed by the sweetness of it all, I started to cry. How great are my friends, right? Patty & Karen, you rock!

Joanie came inside and brought in a random assortment of things she picked up at Costco. A bag of apples, brie cheese, pretzel crackers, dove chocolates, and a frozen dinner for my family to have that night. I was happy that she brought some food over, as I was pretty hungry after the appt (I think it was about 1:30-2pm at this point). Joanie also managed to lock her keys in her car after she arrived, but that is another story. She came in, poured us some wine (what, you don't drink and do laundry?) Joanie is like a big kid, and my kids were happy to see her (they think of her like another playmate). She brought them over some coloring sheets (those ones that have the markers that only color on the special sheets). They spent some time coloring in the living room for a while. Then they decided to go in the other room and make up a dance routine and put on a performance for me. This was something that the girls did on a regular basis at my house, but having Joanie as a new addition would be a different element to the performance. While they were choreographing their routine, I figured I should go throw a load of laundry in - this was, after all a laundry folding party!