Is God in the fortune cookie business?

Returned from my adventure out East to find a specialist and it turned out to be marvelous trip! All I left with was the clothes that I was wearing...of course my $250 dollar pair of allen edmond dress shoes, ( a reminder to me that I once had some money!) dress slacks,dress shirt,and a light sweater. On my back was my scent free camouflage hunting packpack,I never thought I would be using it for anything other than carrying my hunting supplies. If you remember way back to my earlier e-mails this is the packpack I spoke about eating food out of all the time while bow hunting while I was on steroids!Inside the pack this time was a pair of jeans,two polo shirts,two pair of socks and underwear,gym shoes,bathroom stuff (electric razor,tooth brush ,paste,floss,contacts, glasses, and medicines)and my notebook. No problems getting my boarding pass and going through the check point....I was at the gate an hour before my flight....a good start!
At the gate a black man sat next to me and he started to talk to me,after a while he knew what my trip was about and as we started to board the plane he said...are you a man of faith? Sure am I said. Would you mind if I prayed for you?Not at all I said...well i thought he meant like later when he was alone! No he meant NOW!!!! So he put his arms around me and said about a 2 minute prayer! I think he was a southern baptist ,as we boarded the plane I handed him my book...Have a Little Faith...by Mitch Albom and he was very excited to receive my gift.I put my e-mail inside the cover and will let you know if I hear from him.
Later that day in Washington D.C. at Washington Hospital Center I had my consult with the legendary Dr. Sugarbaker,it was an honor to meet him and his wife, they really liked me,she even gave me a umbrella to keep to go sightseeing because the skies looked threatening.He has saved lots of lives over his career and is the one person who invented the cytoreduction system. However he seemed to me like a old Michael Jordan if you will ,I was not convinced that this was my doctor. Two things about the hospital,this is where Barb Schwanke of Sheboygan had her pmp operation performed over 5 years ago and she is doing great. This is also the hospital that Reverend Jim was born at. The hospital seemed old and dated from what I am use to and I think it is located in a not too wealthy part of town. There was security guards stationed at certain points and I still was approached by pan handlers for money...not use to that! After meeting some wonderful people I was looking forward to my next consult in Baltimore.
My consult with Dr. Sardi could not have gone any better!I met several members of his team and I could feel the warm healing atmosphere.I felt comfortable with leaving my life into the hands of Dr. Sardi and his team! What a huge relief!I am soooo pumped!I FOUND MY DOCTOR! He is also one of the top specialists in the field....he knew everything about my medical history and problems that I have and is going to be contacting Dr. Saad to come up with the most effective and safest plan...a urologist will be in on the operation ,at that time they will take a biopsy of the two cysts on my left kidney to see what is best...options are...leave and watch...remove kidney....or cut out the cysts, leaving about 65% of the kidney. No date has been set but it kind of looks like it may be early June. I have a big birthday on the 5th!!! not that I count them,but maybe shortly after that.Darlene Dr. Sardi's PA gave me some wonderful news...they have I think it is called the 'HOPE'' foundation for people with cancer who travel far away...they provide free hotel rooms for caregivers....she knew that this caregiver thing is a touchy subject because she watches the pmpbellybutton club site and saw that I was asking questions about caregivers...I am thinking about doing the operation without a caregiver...most of you know I am pretty tough...how many of you could wait 6-7 or more days with a ruptured appendix before you sought treatment?(or stupid enough!!)I have had several people some of them strangers who have endured MOAS...mother of all surgeries who offered to be my caregiver! Two of my friends when they heard free hotel in downtown Baltimore(I could not find a room for less than $180 a night!) offered to do it.Rudy and John P but I am sure they would be at Camden Yards watching the Orioles,eating oysters at the fine restaurants located there,checking out all the hot spots,etc. I could just see it...maybe we should check on Markie today! How is Mark? Oh he left a week ago!Looks like Debbi and maybe my daughter will be there for like the first 5 days and if there is no complications I am sure I can handle it by myself.Besides I have set some goals to beat other PMPers who recently had the MOAS.First day out of the hospital...first day getting out of bed without assistance...first day to pass gas!Hard to believe that's a highlight but your whole digestive system has been shocked! But if I am the only one there I can really focus on these things!
At my appointment I met a pmp survivor Bob and his beautiful daughter Pam,he was there for a checkup and Darlene asked if I would like to talk to him.They are from Baaaaaston and talked kind of funny but cool accent .I am sure they thought the same way about me with my Wiscoooonsin twang. We spent about 3.5 hours together and they really made the day much more enjoyable.We took a cab from the hospital,Pam hailed a cab before I knew it! I wanted to see if I could hail a cab because I never did that!(actually I don't think I ever road in a cab before!) Of course hailing a cab women especially a looker has a huge advantage over the men...even if I was wearing my allen edmonds! Bob paid for the cab to the airport and I offered to take them out to eat once we passed security.We found a Chinese restaurant(Bob had Subway...but I thought you can find a Subway anywhere!) We ate our meal and had nice conversation but sadly it was time for them to get to there gate. Pam said ...what does your fortune cookie say? I cracked it open, pulled out the little slip and said......You will meet two wonderful people today!....they laughed and we gave each other a big hug and off they went.I then looked at what the fortune cookie slip really said .......An important discussion will take place today!.....Neat huh!
I want to thank Paul Pachniack who works in Milwaukee for picking me up at the airport and taking me home, saving a family member the trouble of driving to Milwaukee and back to Sheboygan.The only problem was that we stopped at Copps to eat,I ate two huge cheeseburgers and Paul brought me a dish of custard to boot! I was exhausted by the time we got home but was not able to fall asleep because of my stomach being so full! It was a wonderful trip!
I will try to keep things updated and let you know what is going on.Many of you know I am not a computer guy and I am getting my boat out of storage real soon.The Rainbow and Brown Trout fishing on Lake Michigan is upon us so you may not hear from me but do not be afraid to call or e-mail....I will check every couple of days.I am well and hope that all of you are also!
If anyone wants to send me good vibes(to catch fish too!) and thoughts and prayers,I would not mind at all.
SPRING IS HERE!