Alpine, Melinda & Tami

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone!!! - I just got back from Amarillo yesterday for my 5

month check up with Dr. LaGrone. It was such wonderful news.

Everything looks good. He and I both sighed a big sigh of relief.

He was nervous about seeing me, worried what he would find. But in

the end he said that I had made his day. Big words coming from the

man who doesn't talk much. I've been given permission to lift light

weights at the gym and I can SWIM!!!! I tried it today, it was

AWESOME. Looked like a frog, but what the heck, who cares ) It was

so liberating to do something new and I felt great afterward. I find

that this good news is going to help me with the mental aspect of

this journey. I am feeling happier already.

While in Amarillo I had planned to visit with Melinda and Dean, but I

got a wonderful double blessing and got to visit with Tami as well.

The first day I saw her she was not feeling well at all. The staff

was having a very hard time managing her pain, so when I saw her she

was miserable. We had a short visit. Helped her go tee tee and got

her back into bed. That night they gave her a shot of morphine and

she felt much better and was able to sleep that night.

In contrast to Tami, Melinda is doing GREAT! She has had good pain

management, even though it's made her wacky. The IV machine has been

telling her his name is " Bob " . She felt much better after they took

her off the morphine and her head began to clear.

I was able to see her again on Friday and she looked wonderful, I met

Dean and her parents (a wonderful group of people). Then I saw her

one last time on Saturday before I came home. She had just finished

with a shower and she was feeling like a million bucks! We had some

really wonderful visits and a few giggles together.

I was thrilled to hear that they were going to be in Rehab together.

I talked to Melinda on the phone today and she sounded very tired,

yet relaxed. She is having trouble sleeping while Tami is out like a

light. The girl can sleep. Her husband, Dean, had to head home

today and that caused Melinda some tears. But she's a brave girl and

is doing well. We had a good conversation about Dr. VeggieBerg.

While he has a strange name, he's also a pretty strange person.

Extrememly smart with a real wierd bedside manner. He provides a

good laugh.

It has been a huge personal blessing to be able to walk into these

girls rooms and say, hey look at me, I'm five months post op and I

can walk! It was such a treat to be a source of encouragement to

someone in our shoes.

I'll be calling Melinda again tomorrow, so I'll let you know how

she's doing.

Good to visit with ya'll.

Big Hugs,

Alpine

Super-Hero!