Strawberry Wine in General

Strawberry Wine, Lindsay Ell (Deanna Carter Cover)

Gawd, Lindsay is so fine. I keep getting older and my angels all stay the same age.

Well hello there.

I have been somewhat remiss in keeping up with reading, yet alone commenting. It is unlikely I will ever catch up.

This is more or less a check in.

I’ve gone from having a single doctor to having to keep an index card in my wallet to keep all the medical professionals I encounter organized.

Long story short, I have an ascending aortic aneurism. Arguably the most significant blood vessel in a body, and mine is defective.

Let us not stop there. Most of the population has a three flap aortic valve. Called a tricuspid. I have a bicuspid, two flaps. CT surgeon says less than 2% of the population have the condition, and almost all are males.

So look at me being all unique.

When I was first told I was going to need surgery I went into a dark, deep hole.

But I cleaned up my lifestyle, stopped eating processed food. Started drinking green tea. Busted out that Breville Juicer I have had for years. Metered in Avocados to my diet. And water. A lot of water. 140+ ounces a day.

I have two zero-water containers that are port and starboard all day.

The result is I feel fantastic. So good that I want to start working out. And then the screech of the needle on vinyl.

I am currently prohibited from lifting more than 10 pounds. That is not as easy as it sounds.

All the blood work is done. All the specialists have been seen.

All I am waiting on is the call from the CT surgeons office. Probably a deep dive meeting on how the surgery will go. Probably another round of imagery and blood work.

Then a date.

Initially I was terrified. I have settled into a zen-thing state. Granted I could refuse surgery and live out my days with a hand grenade in my chest.

But I’ve come to accept.

Unexpected side benefit has been I have been cleaning and clearing my apartment. I’ve been going room by room, deep cleaning and donating all thie shit I have been carrying from house to house and yet don’t need.

I replaced my pots and pans with a really nice 13 piece set of Caphelon pots and pans. Should be the last kitchenware I need in this lifetime.

Assuming I come out the other side of this surgery okay, and that is a safe bet. Next step is an MFA ( hey 600 bucks a month is 600 bucks a month!), a trip to Texas – maybe even to Arizona.

Here’s hoping there are some cute ICU nurses at Maine med. And here’s to hoping they don’t have to mess with my catheter or give me sponge baths.

Okay, maybe a sponge bath.

As soon as I have a date for the surgery, you’ll know. Then I’ll shut down all my social media until I am back.