The Latest and Greatest

Stan Here:

Although the last month or so has not been filled with new posts we do have some things that might be worth writing down now and making them into another posting on this ongoing blog.

Many of you know that the surgery that Deb has looked forward to for some time is going to take place this coming Tuesday.  It appears that the blood work is all good and we are a go. Right now it is set for sometime in the afternoon on Tuesday. At the pre-surgery meeting I asked this question.  Lets say that the previous surgeries might be rated at around a 8 or a 9 on the scale of difficulty, recovery, potential complications etc. Where does this one stand?  The doctor said it resided in the 3-4 range. He told us that a 4-5 day hospital stay could be expected.  This doctor is a general surgeon but the oncology doctor will also be present to inspect for cancer issues while the process of this surgery is going on.  2 days of a liquid diet only will be needed before the surgery and that starts here after tonight.  We have been whittling away on  Thanksgiving leftovers and after the last of them are consumed this evening that's it for the eating.  As told before before Deb has never had a high level of apprehension towards surgical procedures. I think this comes from her experience as a surgical nurse. Plus she really wants to get this one over with.  Dealing with this ileostomy has been very difficult and she is ready to have it done with.  Lets hope all goes well.

So that is the the latest and now for the greatest. We found out recently that if all goes well Alden and Mary will have a baby around June of next year.  So Stan Jr. is in the womb and the title of parents and grandparents looks like it will just be a matter of time.  Actually I am not sure if I asked them if it was going to be a boy or a girl.  I will have to ask them that but I am not even sure they will tell me.  I wonder when you find that out?  Anyway it seems to us that this news came just at the right time.  Plus it would appear at this point that we can all look forward to this day in contrast to a time when we did not expect that it would be possible for that to happen.  There sure was some hooting and hollering when we received this news.  Kind of made our day and helped with Thanksgiving season as well.

Mieke and Aaron bought a house. They closed on it yesterday and moved most of their stuff the same day.  Deb is over their right now helping them get it set up.  When she and Mieke have a project such as this they keep on working till it is done. So the norm of a bunch of boxes and stuff all over is not in the cards.  This place is on a nice lot about a mile from here.  It is a refurbished home (flipped) and the guy who did this did a nice job.  Everything looks new and it is very clean.  New paint, new floors, new windows, new appliances all make it the kind of place that seems to fit them and their taste. They looked at a lot of places and this one seemed to hit them just right and was in their price range.  They closed the deal quickly.

Karen ran a 5 K today for Deb and took some pictures at the finish.  I did not even know she was a runner.  She remembers when Deb Took her first walk with her walker she said "Run Forrest,run". That is when she decided to run for Deb.  She has done so many nice things for all of us.  Last night when everyone was tired from moving she showed up with some pizza to feed the tired crew.

So if you can think of it Tuesday send a thought and a prayer our way.  I must tell you I am a little apprehensive after all of the adventures from last time. In a way that I cannot totally explain I think that Deb senses that people are with her in a way that she  would not have been able to explain before the cancer diagnosis.  She feels people pulling for her.  I will post something about the results on Tuesday night.  Thank you to everyone again for staying with us.
Stan the Man