Well, after so much waiting and anticipation I finally made the trip to Charlotte where my surgeon is. On the night before the flight it hits me what a major ordeal this is, not the surgery but the flying an hour away (baltimore) to have surgery by someone i have not met.

I could not have had a better experience though. I met one of his staff people in the elevator going up to the third floor and she was so pleasant from the start. I met several of his staff, all wonderful. I loved the nutritionist because she is like me, footed in practicality. I learned so much ,even though I have been researching like mad the past months.

The doctor (Heider) inspired confidence and was personable, not all surgeons are that way. I have no remaining concerns about the technical aspects.

I had been worried about the liquid diet but the nutritionist helped and it doesnt seem so bad. I have been through worse. I am old and tired of being run by the nose by food.

There were so many people that were kind and helpful, from the check in desk at the hospital to the nurse at the preop center to the blood drawer. I do not think i had a bad experience.

except for the flight home that was delayed a few hours. that said, I did get to witness two amazing things. I was sitting doing some surfing and one second I look up to see the plane had not arrived, the next I see a wall of water blowing in and within seconds the visibility went from unlimited to a few hundred feet! Quite an awesome event. then when the storm passed by there was a rainbow, no two rainbows--one of those rare doubles. Dont get to see many of them. It hung around for nearly an hour. Very cool. I remember reading that they are inverted, that is the colors are reversed on them, and sure enough they are.

I am excited and ready and the only thing I have been worrying over is how much to share with people and when. being in the public eye in my little corner of the world, this is a bigger decision than simply telling a few people.

Also deciding what to tell my mother. I do not expect any support from there and since she lives in texas I can let it slide until I am comfortable with my new habits. who knows.

One thing--note to self--time to stop the obsession with the research and get back to normal living.

IN the great Karma department---I was sitting in the waiting room when this man and his wife sat ahead of me. I instantly recognized him as someone on this forum who had surgery the week before by the same doctor. I only debated whether to say something for a few moments, figuring that if he put his picture out there he was ok with people recognizing him. I had actually sent him a couple of mesages during his surgery.

So I talked to him and he was shocked as i was that we ran into each other. we had a few minutes to chat and exchange contact info.