Sundance's DaVinci Surgery Date Now Set

Well, our reservations have just been confirmed for our annual “getaway.” We’ve won an all-inclusive “Staycation” package down at our local resort hospital, located on the UTSW campus in Big D.

That’s right, friends - University of St. Pauls’s has more activities than your average lung patient can shake a stick at. Along with the surgery itself, our frequent traveler package includes: “Lodging, meals, round the clock bed-checks, along with amenities and activities galore.” Man, I hope my TV works, LOL:)

And the panoramic views, oh my! We’ll get to see the ICU, and our suite, the bathroom, and the hallways – and it’s all included at the same price – we won’t have to upgrade at all:)

And for a limited time only, we can enter their prize drawing. If you win, your next DaVinci surgery will have a price freeze – the rate won’t go up and you can have “Tomorrow’s Surgeries at Today’s Prices.” You can’t beat that!

Just like Walmart, they are “Rollin’ Back Prices.”

Ok, so I’m not as funny as some of our other family members…

For those of you that are “keeping score”, I’ve got my surgery date set now:

Thursday, July 8, 2010 @ TBD (early morning)

I know I will be there in the early morning – they will take me to Radiology, where they are going to insert a wire through me to help mark the tumor location – when I emerge from there, there will be a wire sticking out of the side of my chest – “Good Mornin’”, LOL:)

From there, I will go see the new DaVinci robot – the latest and greatest device available in the United States. I think I will end up being the #2 surgery that day, due to my radiology visit. And when the bell rings, Round II will be on:)

This will mark the 9th surgery in just over 5+ years for me. I’m fortunate to be in a position to have surgery as my option, so I’m just gonna’ shut up and take it. I can’t sit here and complain too loudly when my fellow brethren are fighting harder battles and in a worse situation than myself.

Right now, all I can say is that I’m concerned and apprehensive about taking another licking to the lungs so soon after the last surgery. I don’t know how to gauge my recovery – by all the things we judge someone from (appearance), I’m doing ok. Internally though, what you and I cannot see…I just don’t know.

I still hurt really good – I’m functional and improving, but surgery recovery takes a good year or more and I’ll be about 9-months removed. I’ve seen incremental improvement, and like most things with my case, I figure TIME is the great equalizer.

With this surgery (my 1st repeat organ surgery), I just can’t help wondering if “All the Kings’s Horses and All the King’s men, will be able to put Sundance back together again?”

Maybe, I’ve just plateaued and this is how I’ll be going forward. I’ll just have to let the calendar roll and get back with you on this question.

I know that having to continually take your beating and then still FIT into the “regular world” is no small task. Everyone expects you to be fully recovered and you’re just trying to catch your breath. As I’ve said before, it’s like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole sometimes.

Then, I think of how blessed that I still am – how far ahead of the game that I still am – and then I try not to moan about it too much – am glad that I can at least tell you guys some of this – where before I just played “mental ping pong” with these thoughts bouncing back across the net in my mind.

Anyway, enough about me for now.

I do have a special post that I’ll be releasing on Wednesday that I’ve been waiting awhile to talk about. I’m not sure how it will turn out – safe to say, I’ll sit down and stuff will start coming out – even I don’t know what I’ll say right now. Stay tuned if you are interested in that.

And as the day approaches, I’m sure I’ll have some parting words for the folks who have come to play a big part in my life and my journey, but we’ve still got time for that.

Always a pleasure to sit here and talk with you all this mornin’

-Craig