P
PeggyM
Unless it's an emergency situation, the average waiting time from diagnosis to surgery seems to be about 2 months. Combining my experiences from 2 surgeries and while waiting for this next one, I've compiled a list of things to occupy your time.
1) Seek therapy. This helped me alot the first time.
2) Find Steve Fossett. I have spent days and days using Amazon Turk and Google Earth scouting the Nevada terrain. So far I've had 427 "hits".
3) Solve a murder. Yes, I even called the Indiana State Police with a "clue" I found on the internet.
4) Look at pictures of George Clooney. After finding pics of him with his shirt off, I'm highly disappointed.
5) Call and email long lost friends and beg for sympathy.
6) Stay away from Ebay!!!
7) Watch operations and ER traumas on Discovery Health, thus guaranteeing you'll have nightmares about your surgery.
8) Clean house. In a way, it feels like nesting. Getting the house ready for the new baby. I mean valve. Or at least so you won't look like too much of a slob when the family and friends arrive.
9) Run away. I did that during the wait for the first surgery and no one could find me. I drove far, far away and stayed in a motel. Unfortunately one of my doctors found me!
10) Google everything on your surgery, every drug used, every freaking procedure, every hole and tube they put in you. LOL. And yes, there is such a thing as too much information.
11) Find peace. Things become so much more clear. The different light through the trees as fall arrives. The coolness to the air. The sunsets. The sound of water lapping against the shore. The squirrels tearing up your plants. The dog poop in the backyard. The bills that keep on coming. Oh wait....peace. Hard to keep track of that in the midst of this waiting. But it is there and will be there for you when the time comes. You just have to let it.
I feel like I could be doing so much more between now and the 10th. My mind wants to, but my body simply can't. One day falls into the next and everyday is the same. Life just keeps marching right on by while you're in this waiting mode. Suddenly you're a spectator and not a participant. It's not a fun place to be.
What do others do or have done to occupy this time?
1) Seek therapy. This helped me alot the first time.
2) Find Steve Fossett. I have spent days and days using Amazon Turk and Google Earth scouting the Nevada terrain. So far I've had 427 "hits".
3) Solve a murder. Yes, I even called the Indiana State Police with a "clue" I found on the internet.
4) Look at pictures of George Clooney. After finding pics of him with his shirt off, I'm highly disappointed.
5) Call and email long lost friends and beg for sympathy.
6) Stay away from Ebay!!!
7) Watch operations and ER traumas on Discovery Health, thus guaranteeing you'll have nightmares about your surgery.
8) Clean house. In a way, it feels like nesting. Getting the house ready for the new baby. I mean valve. Or at least so you won't look like too much of a slob when the family and friends arrive.
9) Run away. I did that during the wait for the first surgery and no one could find me. I drove far, far away and stayed in a motel. Unfortunately one of my doctors found me!
10) Google everything on your surgery, every drug used, every freaking procedure, every hole and tube they put in you. LOL. And yes, there is such a thing as too much information.
11) Find peace. Things become so much more clear. The different light through the trees as fall arrives. The coolness to the air. The sunsets. The sound of water lapping against the shore. The squirrels tearing up your plants. The dog poop in the backyard. The bills that keep on coming. Oh wait....peace. Hard to keep track of that in the midst of this waiting. But it is there and will be there for you when the time comes. You just have to let it.
I feel like I could be doing so much more between now and the 10th. My mind wants to, but my body simply can't. One day falls into the next and everyday is the same. Life just keeps marching right on by while you're in this waiting mode. Suddenly you're a spectator and not a participant. It's not a fun place to be.
What do others do or have done to occupy this time?
