Mom's Surgery Bumped + Davidson Graduation Anniversary

Tulips at the arboretum.

Just a quick post to say two things:

1. Mom's surgery date has been bumped to Thursday May 19, 

and

2. Today, May 17th, is the 13th anniversary of my (and therefore many of yours) graduation from Davidson!

Big, beautiful PINK tulips at the arboretum.

On Monday morning I woke up from a dream in which Mom's surgery had been pushed back to July 4th. I woke up thinking: "Oh no, I hope that doesn't happen to Mom." I know that it was an anxiety dream, but then when Mom came into my room to say good morning her first sentence was: "Well, my surgery got bumped." 

Thankfully it is only moved back by two days. We are grateful that the person who needs to have surgery for a brain tumor can get immediate attention from the surgeon and we understand the need to wait. This is how it works when there is only one neurosurgeon in town!

I have been wanting to go on outings and do 'fun stuff' before the surgery, so we have continued to do that this week, along with preparing to have things organized and in order for Mom's time in the hospital and her recovery at home. I figure while Mom is recovering I can catch up on email and all of the other things I've left undone!

I am not sure if I'm having a burst of energy because I'm anxious or because I'm feeling better or a combination of both! My ANS is a little mad at me for pushing so hard. Mom is just plain ready for the surgery, and I'm just ready for her to be safely through it! I am officially six weeks out from my port removal surgery, and am hoping that this new energy is the result of finally recovering from that trauma to my body. (Dr. Complex told me it would take up to six weeks and that seems to have been right on.)

More lovely tulips! Tulips always make me think of Davidson.

On Monday, we made a little outing to Target and watched DWTS in the evening. Over the weekend we made a little trip to Penney's for summer clothes (not super fun, but necessary!), and watched a movie. We felt relieved to get that chore done. If I still have any energy left, and it is not POURING, we will hit the Farmer's Market today for one last outing together. 

While the outings are exhausting, they are also exhilarating. It is hard to explain how exciting it is to engage in the simplest of choices such as picking out my own cards for my dad for Father's Day, for my nephew David's birthday, etc. (Usually Mom does ALL of this for me.). Going to Penney's was exhausting, but it was two hours of time and I'm all set for summer. How do I explain the joy in making my own choices about what I want to try on? Ordering online is way more challenging, time-consuming, and expensive. I limited myself to one brand of clothes, which is hard to do, but that is the only way it is manageable.  And don't worry, I got some pajamas too.

 We also made it to the arboretum and the Farmer's Market last week, which is where I took these photos of the tulips. These are two of our very favorite places to go.

Purple tulips. It was the 1000s of white tulips I saw on my first visit to Davidson that made me say: "I want to go HERE!" :)

Last of all a little shout out to my fellow Davidsonians who graduated with me 13 years ago today. Whether I'm snapping these photos of tulips at the arboretum (oh, how Davidson knows how to do tulips!), listening to WDAV while I blog, using the skills I learned to navigate chronic illness, watching Stephen Curry play for the Warriors, or a million other things...Davidson is always with me. 

Davidson is most present in my life in the daily interactions I have with so many of YOU--on Facebook or through texting and emailing. I love to see what my Davidson friends have to to say on Facebook. We are certainly a group of passionate and compassionate people!  We've now known each other for half of our lives, my dear Davidson friends. I love you.

I hope to write a blog post about what Mom's surgery will actually entail and have it go out on Wednesday, but we will see if that happens! Otherwise, I will be posting updates on my blog as I am able. This is the only way I know how to keep up with folks during this time.

Blessings,

Emily