Happy Thanksgiving - Early

Hi all, As you know, I am having knee surgery Monday and I will be in the hospital Thanksgiving Day so I wanted to extend my good wishes to you all now. Have and happy, safe and nutritional Thanksgiving - and remember to be thankful for all we've been given. Below is a post that I made on my surgeon's board tonight reflecting on all for which I am thankful. I hope, if you read it, you will realize what I did this week - stop, smell the roses, live each day to the fullest and please, don't lose sight of what is important in life and remember to be thankful for your blessings - especially your family, friends and good health. As Thanksgiving approaches, I've been reflecting on all I have to be thankful for. Of course, Dr. W and his wonderful skills and care are high on the list as are all of you wonderful people. My bypass was right after Thanksgiving 4 years ago and each year has gotten better and better. I sit here tonight humbled by all that is good in my life. This past week has been tumultous. I saw my internist Friday for a pre-surgical physical and he found an enlargement on my thyroid. The plan was to wait for a while then do a thyroid scan if it continued to grow. When Dr. Warnock saw it Saturday before the support group meeting, he wanted to do a needle biopsy right then. Bless his wonderful, caring heart - he didn't have time to do it before the meeting so he gave up even more of his Saturday and came back to the office after the meeting to do it. I heard from my internist yesterday morning - all my blood work was good but he spotted what he thought might be a small tumor in my left lung. I was absolutely freaked out - for one thing, he decided that we had to act on the thyroid thing immediately instead of waiting (I told him it had been taken care of by Dr. Warnock) and that I had to have a CT Scan before he would clear me for my surgery. This is a relatively new doctor for me and he had no previous chest xrays to compare this one to. I called Dr. Warnock's office and he and Patty got my records out from before my bypass. The spot was on that xray too and it's the same size now as it was then. Patty faxed the results to me and I faxed them to Dr. Reardon. Here's where the thankful part comes in - my thyroid biopsy came back non-malignant and the consensus of opionion is that the spot on the lung is scar tissue from an old infection. So I have gone from fear of having thyroid and/or lung cancer to being declared healthy as a horse. I can not tell you how incredibly great it feels to go from fearing you have cancer to find that you are perfectly healthy. I will be having a total knee replacement Monday at 8:30 at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. My Thanksgiving will be spent in the hospital - but that's ok. I'm even thankful for that. I will be on my way to having blessed relief from the pain I've suffered for years. I have been reminded this week that we have so much to be thankful for - and sometimes we get lost in the everyday, mundane things that burden our lives. It's easy to resort to self-pity when things aren't going so well. Well, I promise you, the cloud of a possible fatal disease hanging over your head - even for a few hours - brings reality home. Yes, I have severe arthritis - and the knee isn't the end of it - it's all over my body. But I have my health - arthritis in a pain but it's not fatal. I won't be with family and friends Thanksgiving Day, but I'll find a way to say a special Thanksgiving prayer from my drugged stupor in the hospital bed. I will probably sleep a lot of the day - and will miss the turkey day festivities with my son - but that's ok - next year, I'll be walking without a cane (I am determined) and, God willing, I will treat him to the Thanksgiving Day Cowboy Game. I have never been able to go with him to a game because I was always too fat or in too much pain to do the walking involveed. Well, those days are history and for that I am more than thankful. The next few days are going to be terribly busy for me so if I don't get to post again before Monday, have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone. Remember all the things we have to be thankful for - as bariatric surgery patients, we have geen given a second chance in life - and not many people get that chance. So, if and when you are feeling blue and tempted by all the holiday treats you shouldn't/can't have - remember to be thankful for the tool we have and the good, healthy life it will afford us if we use it correctly. Patty