9/4/14. The post where I spend my last day before the big upgrade.

9/4/14: woke up feeling better today than yesterday.  I took my long walk and then went to work.  As expected, as soon as my colleagues realized I was going to be out of the office for awhile, I was inundated with last minute questions and projects.  It was a busy day, but I think I got it all done.  I packed up my laptop, set my out of office message, and headed home.  For a brief minute, I thought this would be my last day to drive in pain.  Then I remembered - I will have to turn off the stimulator when I drive.  So I guess it won't be perfect, but it will certainly be much better.

After work, we went to the home of some very close friends for a wonderful pre-surgery celebration.  The evening was also filled with emails and texts from family and friends wishing me well.   If I ever start to feel sorry for myself for any reason, all I have to do is think about all the people who care about me and I remember how lucky I am.  

I did a few last minute chores...things neither one of us will be able to do as of tomorrow, like loading the dishwasher.  I see paper plates in our future.  We also spent some time with another close friend, a musician who is staying with us this weekend to play a concert and help my patient, long-suffering husband take care of me after the surgery.  It takes a village, you know.

I can't have anything to eat after midnight and my procedure is not until 1pm, so as my last official pre-surgery act I made myself a big late-night breakfast.  Scrambled eggs, roasted potatoes, and toast with jam.  It was delicious and I feel stuffed.  Of course, by noon tomorrow I will be famished, so I don't feel too guilty.  

I'll do my best to check in tomorrow evening, depending on how well I feel.  In any event, the next time you hear from me, the big upgrade to Valerie 2.0 will be complete.  The original version had quite a few bugs and I hope the updated version will be an improvement, at least physically.  Maybe a little something like this...  http://youtu.be/qcba-ZgtsT4