Tuesday Morning

Not much to say this morning. We've only just actually decided to be awake for the day -- not that either of us really slept much all night. Jamie spent some time last night with his new book (Thanks Betsy!) and his new iPod, which is good because last time he didn't want to do much of anything but lay in bed and stare at the tv.

Hopefully today will continue to improve.

Monday Afternoon Update

Jamie's doing pretty well. He spent an extra hour in recovery because of pain. His surgical site is his main pain complaint this time. When he got up to the room, he was really nauseous, which seems to be pretty normal for him after surgery. After some Zofran in his IV and a shot of Phenergan in his hip, his nausea has subsided for the time being. We walked around the hospital floor twice.

We've seen lots of familiar faces and lots of people have recognized Jamie from his previous visit. We even learned that two of his favorite nurses (Chuck and Jen, they're Canadian) from his July stay are married to each other! How cool!

Jamie was on a liquid diet as soon as he got back from surgery. At least he doesn't have to wait on a sip of water. He'll probably be on the liquid diet for a little while. Right now he has a dinner tray of jello, broth, tea, and juice. If he's able to keep down something, then he'll be able to have some Vicotin.

Monday Morning - Post Op

I'm a good girl! I'm doing what I said I'd do!

We arrived at the hospital at 6am and Jamie was quickly taken back to pre-op with the other first-thing-in-the-morning patients. About 40 minutes later, I was called to go sit with him. At 7:20am he was wheeled back to surgery. At 8:45am the surgeon called to say he was finished and everything looked good. I'm currently (9:00am) sitting in Jamie's room up on the third floor of the little hospital waiting for him to get out of the post-anesthesia/recovery unit. Hopefully he'll be up in about an hour.

I'm really hoping that since this surgery was so quick that his hospital stay will be much shorter. Hopefully, his belly will wake up quicker. Hopefully, he'll look much better when he gets wheeled into the room this time.

Story of Us, Part V

So, it has been a while. Jamie went into the hospital on July 23 for his second surgery and didn't come out again until August 12 -- 21 days later. The full story (in emails) is posted in Story of Us, Part V.

My new violin (I think I'll call her Sabine...Top Gear fans might get the reference) had its first public performances -- in church with piano accompaniment and at a wedding as part of a violin duet. I can't wait to play it in an orchestra!

For Labor Day Weekend, we took our first mini-vacation trip. We've traveled to other places and stayed in hotels before, but we've always gone because of something. When we visited the museums in Raleigh, we were in town for me to play at a wedding. When we went to the beach, we were there to be Mom for her surgery. When we went to Anacortes together, we had to pack up Jamie's stuff. When we went through the Shenandoah Valley and up to Bethlehem, PA, we were on a business trip.

We went to Charlotte for our mini-vacation. We stated at the Hilton Garden Inn in Uptown Charlotte. It was super nice and directly across the street from the NASCAR Hall of Fame. We ate great food and visited lots of new places: Discovery Place, the Charlotte Nature Museum, the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Southpark Mall, and the Carolina Raptor Center. We took lots of pictures (go to our Flickr album!).

The days are quickly counting down to Jamie's third and final surgery on October 11. This surgery will only take about an hour and will have a much shorter recovery time (3-5 days). Since the surgery will be shorter than the last one, we're hoping Jamie won't have the same intestinal problems. Anesthesia makes the digestive system really sluggish and sometimes it takes a while for everything to start working again. The longer a patient is under anesthesia, the harder it is for the gut to wake up. And, when the patient has digestive problems to begin with...well you get the idea.

If I'm a good girl, I'll post my surgery/hospital update emails on the blog as soon as I send them.

Pre-Op

Today Jamie had his pre-op visit for his surgery on Friday. He answered some questions, gave some blood, and had his vitals checked twice (two different places that don't really talk to each other). The only bad thing we learned is that he doesn't check in for surgery until noon on Friday. Argh. Early is better. We were hoping for a 6am check-in. I'm guessing his surgery won't actually get started until at least 1:30. The procedure could take anywhere between 3 and 5 hours. It will be a long day. Plus, he has to stop eating/drink at midnight before the surgery. He'll be one hungry dude by the time it's all over.

I'll start my regular updates on Friday once I get settled in the waiting room. YAY for free wireless and an awesome laptop!

In the meantime, head over to the Flickr album to see pictures I took at High Point University. I would have a hard time choosing between HPU and Salem College, if I had to pick out a college right now. HPU is so NICE!

Newest Edition

I've had three violins in my life. The first wasn't around for very long. It was a 3/4 sized loaner instrument that I didn't even have for a full year. My next violin was a full-sized student instrument. It served me well from fourth grade through seventh grade. In the seventh grade I purchased, with my own money, the instrument that would see me through the rest of middle school, high school, Governor's school, college, and the start of my semi-professional career as a violinist.

I played my first Irish fiddle tune on this violin. I played two high school recitals and my college senior recital on this instrument. This fiddle flew to Texas with me and even went to Ohio once. It has played in countless concerts, numerous weddings, a memorial service in the woods in the rain, and for impromptu performances in family backyards.

But now, this instrument sits in a shop waiting to be bought by its next owner. It has been lovingly broken in and has come into its own special sound. I was its first owner and I'm a little sad to see it go. But the time has come for us to part ways.

Yesterday, Mom, Jamie, and I headed downtown to partake of some yummy bbq. After we finished stuffing ourselves full of smoked beef brisket, us ladies dragged the non-musically inclined guy over to the music shop. Mom and I mainly wanted to look at music, but I couldn't help oogling the instruments.

There hanging above a glass case was a gorgeous old instrument with a not-to-bad pricetag. A sign on the case said "We're happy for you to try out our instruments!" I took the invitation. A salesman carefully took the violin down and handed it to me with a bow. I pulled the bow across the strings. Ah! What a sound! I asked the salesman about trade-ins, but he said to come back on Saturday to speak with the owner and the violin guy.

Today, Jamie and I headed back downtown with my violin. To make a long story very short, we walked out of the music shop with a 1739 German violin in my case.

Before buying, the owner of the shop told us the story of the instrument. It was being sold on consignment by a man whose sister had been a member of the Winston-Salem Symphony and had died several years ago. She had played the viola in the symphony but had several violins in her collection. The music shop was also selling her viola, which she made herself, on consignment. Her name was Margaret Ann Smith.

My eyes widened at hearing her name. Several years ago, a man brought several crates of music to the Moravian Music Foundation as a donation. His sister had died and he was cleaning out her home. He said we could keep the music or give it away as we saw fit. The collection was made up mostly of violin studies and ensemble music (quartets, quintets, trios, etc.), which we sent over to the Salem College Fine Arts Library. But there were a few books that caught my attention and I claimed them for myself. When I got home from the music shop, I flipped through my shelf of music books. I found a book of Violin Duets by Playel with "Peggy Ann Smith" written on the cover.

Perhaps it was meant to be. :)

Facing the Swelter of Summer

Summer doesn't officially begin until June 21, but someone forgot to tell Mother Nature. Yesterday afternoon my car thermometer read 92! In NC, when it's that hot outside and humid, be prepared for really nasty weather. About an hour after I got home yesterday afternoon the skies darkened with ominous clouds on the southwestern horizon. The storm wasn't terrible, but we did have nickle-sized hail, wind, downpours where we couldn't see down the street very far, and continuous rumbles of thunder that would last almost a full minute before dying down. And, the lightning. Haven't had brilliant lightning like that in a while. We never completely lost power, but several times we had, for lack of a better phrase, power drains; lights dimmed, tv dimmed, the fan slowed down. That was weird.

I updated the Story of Us, Part IV with the latest emails.