Displaced Beachbums

I had my three week post-surgery check-up yesterday and unfortunately, all I got was “You can walk BRISKLY” ~ dang, I’m so ready to start some real exercise! Oh, well…the down time has allowed me to complete a lot of paperwork, get photos in order and start on holiday activities such as card writing, gift wrapping, decorating, etc.

One thing about being sedentary is I really dislike TV. There’s not a whole lot of decent shows and I’ve developed “Television Attention Deficit Disorder”. The only shows I watch from start to finish without flipping channels to see “what else is on” are “Amazing Race” and, out of habit, “Survivor.”

Thank goodness for good books and Netflix.

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It was a week ago today I had surgery to “take care” of my uterine fibroids. Once we got back from NYC, all my focus went into getting ready for my surgery ~ cleaning the house, paying all the bills, having “the talk” with FM just in case something happened, etc.

What was suppose to be a 1 hour surgery turned into more than 3 hours due to complications and there was significantly more blood loss than expected. Here we go again with those lovely iron pills 😉  Once they wheeled me into my room, FM gave me something from FG. She sent her FAVORITE stuffed animal and a hand-written get well card that brought tears to my eyes:

There’s nothing like family to get you through the rough spots, is there?!

I spent two full days in the hospital but thankfully was allowed to leave in the early evening on Friday. I was still in considerable pain, and hated to give up the good pain killers available only in the hospital, but the thought of another sleepless night was too much to contemplate. My roommate was OK but there was another woman on the ward screaming at the top of her lungs several times throughout the night. It was so nice to be home and in my own bed!

So for now, my days are spent working on getting healthy again and not a whole lot of anything else.

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Someone out there loathes the very sight of me. She gets angry and upset if she sees me driving down the street. What have I done? I’m a mom and I drive a suburban.

As I was driving home, in my beast of a car, from the dog park last week, National Public Radio (NPR) had a show on Carbon Offsets. One woman called in and said she “loathes moms driving suburbans.” The very sight of us caused her great anger. I have no idea why a man driving a suburban would use any less fuel but that’s pretty typical illogical thinking of someone like her…

The caller has no clue about the circumstances of someone who chooses to drive a suburban. They could have six children like my neighbor in Guam. Or, in my case, I have in the past used my vehicle to transport shelter animals to adoption fairs and to the vet to be spayed/neutered. 

Strangely, during her call, she professed to being an animal advocate yet couldn’t bring herself to stop eating meat. She expressed guilt about eating meat and the host of the Carbon Offset show said perhaps there should be a “tofu” offset for people like her. She could ease her guilt by paying someone else not to eat meat.  That comparison really brought home the fact that Carbon Offsets are a joke and the only way to bring down emissions is for everyone and every business to cut down on output. “Buying” away your consumption is not going to help the environment.

Come to think of it, the wanna be vegetarian and suburban hating caller, would probably like me after-all, if she took the time to come down from her judgemental perch.

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I survived my MRI yesterday and can honestly say I hope to never need another one. Thanks to KBG‘s advice, I asked and was granted a foot first entry. I still felt a wee bit claustrophobic, the noise was tremendous and, at first, I thought I was hearing my own pounding heart but even when it’s not “on”, there is a continual rapid hammering sound in the machine. The headset with a pretty good Canadian radio station was the only thing that “saved” me. Oh, and the injection of contrast dye was no fun either.

Time spent in the machine was a little over an hour and I only felt the urge to press the panic button twice but when I started to panic, I kept thinking of myself sitting on Haputo Beach in Guam. It was straight out of the “Calgon: take me away” commercials.

Strange thing: while I was waiting to go in, three policemen came through the waiting room with a prisoner who had both his hands and feet shackled. He walked less than a foot by me and all I could think of was the movie “Silence of the Lambs.” What if he decided to pounce on me. A product of watching way too many movies 😉

The best thing about the MRI was it was on time and I was able to make it on time to my hair appointment ~ I’ve got my priorities straight!

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…with iron. That’s what my doctor told me on Wednesday right after he let me know that I am “severly anemic.” Of course, the news came just in time to spend the whole next day receiving our household goods which were delivered a day early. Talk about exhausting.

I should have known something was wrong with me when merely reading V’s blog “Did You Run Today” made me tired 😉  After all our travels and the move, I felt all my symptoms were normal: little run down, dizzy at times, a little more difficult to concentrate. According to the doctor, because I’m in such great shape (his words, certainly not mind), my body has been adapting to it as it worsened.

The reason for all this: a pesky and large fibroid. Thankfully, I finally found a doctor who actually LISTENED to me and will help me get “rid” of the problem on my terms. First things first, I’ll be taking lots of iron pills ~ as any of you who have or are taking them know they are no fun but I’m thinking if I can function at such a high level and I’m severly anemic then I’ll be “superwoman” when I’m back to normal.  Who knows what I’ll get done ~ might even join FM on a few of his runs.  

I will have to undergo an MRI ~ if anyone has gone through that, I’d love to hear some words of encouragement. I’m not fond of enclosed spaces so I hope I don’t freak out in the “chamber.” Maybe they’ll play me some good music to take my mind off of things.

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Seems May is when we usually make our moves. We moved from North Carolina to Germany in May; likewise from Germany to Guam. And here we are, once again, moving in May, this time to New York.  I’m not complaining ~ it’s a great month to move since the weather is nice and school is usually done or at least, almost done for the summer. We’re actually not leaving Guam until June but the movers have come and gone with the bulk of our household goods. 

I’m sitting in an empty house which echos if there’s any noise. As sad as it is to be leaving, I do love this minimal lifestyle. It’s so easy to clean and reminds me of my college days when I could fit everything I owned (including my cat) into my orange VW Bug. 

We kept a few things to live on for the next three weeks and those items will be shipped as “Unaccompanied Baggage” which is roughly 500-600 lbs. FG had a moment of panic when she realized we would only have ONE TV. The horror of it all.  She immediately wanted to set up a TV viewing schedule for the three of us 😉

Since a lot of people are in the process of moving, a few of us got into a long conversation about movers. It was interesting to hear other people’s perspective on how to treat movers. Some people don’t even give them water! Pretty harsh. Personally, I think being a mover is a tough, thankless, low paying job but I’m glad SOMEONE is willing to do it. I always provide coffee, water, sodas and usually muffins or donuts in the morning. And, of course, lunch.   

When I moved from Atlanta to Ft. Riley, I remember giving one of the movers my leftover Irish Whiskey from my annual (back then) St. Patrick’s Day party. He was so happy and all he kept saying was “this is all the way from Ireland, all the way from Ireland.”

I’m off to enjoy a little TV while both FG and FM are out of the house…

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I thought Agent Cool Blue Plaque Detector was the perfect dental product for FG since she “rushes” through when she brushes her teeth. Unfortunately, it was short lived ~ it’s been voluntarily recalled. If you’ve got some in your home, return it or toss it.

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