Final Preparations.

Well, this is it.

Tomorrow is my last day before surgery. Mama was showing me pictures on her camera tonight, and had a video of me under the Christmas tree this year. I watched it and nearly cried -- I've never watched a video of myself, and I was so shocked by how bad it really is. I was completely unaware of how much weight I was really carrying, and seeing that video further cemented my need for what I'm about to go through. That video definitely stung... to look at yourself and see how bad it truly is...

Forgive me... I'm a bit emotional right now.

Tomorrow we leave for Anniston. We're probably going to leave around noon or 1:00, so I'm going to get up early so I can try to get some talking done before I go. We'll check into the hotel around 2:00 Central time, 3:00 Eastern. (Yes, they're an hour behind us.)

My surgery is scheduled for 8:00 AM Central, 9:00 Eastern, Monday morning. It's an hourlong procedure, and I should be in recovery within a few hours. Then at every six hours, they'll draw labs.

Tuesday, they'll make me do a test to make sure none of the stitches are leaking. After that test is passed, I won't have to be stuck any more. They'll probably unhook me from the catheter, oxygen, and heart monitors sometime after the test is done. They'll make me do more walking and probably start making me try to "eat," which will be consuming liquids.

Wednesday, if all goes right, I'll be ready to be discharged. The only thing is that they require you to take a shower before you leave.

January 6 is when the drains should, in theory, come out.

This is what I know now.

As per the surgeon's request, I took a sample dose of the pain medication they're going to have me on. It tasted horrid and nearly caused me to throw up, but I quickly chased it down with something more flavorful. I was talking with Mama when she told me my eyes started rolling back in my head, and I nearly fell right off the stool I was on. She tells me this is normal, and sent me to bed... I had to grip the wall tight, and nearly had to crawl.

Ironically, it hasn't been as bad in the last twenty minutes. I hope maybe I just got loopy for a while and shook it off. I'm told I'm going to want these medications, although I'm really hoping to do without them, and I don't want to be knocked out for long.

I'm just tying up some loose ends. Leaving notes on YPP and letting people know where I'm gonna be for the next few days.

For my love: If I didn't get to talk to you this morning to tell you this, I left you a note in the living room of our house on YPP.

With that, I guess I'm going to wrap this up.

Talk to you later, folks. See you on the other side.