127 hours until my surgery! But who's counting?

It is with an amazingly grateful heart that I sit down to write this post.


After not being able to run for well over a year and a half, every workout in the company of my good friend pain, several months of meeting numerous specialists, two months on a wait list, one false donor alarm and lots of ice, ice, baby, I finally got the call yesterday that the donor bank has a healthy graft for my knee.  The surgery is scheduled for Wednesday, 6PM PST.  Yay, yippee and double thank you Lord!


I want to thank all of the wonderful people who have come together to make this possible.  First, Dr. Bugbee, who has dedicated his practice to this joint sparing technology.  I am so lucky to have found him.  He is an international leader in the allograft field.  Patients fly in from all over the world to meet with him, and he teaches other doctors how to perform the procedure.  The procedure itself involves the use of living bone and cartilage, fresh, never frozen, folks.  In layman's terms, he will pop out the defective part of my knee and pop in the new and improved donor graft.  Very exciting stuff!


Back to the thank you list: Dr. Bugbee and his staff, my wonderful friends and family, my daughters, my pets, all the doctors who pointed me in this direction, my Angel, Lacy, at Living Water Rejuvenation Centers, who has been helping me with my detox program in preparation for surgery, Surfer Boy, the best husband in the whole wide world, who gets to put up with my many moods (yes, Ms. Positive has moods) and most especially, heartfelt thanks to the donor who gave up his/her life to help another person have a better quality of life.  I promise to honor that persons life by working hard, keeping a positive, prayerful attitude and thanking them with every step I take.  Love, love, love you all!!!


Finally, the name of this post: It's not really quite 127 hours until the surgery, but I want to honor one of my favorite inspirational people, Aron Ralston, an experienced canyoneer, and fellow ultra runner, who got trapped by a chock stone in Moab Utah for 127 hours.  After preparing to die, he ended up amputating his own arm, using a small, cheap, multi tool knife, then rappelled down a cliff and hiked seven miles, with his arm in a sling fashioned from his CamelBak before finally being discovered by hikers and rescued.  If you're looking for inspiration, check out the movie, starring academy award best actor nominee, James Franco.


If he could get through that amazing self-surgery, I will easily bounce back from my lap of luxury surgery including the ocean view recovery suite.  Champagne, please!


I plan to update you all from my 2-3 day hospital stay.  Thank you all for your positive vibes and prayers!