Inching toward surgery

I'm not a big party person, but I can usually get as far as cheese and crackers on New Years' Eve!  This year, with a PICC line and another tube hanging out my nose, I don't even get that.

Steve brought Demi for the morning and she slept on my bed.  Later in the day a therapy dog came to visit and I loved that.  I've been seeing dogs here all week, it apparently is no big deal - or there are enough service and therapy dogs that they are quite visible.

Youngest Grandson has been quite concerned about my situation and has had many conversations about my hospitalization.  Here's a story that I heard.  He was talking to his mom about Nana and asked her if money was a problem with all these hospitalization costs.  His mom assured him we were ok (we have an awesome HMO so rarely pay more than $15 for anything, including free surgery, free chemotherapy, etc.) "Because Mom," he was saying, "we have to get Nana everything she needs, even if we have to live in a shack!"

Steve just left for the day, wanting to get home before the drunks hit the roads.  It's 9:00 here, three more hours before the ball drops.  I doubt that I'll be awake.

I walked an hour today and then gave it up.  I met surgeon #3 (of four) and got more questions answered.  The urologist also stopped by.  He wants to change the kidney stent during the same surgery to save me from double anesthesia. I was talking to him about the surgery being planned - not the stent - and he was much more reassuring.  The surgeons, although quite likable, were telling me everything that could possibly go wrong and I was starting to panic.  The urologist was much more hopeful.  No one expects a cure - at stage four that would be totally unrealistic - but I was hoping that the surgery would improve my situation, not worsen it.  So I'm back to that for now.