Pre-Op and a Family Celebration

The crazy thing about having to go through pre-op, is that you have to read through a ton of forms, sign each one of them and then you are pretty much done, unless you are required to have an EKG.

After all of your paperwork is signed with a nurse, they send you to the cardiology department in another building. The only good thing about it is that the buildings are connected by a skyway. Not every floor is connected though. There is only one floor connected between the two buildings. Unfortunately for me, my doctors are not on the same floor that has the skyway. So, I always have to walk to the other end of the building where the elevators are, go down a floor, then walk all the way across the building and the skyway to get to the other building. It is such a pain.

When we get to the cardiology department, you must check in at this small window toward the back of the building. If you didn't know where you were going, you could certainly get lost. Once you check in, you wait for at least 30-45 minutes before anyone ever calls you back. As soon as you are taken to a room, they quickly hook up the electrodes and take a 10 second reading, unhook you and you're done. All that wasted time waiting and wondering and getting anxious for a 10 second reading. Another pain to deal with.

But, when that is over, you are all done and free to go home. So, you leave the hospital campus and get on the freeway only to sit in traffic for another hour. How in the world did I live in California my whole life and not end up with a heart attack or high blood pressure?

I was very glad to get all of it over with. Why? Today was my mother's birthday. I was already feeling like the worst child in the world by getting cancer and making my entire family go through this with me. And here, on my mom's birthday I have to go through pre-op testing and a ton of forms. I was feeling like a heel.

But, mom was all too nice about it all. She say this was what we had to do as a family and she wouldn't have it any other way. I couldn't believe how well she was taking this. She had cried for days when dad and I wanted to talk about it back in July, and now she was a pillar of strength. The great thing though was that we were going to go to one of her favorite places for happy hour and dinner.

My grandparents joined my parents and I at the Claim Jumper. My mom's close friend also joined us. We had dinner together and laughed and joked the night away. We even splurged on the Chocolate Motherload Cake for my mom and sang Happy Birthday! It turned out to be a great evening. I was happy we had a wonderful celebration for my mom and forgot for just a few moments of time that we had a hard week ahead of us all.

Mom, you are a star! You shine bright for everyone that meets you and they love you. Not as much as me, but they love you.

Next up, 'Surgery.'

Reflection:
"Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart." Jeremiah 24:7

I am reading a book by Robin Jones Gunn called "Sisterchicks Go Brit." I was struck by the verse above which she quoted as the main characters self-toured a chapel at Exeter College in Oxford England. The Lord will give me a heart to know Him, to know that He is Lord and I am His people. He will be my God and I WILL return to Him with my whole heart. I want to know know the Lord. I want Him to be my God. This journey I have been on since 2004 (more notably since 2008) has made me draw close to the Lord and get to know Him in a greater way. The circumstances of life sometimes gently (sometimes more forcibly) push us toward Him. It is our choice at that moment to decide to draw close to Him and get to know Him or walk away and blame Him. Our choice is just that, our choice. He doesn't force us. But, He wants us.

Question:
Is the Lord drawing you toward Him now? What direction will you choose? I urge you to choose carefully and wisely.