En route to Rochester....

I am composing this blog entry while on board the plane to Minneapolis and enjoying a nice bottle of Gatorade that I brought on board for myself. Let’s just say that the last couple of weeks have been a little challenging vis-à-vis my health, and even the mildest amount of dehydration is not my friend. Can you say.....TIMBER!!!!! So, in order to (hopefully) ensure my safe arrival in Rochester and avoid any potential disasters along the way, I am drinking and drinking and drinking some more.

So, here are the latest happenings….

Yesterday (Monday) morning I got up early and brought Vince and Jesse to the airport bound for Tulsa. I held it together pretty well for most of the weekend while I packed Jesse’s stuff and explained to him what was going on, but once I left him at the airport I lost it a little bit. Let me just say that there is a cashier at the Target in Culver City who got a lot more than she bargained for when she amiably commented “you are out shopping early this morning.” Anyhow, she is now praying for me

So, I spent the rest of yesterday running errands and having lunch with my mom (who, in case you didn’t know, been part of the post-Katrina New Orleans diaspora and has now relocated to Los Angeles where she currently resides at Westwood Horizons where she is known by the other residents as “The Kid.”

Last night after dinner I called the hotel we are staying at in Rochester to confirm the reservations (again!) and the desk clerk graciously appeased my neuroses when I explained to her that I was having open heart surgery on Friday, my husband and son had left that day, and I was alone in my house with nothing to do but obsess on the traveling details. Proving that what they say is true about those Rochesterians (is that what you call a person from Rochester?) she even offered to talk to me again last night if I wanted to call her back later. I got her name, found out that she was working tonight, and I told her that I would be visiting her in the lobby for a long session tonight. I suggested that perhaps she should block out the time. We have a session set for 7:00 p.m.

Then after a last minute reassessment and suitcase addition (I weighed my suitcase on my new digital scale and found out that it weighed over 70 lbs! – a girl’s gotta have all her stuff around when she is having her sternum cracked open!) I went to bed where I slept until the late hour 4:00 a.m. Yeah, that insomnia kicked in last week. I am sure it will be in residence for awhile.

My friend Sherry Saffer Garfield was going to take me to the airport, but due to some logistical issues, she asked if her husband Bruce could drive me instead. This is one of those true life is weirder than fiction stories.

Bruce lived in the apartment building I lived in when I first moved to L.A. 16 years ago. He and I used to hang out together in the Melrose Place-ish complex whenever he and Sherry were off during their long on again - off again courtship). Well, after awhile, they decided to stay on and to have two girls. We all became members of the same synagogue, and a few years ago when I was having my brain surgery, I find out from the Rabbi that Sherry has recently received the exact same diagnosis and had been through the same thing. Suddenly, my former nemesis became my lifeline and confidant. Go figure…..

Anyway, Bruce got me to the airport in plenty of time, I was luckily able to curb check my 2 bags (each weighing in at less than 50 lb. thereby avoiding $100 in surcharges – my digital scale has already paid for itself) at the bargain rate of $2/per bag (Northwest is in bankruptcy – they also sell the meals on the plane for $3) – Please let’s all pray that they use some of my $4 to settle the labor dispute they are currently engaged in with their flight attendants before its time to fly home or else I may be stranded in MN.

I am now sitting on the plane with my laptop crammed in my face, so I think I am going to wrap up for now. Once I arrive in Minneapolis, I am going to take a shuttle bus to Rochester in time for my session with the desk clerk tonight.

Tomorrow, I have a full day of tests at the Mayo Clinic beginning at 8:00 a.m. Vince is scheduled to fly into Minneapolis tomorrow night and meet me in Rochester around 10. On Thursday, we have consults scheduled with Drs. Ommen and Dearani, and maybe another test or 2. Surgery is scheduled for Friday. I don’t know the time, etc. yet, but when I do, I will post it.

Hasta Luego…..

Cynthia