Good riddance

Now you see it...

Now you don't:

We were so glad the labs showed Cliff's liver function is back to normal.  The stents in the bile duct will still have to be removed in July, but they are causing no pain.  Cliff wouldn't even know they are there.  I think I embarrassed Cliff a little by asking the doctor, "Do you get the same amount of money when the surgery takes six hours longer than it's supposed to as you would for a routine operation?"  
His answer was yes.  He said he had no problem handling such a long, drawn-out procedure:  the problem was that the operating room was scheduled for several more surgeries that day, and figuring out what to do with those was a huge problem.  Think about it, some of those patients had been prepped and shaved and made ready in every way, and suddenly the operating room wasn't available.  
I really liked the surgeon, by the way.  When we arrived for our appointment, a nurse told all of us in the waiting room that Dr. had an emergency and would be a little late, but it shouldn't be long.  Cliff and I agreed that since he was once the subject of such a delay and Dr. gave us priority, we could be more understanding in such a situation.  We mentioned this to him, and he told us someone's colon had ruptured at 4 A.M.  Wow.  He can HAVE that job.      
Last weekend we went to a barbecue where I got to visit with some long-time family friends and acquaintances.  One lady there had the same sort of complications as Cliff, back in 1974, only it was her pancreas that was compromised instead of her liver.  She was in the hospital for three weeks.  This was a person who understood just how awful Cliff felt.  She made a statement similar to something I've heard Cliff say through this trial:  "I didn't care whether I died or not."  
I took Chickie out to the garden with me.  I hand-pulled some weeds, and she followed me up and down the rows, never getting more than three feet away from me, scratching and peeping happily.  I give her a spinach leaf every day, which she devours right down to the stem.  I have to watch when I have her outside.  I have cats, you know, and one of their favorite treats is fresh bird.  

Good Lord willing, my blogging can go back to mundane things now.  
Today I replanted carrots and cabbage seeds, since my others washed out.  Or maybe they just didn't like my gloom-and-doom attitude when I planted them, with Cliff in the hospital, and didn't want to see the light of day.  

Speaking of Good Riddance, that's my favorite Green Day song. I hope you won't hate me for liking some Green Day songs.  Sorry about the 30-second commercial at the beginning.  But yes, if that Jackson-Pratt drain tube were a person, this is what I would have had to say to the danged thing today:

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road 
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go 
So make the best of this test, and don't ask why 
It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time 

It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right. 
I hope you had the time of your life. 

So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind 
Hang it on a shelf of good health and good time 
Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial 
For what it's worth it was worth all the while 

It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right. 
I hope you had the time of your life. 

It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right. 
I hope you had the time of your life. 

It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right. 
I hope you had the time of your life.