Cooperative Living April 2024 - 34

RURAL LIVING
Staying Positive
Keeping my chin up inside the medical vortex
by Margo Oxendine, Contributing Columnist
I
hope you will
all allow me to
bother you yet
again with my
medical burdens.
Because this -
April - is the
month. The big month. I have my
first heart surgery on April 9.
The second comes after I heal from
the first. And then, I pray I will be
done!
My life for the past few months
has been nothing more than trips to
one doctor or specialist or another.
Turns out, after major surgery, you
can't go to the dentist for a while, or
the dermatologist, or who knows who
else. You're supposed to stay home
and rest. I hope I can do that. You're
not supposed to drive either. I don't
know how I am going to do that.
I have relied on the goodwill and
kindness of many of my friends who
have been amenable to driving me to
Charlottesville, a trip of two hours
each way on a good, non-foggy day.
God bless them!
I should only be
in the hospital for
one night. I pray that is
the case. (Can you tell I've
been doing more praying than usual?)
That means I'll need a person to drive me
over and dump me at the front door, and
probably another person to drive over and
pick up what's left of me the next day.
To get home, I think I will be relying
on the kindness of a stranger; a man who
is part of a club in Clifton Forge that
does good deeds like driving the infirm
to and from hospitals. I'm hoping we
will forge some sort of friendship or
camaraderie in the car. Or else, I may just
be snoozing after my ordeal. This fellow
was once an EMT and a firefighter, so
I should be in good hands if anything
dire occurs. God bless him, already!
It seems to have taken longer than
I thought for all the medical hoops to
be leaped through to get to the actual
surgery. I have had an MRI - akin to
being shoved into an industrial clothes
dryer, complete with fire-engine sirens.
I've had maybe seven - maybe eight? -
CT scans. There's not a part of me that
The first blooms
of spring always
make my heart sing.
- S. Brown
some machine or other doesn't know
all about. I even had that nuclear stress
test, which was almost my undoing.
I would not be surprised to learn that
I now really do glow in the dark!
My blood has been drawn countless
times. For many, this is easy, but not
for me. I have " puny veins, " as one
phlebotomist described. It can take five
or six " sticks " to find something that flows
usefully. Two fellows took so many stabs
at me last week that I now have a black
bruise that is 3-by-4 inches in size. This
type of thing makes me mad. I must
endeavor to be calm, but being calm
is rather out of the question for me
right now. I am stressed. I am anxious.
I am scared. I am clueless about what
may be ahead. These medical professionals
have a tendency to spring painful or
scary surprises on you.
On the plus side: I have a cardiac
surgeon and a team that I like. They are
cheerful and upbeat. I have a vascular
surgeon who is also friendly and kind.
There's also a spare cardiologist floating
around who is an absolute hunk - nice
and tall and very handsome. At least I'll
have him to gaze at as they wheel me into
the surgical suite. Another plus: The stress
has caused me to lose 50 pounds. I will
look ravishing in my droopy hospital
gown, I am sure. So, I am focusing on
the positives, and I will try to keep calm
and turn over control of myself to the
professionals. Wish me luck, folks! 
To order a copy of Margo's " A Party of One, "
call 540-468-2147 Mon.-Wed., 9 a.m.-5 p.m.,
or email therecorderoffice@gmail.com.
CL WHEREZ IT?
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of this issue of Cooperative Living. Submit the page
number where you found it, along with your name,
email and phone number to WherezIt, c/o Cooperative
Living, P.O. Box 2340, Glen Allen, VA 23058-2340 or
go online at co-opliving.com under " Contests. " Deadline
is April 20. The winner will receive a $25 Amazon
email gift card.
32 ● Cooperative Living ●
April 2024
co-opliving.com
PHOTO COURTESY WENDY S. BEATTY, CLEAR BROOK, VA
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Cooperative Living April 2024

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