Spent most of yesterday at the hospital. Dad had surgery on his right shoulder. It is surgery #1 for that shoulder. For those keeping track at home, he has had 2 on his left shoulder and will be having surgery #3 later this year. Yipee. Oh, and my brother has had surgery on one of his shoulders and needs the other one done as well. I’m hoping like hell that I got my mom’s shoulders and not my dad’s.

At the same time as Dad having his surgery, my uncle Rich was having some stents put in. He had a couple put in a few weeks ago and did very well, he was just getting the remaining ones put in. With his surgery going on, his daughters and my aunt (Mom’s sister) were there. We got to visit most of the morning, which was really nice. I’ve not seen them since my grandmother’s funeral. My aunt is facing some major medical issues as well. She has amyloidosis and multiple myeloma. She is working with on oncologist, but the prognosis isn’t great. I have (of course) read up a bit on both diseases. Not a damned good thing to say about either. The plasma cancer is nasty in that it causes the bones to weaken. My aunt broke her leg last week – the surgeon had a difficult time getting the plates screwed into the bone – it was apparently like wet cardboard. The real nasty thing about this type of cancer is that it is rarely detected before it hits stage 2 or stage 3. It can either touch off the amyloidosis (which is a disease where proteins are not flushed out of the body and begins to damage organs like the heart, kidneys, etc.) or seems to follow behind that diagnosis. Oh, and I’m pretty sure she has the same oncologist that Mom had.

So, with all that, I was very happy we got a chance to see her. It was the first time she saw Ella. When Pat saw her, she commented about how much Ella looks like Mom did when she was younger. Her comment was “She’s a little Mary.” I nearly lost it for a second. We are going to need to make an effort for Pat to meet her newest great niece or nephew after he or she joins us in the next couple of days.

Dad’s surgery went well, Rich’s surgery went well. Here’s wishing everyone a fast recovery. I’ll continue to pray for that and for the health of all those who I love.