He's Back!

I am excited to share pieces of a new book I am reading titled "The Art of Happiness."  My roommate slipped it into my "essentials" bag of underwear and pills that some friends delivered to me at the hospital.  It was the perfect reading to keep me sane while hooked up to oxygen, a heart monitor, and and two IVs.

However, it would be superfluous to not first talk about my health.  This is my chance to update so many friends and family.  And before I even do that, I have to tell a great story. . . . 

It was Monday, June 30th, that Rob, my roommate took me at 11:00 pm to the emergency room.  I was evidently much worse than I thought.  They told me it would be a three-hour wait and then once they triaged me, they yelled for an emergency wheelchair and told me I was not allowed to take a single step.  My vital signs were all through the roof.  (I love drama, particularly when it's all about me!)

They finally called Rob in the waiting room and he joined me in the ER, God love him, until 2:30 am.  During that time, he asked me if I had eaten any of the cheesecake in the refrigerator.  I had a piece at lunch, I told him.  "Did it upset your stomach?  I had a piece tonight and my stomach hurts."  I told him everything hurt, so I wasn't sure about my stomach.

The last thing Rob said as he was leaving was, "I'm going home and throwing away that cheesecake."  He got home, but was not there long.  He came back to the ER, and within a few hours had an emergency appendectomy.  We ended up just a couple of floors away, texting each other through the night.  Just when I get a little a drama, he has to outdo me!

After a couple of days in ICU and a broncoscopy, they discovered pneumonia and put me in a regular room for the rest of the week.  My chemo treatment for last week was postponed until tomorrow, and they will test me to see if I am strong enough.  I still am having difficulty breathing.

So that's the update.  I don't like talking about the bad stuff.  It is what it is.  But I hear from too many friends to "Keep it real."  So there.  Thank you everyone for so many wonderful emails and phone calls. Any pain at all is completely overshadowed by love.