Yvonne’s Challenge

Today Beth and I both had appointments at St. Luke’s.  It was great to see her, and for Susie — the latest gang member to join me here in Houston — to have the opportunity as well.  Our sweet Beth continues to have significant discomfort, which the docs say will go away with time.  Nonetheless, like all of you, I want to wave a magic wand and make it better.  Unfortunately, the fairy godmother hasn’t show up with that tool yet, so we just have to be patient and let her body take care of itself.  I’ll continue to provide updates on how Beth is doing, since I know everyone is cheering her on and keeping her in their thoughts and prayers. 

As noted, Susie has arrived from Dallas and will be here until Saturday, when Olive comes to take charge again.  Susie and I met when we were 16 years old, and she had moved to Alexandria.  Long and short, we were at LSU together (and if you can spell T-R-O-U-B-L-E that will give you a little insight).  I subsequently introduced her to her husband; was the maid-of-honor in her wedding; her first born, Rand, is my God son; and I claim her two daughters as my own too.  It was her husband Randy who “encouraged” me to work with him on the LSU Dean’s Advisory Council.  In a word, we’ve got history.

She also knows Fahy & Gary DeWitt from Alexandria, two of my most favorite people in the world, who were in town to get their daughter back to Rice.  They stopped by for a quick driveby this morning, which was great.  You may have noticed blog posts from “Garo” so you can appreciate his wonderful sense of humor.  I consider them family, so it was great to see them even so briefly before the dash to the hospital this morning. 

But before winding our way to the medical center, I called the IT guys at The Planet to help me repair a broken key on my notebook computer.  Attired in my most fashionable blue mask, Charles met me downstairs to whisk my PC away and fix it, so I could pick it up on the way home from the hospital.  That’s one of the great things about working in a tech company — there’s not a shortage of people who can fix all those machines. 

Now … about the report today.  As she will testify, Susie heard it straight from the mouth of my nephrologist who said this:  “I’ve never had a patient who has responded as well as you have.  Your progress is off-the-charts and a great success.”  Even better, how I feel matches the great numbers on all the reports that truly couldn’t be any better, particularly just 16 days after the procedure.  I’m pumped.  The next goal is to get the prednisone below 30 mg, which I am hoping will begin happening next Monday at my appointment.  Fingers crossed.

I was beyond excited … so on my way back downtown to pick up my PC, it was just too rich not to be able to call some of my buddies to say hello.  I saw our Chairman and CEO in the parking lot and in my finest style was pleased to holler (that’s right, holler) into the parking lot to say hello.  I think he was as excited as I was to see the progress.  Then my boss Steve, our HR exec Irene, Katie 1, Katie 2, Lynette and Crazy Ali came downstairs and we did air hugs and kisses.  It was so great to see them and to have them share my excitement and good news.  I miss them terribly and can hardly wait to be back with the gang there.  Great people who work hard, play hard and have great senses of humor.  Just doesn’t get better when you’re working with this team — they are the best. 

Now when Beth is back in the saddle, I will feel great relief.  So keep let’s keep thoughts focused on her. 

I go to sleep tonight with my head filled with good thoughts about  how lucky I am.  There are no accidents in life, the universe has provided — aided by my hero Beth — and the possibility of a renewed life has been fulfilled. 

Let me again say thanks to everyone.  Your words of encouragement are grand reminders that I’ve got a to-do list that just got a whole longer.

Love, Yvonne