We went to Mayo on Friday for an updated MRI, pre-op exam, and blood typing. (B positive! Always be positive!) Oh, and I’ve agreed to participate in some Mayo studies, which meant another seven tubes of blood taken, and signing an agreement that says they don’t need to return any tissue samples of mine to my family in the case of my death. The Mayo can keep them, as my gift.
Data.
February 23, 2022: 2.1 x 1.8 cm
September 8, 2022: 4.3 x 4.6 x 2.8 cm
October 19, 2022: 5.1 x 5.0 x 3.2 cm
We’ve been watching Pick of the Litter on Disney +. We got the Disney channel so Bob could watch the interminable hours of Beatles footage in The Beatles: Get Back. And, like most subscriptions we have, we never got around to canceling it. I understand my sister-in-law and niece like logging in to our account and watching Disney movies, so at least it gets some use. But then I found Shipwreck Hunters: Australia which was great, and that bled into Pick of the Litter, a reality show about guide dogs in training. The steps in training these dogs are, as you would imagine, intense. There’s a skill where they’re looking for the dog to actively ignore a given command – refuse to cross the street because of oncoming traffic, for instance. (This is different from our dogs, who actively ignore commands -- not for our safety, but because they just don’t feel like doing it. Also, we’re not good dog trainers.)
My brain has started the power down process, and is ignoring commands. I don’t know if this is a safety mechanism, or maybe to conserve energy. I’m not worried or nervous about surgery this week, but my brain says, just to be on the safe side, we’re eliminating executive function. Air traffic control has apparently clocked out. My whole life is built on lists and tasks and planning and strategy and it’s just gone. I watched Good Luck to You, Leo Grande on Hulu on my iPhone the night I was doing colonoscopy prep (which ended up just being watching a movie on a tiny screen in the bathroom for no good reason). And that’s all I can think about. The show really has only two characters: Emma Thompson, and an incredibly beautiful actor named Daryl McCormack. And he is apparently the mental screen saver my brain has chosen for this week. My mind has turned to pudding by hey, there’s a hot guy! Could be worse.