Tonight's picture was taken on November 12, 2008. As you can see Mattie wasn't a happy camper. First of all it was some ungodly hour of the morning and we were in the pre-op area of the Hospital. By this point Mattie had a pretty good understanding of what was going to happen to him. The first surgery of his right arm in October of 2008 was a major reality check for all of us. It was a massive surgery that took time to recover from. Of course there wasn't much down time, because Mattie had to go right back on chemotherapy as quickly as possible. November 12th's surgery involved Mattie's left arm, left wrist, and right leg. I would have to say after this surgery, we all reached a NEW all time low. If that was even possible. Fighting cancer was hard enough, but fighting when so physically disabled was asking for superhuman courage, hope, and strength. Mattie was a super hero for SO many reasons! I have no doubt that if what happened to him occurred to an adult, most adults would be balled up in a corner unable to function. Yet Mattie ultimately trusted Peter and I and he knew we were working very hard to get him better. With regard to Mattie's surgeries, I always told him that he was my bionic boy with special prosthetic body parts. Mattie got a kick out of my description of him, because I told him his friends would have to be careful around him because his bionic parts were so strong and if someone bumped up against him they would go flying!
Quote of the day: Extending gratitude to another says, “I see what you’ve done and I thank you for the energy you put forth. ~ Molly Friedenfeld
This morning Peter went for the day to work in Pittsburgh. When I headed to our car to drive to my morning appointment, I thought the car looked funny. Upon closer inspection, I realized one of the tires was VERY flat. This is not what I wanted to see or experience this morning. My running joke is if there is something that can puncture a tire, I will find it! I can't tell you how many times I have had a flat tire this year. Any case, usually when I have a car issue, I turn to Peter. However today that wasn't possible, since Peter was on a plane. At first I have to admit I was stymied. I was literally stuck and did not know what to do about this problem. Clearly I cancelled my morning appointment and contemplated waiting for Peter to get back tonight. But then I figured if I could manage Mattie's cancer, dealing with a flat tire had to be much easier. So I went back upstairs and Googled our tire place in Arlington, VA. I wanted to make sure they could fix my tire today! Then I called AAA. I couldn't function without AAA and today they couldn't have been more helpful.
My car is parked inside a residential parking garage and fortunately I told this to the AAA operator because she sent the appropriate truck that could fit into the garage. Because I live in the heart of the city, getting into our garage is no easy feat and it requires a security card. I explained to the guard by our gate that he had to let the AAA truck into the garage (I couldn't use my card alone, I needed the security guard to swipe his special card key). He was hesitant at first but I wasn't going away any time soon without getting him to cooperate. Any case once AAA was in the garage, I was approached by a neighbor. I did not know this fellow but he told me that he had to call AAA last week for his car and the garage attendant wouldn't allow AAA inside to help him. He wanted to know my strategy for how I handled this. He also wanted to know what I said to AAA to get the right vehicle to report to the scene. A riot no?!!! Me the inexperienced car person is getting consulted!!!!
After the flat was changed with my replacement tire, I then drove the car to get the flat tire examined and plugged. It was a full day of running around. Life is filled with so many unexpected issues that rise. Dealing with cars and mechanical things isn't my forte but I felt like I achieved a great deal today without having to bother Peter. I now have this tire place in my phone address book and I feel equipped to handle this when it happens to me again! I say again because it is my track record. The funny part is when the tire center examined my car, they found a large shard of glass in the tire. He told me in all his years of tire repair, he never saw such a sight! Yep, seems fitting for me.
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