I have been busy. It started last week with a bike ride with Dana & Aimee downtown. We biked along the Mississippi river, went to lunch, and stopped for ice cream. The river is very high right now, I got a great panoramic photo to capture the fury of the rapids.We had a great holiday weekend that was jam packed. Our friends Paul and Jess stopped by on Friday with their new boat and took a bunch of us for a little cruise. We then came home and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows by the fire. Saturday we had a few more friends stop over for a visit then went to the neighbors for a BBQ. Sunday we went out for dinner and ran into some friends we have not seen in a long time. We ended up dancing the night away. Another advantage of my new lungs, being able to dance! I was jumping up and down and I remember thinking, wow, I am not out of breath. Hope everyone had as fun of a weekend as we did.Last night we took Lauren to the musical Shrek at the Children’s Theater for her birthday. Her birthday is really in January but since I was not allowed to be in large groups at that time due to my low white blood count, I checked out the schedule and we waited to see Shrek.Speaking of birthday’s, yesterday was my mom’s birthday. Happy birthday Mom! We are going to celebrate this evening at dinner.And now, a health update…My lungs have been feeling fantastic. Although, my cough has come back slightly. They started me on a different antibiotic yesterday. Until I have my sinus surgery, it seems to be a never ending cycle of mucus draining into my lungs. Last Tuesday also marked the nine month anniversary of my surgery 🙂

Monday I met with the vascular surgeon. The procedure I need to endure is called a first rib resection and scalenectomy. They are going to remove a portion of my first rib and some of the scalene muscle then place a stent to keep the vein open. They can’t place a stent without removing these parts because of the location under my clavicle bone. Anytime I would raise my arm above my shoulders it would crush a stent. Yesterday they confirmed my surgery date for next Thursday, June 5th. I will be in the hospital a few days.

I am not looking forward to the procedure. The surgeon told me it is very painful. I think when you are told you will be using I.V pain medicine instead of oral medicine you can count for an unpleasant time. I also understand it is about a six week recovery. Just in time for summer right? There is an upside to all of this though. I will no longer have a tingly arm, a cold hand, or a white pinky and ring finger because of poor circulation. Also, I will need to take blood thinners for another couple of months but, it will mean coming off blood thinners forever! That is the biggest advantage.