My sister's heart

At approximately 8:30 central time on Tuesday morning, May 11th my lovely sister T. Marie will undergo open heart surgery. It is estimated to last 3 hours. There is a 95 per cent chance they will be able to repair her prolapsed valve. She is in terrific health otherwise and the prognosis is really good.


I have heard about several open heart surgeries on friends parents or grandparents. All seemed to have good outcomes. Most of them were double or triple or quadruple bypasses. Comments were made.


It is so routine these days.


Happens all of the time.


They've really gotten it down to a science. (?)


It surely seems different when it is my younger sister. It is hard to imagine them cutting her sternum and spreading her chest although I have seen it all on television. They will ventilate her and put her on a bypass machine so that they can stop her heart to work on the valve. There will be a team working, doctors barking orders, anesthesiologists reciting stats, just like on TV.


But it will be my sister under that sheet and mask. My sister who I shared a bed with for years. My sister who I love. 


There is no reason to think anything will go wrong.


And yet...


Please hold my sister in the light.

I Just LOVE Hidden Fees

We are making our annual pilgrimage to Minnesota this 

summer for lake and family fun. The other day I saw 

some great flight deals on the internet. Turns out there 

are some additional fees once you really get in there...

We are flying HairBrains and I see they have a new motto:

    HairBrains – We charge you for f*#king everything...

    4 round trip tickets moderately priced
    
    PLUS:

    $6 per seat (I guess we could have flown standing?) each way

    God knows what each bag will cost...

    Oh you wanted oxygen and heat? You can’t handle -55F at altitude?

    You some kind of pussy because there is a surcharge for pets too 

    ya know...

So that’s my rant for the day – but hey! everybody’s gotta make a living...