HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Happy Holidays from James, Lindsay and Mark!

Lindsay's Year in Review

YEAR IN REVIEW

No Title

I can't think of a clever title for this here blog post so I stuck with the generic 'no title' approach. Please don't sue for lack of imagination. I promise, next time it'll be better.

So it's been three weeks since I've been living with one less organ. For those of you just joining us, I had my gallbladder removed on November 8, 2010. The surgery was pretty easy. As they hooked me up to the monitors to test my heart rate and whatnot they noticed my heart rate was a whopping 111! They asked if I was nervous, which obviously! Many a doctor and nurse were shocked to hear that I was not 18 years old but, yes folks, 30!

In order to calm me down they promised me a mild sedative before bringing me into the operating room. So after inserting the IV, which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The only painful thing about it was when she was flicking my hand to get a vein to pop out and then when she first turned on the IV to let the fluids pass through. A very strange sensation.

Finally it was time to wheel me in. Mild sedative my ass! I don't even remember anything. All I recall is moving onto the operating table and someone telling me to scooch a little closer. Then I remember waking up and being freezing. I was told later that I woke up in a lot of pain so they gave me some pain meds, that were amazing! Put me right to sleep again for a couple more hours. Then they moved me to the chair and finally got to go home.

The first couple of days were okay, I had to go back to the doctor on Wednesday (2 days after the surgery) for him to put stitches in one of the incisions as it was continuously bleeding. I know you really wanted to know that! But other than that it was easy breezy. The only real pain I had was my shoulders due to the gas they put in my belly to distend it so they don't mess with any other organs while taking out the gallbladder. So then the rest of the week was okay. I would get extremely tired really quickly and slept most of the time. Towards Friday and Saturday I was feeling awful, but I got through it all and now look at me.

I have been back to work, had the stitches removed, and am eating normally. yay me.:) So thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. :) They helped me through.

LA LINDA

I met Linda through an online forum about seven years ago ( how geeky of me ). But when she came to New York City in 2006 we met in real life. And we hit it off about more than a mutual admiration for Julia Roberts. And then she came back to the city in 2008. We had some more fun. And then she wrote to tell me she would be staying in New York City for nearly three months. She would study and live in Nolita, but basically just live it up.

At this point in my life I was done with New York. My one major relationship left me curled up in a corner. I was so depleted from my death of a job. I wanted to do something risky and New York felt too safe for me. And then Linda came to the city and she was so in love with it. That love rubbed off on me. I was able to enjoy the city again in some respects. It helped that I got laid off from that horrendous job. And my alternative (Seattle) became a bit more expensive then I thought, but really, the love I have for New York is like no other. This city feeds me. Those don't live here complain of the many tourists, the smells, the noise, the pace of it all. But all of that is why I love it so. I love that I can see and do anything I want to do in this city. And no other city can say that. I love how brutal and warm this city can be to your ego all at the same time - much like life can be.

Strong Like Bull

Lindsay is strong like bull. She got that bitch Barbara removed from her stomach.

For those of you who don't know what a Barbara is - there are three definitions:

1. A man or a woman with a loud voice.
2. A major surgery.
3. A woman with wide shoulders.

Wish her well because recovery is tough. But she will be at Harry Potter opening day. You can count on that.

Gall Stones GO AWAY!

So I have to get my gallbladder removed on Monday (November 8, 2010). I was diagnosed with gallstones after 5 weeks of waking up in the middle of the night with intense pain.

Due to my fear of going to the doctor I let this pain happen for longer than neccessary, but thankfully it wasn't anything too serious. Gallstones run in my family, both Grandmothers and one Uncle have had their gallbladder removed.

Unfortunately you can't really pass gallstones so the only course of real action is to have your gallbladder removed completely. Or live the rest of your life on a bland boring diet. Who wants to do that? Although I have lost a lot of weight, one of the only good things about being sick. What does the gallbladder do that is so important? Well it stores the bile from your liver and helps digesting fatty foods, dairy and spicy foods as well. So when stones form, and you eat those foods the gallbladder squeezes but it is being blocked by the stones so it's like squeezing a balloon (or something.)

So monday morning at 6:30am I will have my very first real surgery. My first surgery was my wisdom teeth. I am terrified but know that it will all work out and I will finally be able to eat normally and won't be in pain anymore after the recovery.

Luckily the gallbladder removal is fairly simple and only involves a laproscopic surgery, four small incisions and you don't even have to stay in the hospital overnight. So wish me luck. I'll see you on the other side.

-Lindsay