January 19, 2001|

BUSTIN OUT!
I am outta here. Got the call yesterday, right now I am waiting to get my catheter taken out of my chest. Freedom, oh the freedom! No more 1132! No more late night temperature checks by nurses’ assistants! No more hospital food! WOOOHOOOO! I guess you can tell I am excited.

Depends
The whole Depends episode quickly left once I received the medicine I needed. The docs had to wait to give it to me to make sure I didn’t have a bug. That was a harsh two days, but the next day I felt golden. And if it weren’t for this catheter I would have been home yesterday. Anyway, I am eating somewhat normally, walking and dancing around like a goofball (My mom, “ART, quit dancin’ in the hallways, you’ll make the other patients sad!” In the meanwhile, the nurses are egging me on, clapping and hollering…)

Plan
So if everything keeps on going well, I see Dr. Moskowitz next Thursday and then as soon as he says that I look great we’ll be driving back to Ohio. Can’t wait. Gotta see everyone. With Dr. Baird sidelined, someone’s gotta help run the Connection (see Connection page).

Recap
All in all it wasn’t as bad it could have been. I had tough days; I had good days. The good definitely outnumbered the bad. It was rough; don’t get me wrong, but manageable. God doesn’t give us anything we can’t handle. I finally caught up on email yesterday, only for today to get swamped again. I am NOT complaining. The e-mails are what kept me going, knowing I had to get to the computer and see the latest surprise. Thank you all so much. Now if you will excuse me, I got some nurses outside calling me for me to come out and shake my booty.