For the past three weeks or so I have been dreading my follow-up appointment with Dr. Low (my awesome surgeon.) I guess I'm a real pessimist, and have been having a hard time with the mental and physical recovery from extensive chest surgery. (I have been planning worst-case-scenarios in my head to see how I'd deal when I might hear bad news.)
My appt was at 9:45, and I was told to check in and be to radiology for chest x-rays by 9:30. Gerritt and I drove separately so he could go directly to work(so he won't be late for a church activity tonight), and I could pick Abby up from my friend Bree's before she needed to leave. We get there and I get my x-ray's without a hitch, but when I get to the Thoracic surgery waiting area and get checked in there we wait.........and wait. It's about 10:30 before I get called back to the exam room, and there we sit...........I have no fingernails left because of stress. I start pacing and worrying that I won't be able to pick up Abby in time. Finally, a knock on the door. Sigh, it's only a nurse practitioner who asks me about the incision and how I've been feeling, and all the basics that busy surgeons don't have time to ask. She gets all her info and leaves. And we wait........what no more fingernails to bite! What to do now? More pacing, and contemplating the effects of jumping out of a sixth floor window, this tiny exam room is excruciatingly warm!! (I get a little high-strung....I'm glad Gerritt is there to calm me down.) It's 11:15 by now and finally he strolls in to tell me the good news:
My Gore-Tex patch is still in place, and my recovery has been phenomenal.
Congratulations to me!
I wasn't able to pick up Abby in time, so she got to take a ride with Bree to the airport. She seemed to enjoy it!
*Well, I guess all that worrying was for nothing. Oh, and he thinks the best 'test' for the durability of said patch is childbirth. So, maybe we'll try that again soon.



Oh yeah! Abby is 16 months old today! Only two more months 'till we can send her off to nursery! (We're not excited about that or anything.....)