September 9

...that's the day. I have so much to do before then, something made even more difficult by the fact that I'm in a ton of pain. So, in now just shy of four weeks, I have to accomplish the following, plus some:

• get Aubrey's flowergirl dress altered
• get the kids school supplies
• back to school orientation
• get the kids in school :)
• come up with some sort of "schedule" for post op care of me, the kids, and our home
• donate blood twice (for myself! this disgusts me!)
• pre-admit at the hospital
• get fitted for my back brace
• have an appointment with the anesthesiologist
• join a gym for my post op rehab
• cancel anything I had scheduled for the next 6 months (like my class reunion, our family church retreat, Christmas! this makes me sad!)
• insert anything I'm forgetting here :)
  

In the past few days I've already had a physical exam, lots of lab work, an EKG, and a chest x-ray. This is just the beginning...