Whew!

Ok......

So Friday I wake up at 5am to be at the hospital by 6:45am (yes it took me an hour to shower and get ready and 45 minutes to get there). I wait for an hour before they finally let us know (everyone in the waiting room) that their computer is down and that they were waiting for a technician to fix it. An hour later they get it fixed and tell me that in another hour they will do my scan. Thank God I was the #2 appointment for the day. So finally at 9:30am they do the scan and I'm out by 10am. Problem is I had an appointment across town with the head and neck surgeon at 10:45am and there is no way I'll be able to make it in time now. So I call to cancel and reschedule but the next available appointment isn't until June 21st. Not good. So I don't reschedule.

However, I had already seen another head and neck surgeon in another city back in May and the only reason I made the Friday appointment was because it was in a hospital that was closer to me. My mom always says,"Dios sabe lo que hace," and I took it to heart on Friday. On my way home, the surgeon from the other city (Baldwin Park, which even I didn't know where it was until the night before my appointment when I looked it up and it was too late to cancel) calls me and tells me that he feels that it's really important that I get the biopsy done sooner rather than later so he tells me he can do it Monday. Sweet! I take it.

On my way home I also realize that it's the last day to sign up for health insurance at my job and I haven't done it yet. So I go to my job and sign up for health insurance, go to the post office and drop off some netflix movies, and go to the bank to deposit some money. I finally get home at 3pm. All I want to do is take a nap. However, the house is a flurry of activity because of Diego's graduation. So no nap for me. We have a nice dinner at 5pm, go to the graduation at 7pm, come home at 9:30pm, and go pick up Danette at 10pm. By 11:30pm we are at the 80s bar, 3 of Clubs.

This place is like a hidden gem in LA. It's in lower Hollywood so it's not too trendy, there's never a line, it gets full but not packed (which I love because I hate when a place is so packed you can't even move), the music is great, and the drinks are average price. Mind you, the outside looks like a hole in the wall and doesn't even have their name displayed, just a neon sign that says COCKTAILS. We're there until we get kicked out and then we hang out in the parking lot forever because my sister wants to say her long goodbyes to everyone. Then we go to a taco place to eat and some fat lesbians start yelling at us because they think we're talking trash about them. We just laugh and continue to eat and they finally shut up. We make it home at 4am and my sister promptly falls asleep. Of course I'm paranoid she'll miss her flight (it's happened to me too many times) so I stay awake and get her up at 4:30am. She speed packs and is out the door at 4:45am. I'm impressed. I finally lay down at 5am and pass out. Ahhhhhhhh......................

Saturday morning Danette wakes me up at 10:30am. I convince her to let me lay there until noon. Today is shopping day! We leave my house at like 3pm and I take her to Pasadena and we go to the stores she doesn't have in Nashville. So we hit up H&M, Urban Outfitters, Forever 21, and some boutiques. We go to the Barney's Beanery there and drink a Blue Moon with a slice of orange and eat. We go home and my best friend here in LA, Erasto, picks us up and we go to The Abbey for drinks. It's a gay bar in West Hollywood which has the best drinks in the city. They're expensive but they pack a punch. I usually can't drink more than 2, otherwise I end up wasted. So 1 pineapple mojito and 1 apple martini later, I am buzzing but dead tired. We go home and go to bed by 3am.

Sunday Danette wakes me up at 9am. Today is beach day! So guess where we go? Nope, not Venice, not Santa Monica, not Malibu, not Manhattan Beach, or Redondo, or Hermosa. Erasto surprises us by driving halfway to San Diego to............ a nude beach. Of course, with mostly men. We get there and I am so overwhelmed with penises that I fall asleep on the beach for 3 hours (fully clothed!). They wake me up and we drive back to LA and go to Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles. Lol, and we all order (it was 5 of us) the same thing, 1 chicken breast and 1 waffle and macaroni and cheese on the side. It was heaven. Danette and I get back to my house like at 8:45pm and we just talk till 10:30pm. Thank God we're both exhausted and we go to bed soon after.

Monday we both get up at 9am. Danette leaves today and I have surgery! You know, I can literally go on and on about how much I love Danette, but I'll save it for another time. We get ready, she packs, and we say our goodbyes. I leave at 11:30am for the hospital and my brother's girlfriend takes Danette to the airport at 12pm. I feel bad because I feel like I wasn't the greatest host since I was always tired. But I was really happy she was here and just being in her company, regardless of what we were doing, was enough.

At the hospital they scare me because they can't find my appointment in their computer system but it turns out I went to the wrong floor. So I finally check in and..... that's it! I had a moment in the pre-op room where I realize that I'm wearing brown slipper socks, white and orange leg covers (to encourage circulation and prevent blood clots), a floral hospital gown, and a light blue hairnet, and I just start laughing and I can't stop. Taken out of context, I realized how ridiculous I must look and it just made me laugh. One of the male nurses tells me that I have a great attitude and how good that is. It's funny because I get that alot. And for the most part, I am just me, just plain old happy smiley Maria. But I told him I have my moments. I don't know how natural it would be if you didn't get sad now and then.

Anyways, in the operating room, as soon as I get there they put the face mask on me and it feels like all I do is take 2 breaths and I'm out. The next thing I remember is waking up in the recovery room. It's like 6pm and my mom is on her way to pick me up. The left side of my neck has a bandage on but I get to take it off in 2 days. They give me some morphine for the pain (me likey the morphine, mmmmmm.........) and a prescription for Vicodin. Finally my mom takes me home. On our way home, my phone rings....... it's Bertha and she's coming this Friday!!!!!!

Oh my goodness............. I get home and just go to bed............

So I called out of work on Saturday because Danette was here and I didn't want to go to work. That and I woke up feeling like shit. I swear, too much activity and excitement and I end up needing a lot of rest. I also called out today because of the surgery and I might call out tomorrow too. Because the doctor scheduled me in at the last minute, I couldn't ask for the time off ahead of time. I'm gonna regret it when I see my paycheck but oh well. Today I feel fine. Actually I feel better than when I had the port put in. Maybe it's because the port was put in when I was doing chemo so I was weaker then. I'll be back at work hopefully by Thursday, which is also the day I take off the bandage.

I made an appointment with the transplant doctor in 3 weeks. By then the PET scan and biopsy results should be in. Here's hoping for good results!!!!!

And that was my weekend!

In other news, I think it's over between Clay and I. We got in a big fight over 2 weeks ago and haven't spoken since. In my world, that's technically a break up. I miss him and I'm sad that it's over but I think it's for the best. Now is just not a good time. I just need some peace and quiet...............