Although I had to re-do some of my preparations afterward, I had plenty of time, and called Rhonda to make sure she was up. After picking her up we headed for the surgeon's office. One of the reasons I was so nervous about today was that he wouldn't be putting me under anesthesia to take the port out - I would just have a local. The waiting time didn't help any. We waited over an hour, the last thirty minutes or so in the actual surgical room, before the surgeon came in. Fortunately Rhonda was able to go back with me, and talking to her helped my nerves while we waited.
As I suspected, the procedure was shorter than the wait for the doctor had been. The numbing shots were the worst pain of it. I wouldn't say it was comfortable, but it wasn't anywhere near as bad as I had feared. And in pretty short order, I was port free and stitched up. Hooray!!
I was starving because I had been afraid to eat before we went in. They hadn't told me not to, but I wanted to make sure the procedure wouldn't have to be delayed again. So when we got done I was starving. Rhonda and I headed for lunch. We went to Chicora Alley originally, because I was craving some of their epic nachos, but the parking downtown during the week is just a zoo, and I didn't feel like hiking in from the outback. We found a place and parked, only to be shooed away by a security guard telling us that we were in a "private lot", despite the Chicora Alley sing prominently displayed on said lot. Grr.
After that I was over downtown, and really hungry to boot, so we headed over to Haywood Road and Don Pablo's. Don Pablo's is a place that I can usually take or leave, but I wanted nachos, or at the very least Mexican food, and didn't want the usual run-of-the-mill fare. They have great spoonbread, and wonderful sopaipillas, and that was inducement enough at the time. When we got there, though, I was pleasantly surprised. They have a new nacho dish on the menu called Cantina Nachos, and they were really good - head and shoulders above anything I have eaten there before.
So after Rhonda and I ate Mexican food until we could barely move, I decided I wanted to go for a glass run. We went down to the friendly antique man's store off of exit 39. He wasn't there today, but we had a good rummage around, and I found a couple of things I liked. The first was a Woolworth glass plate. I have been meaning to pick up some of this, but don't see it very often. There aren't a lot of catalogued pieces for the pattern. I found a scalloped luncheon plate today, but it wasn't listed in the field guide. I paid about $12 for it, and looked it up when I got home. The book value on it was $18, so not a super deal, but a pretty good one, and I'll always remember when I bought my first piece of this pattern.
Woolworth or "Stippled Grape" 8 1/2" scalloped luncheon plate in green by Westmoreland, circa 1910
I also found another piece of Sierra Pinwheel. I've only bought two pieces of this pattern (two serving trays, one of which I gave to Justin) ever, and they both came from this store. Today I found an oval platter for a pretty good price. I paid $10.50, but the book value on it is $35. It does have a small chip, but the way it is placed it isn't very noticeable, and Rhonda thought it was very pretty. So I bought it. I particularly like the rings in the center of the platter. The serving trays don't have that.
Sierra "Pinwheel" 11" oval platter in pink by Jeannette Glass, circa 1931-1933
When I woke up I was sore, but otherwise feeling pretty well. Russ and Billy had asked if I wanted to go out for my celebratory dinner tonight, and I felt up to it. Billy had given me permission to have another official celebration (with chicken wings) for getting my port out, and I wanted them; partially because I just love them, partially because I was so thrilled to get that port out, and partially because I had been a tiny bit disappointed with the wings that I had at Quaker Steak when chemo was over.
Whatever the reason, we went to Buffalo Wild Wings tonight. Tony met us there, and it was good to see him too. We had a very sweet waitress (who if she was a vegetarian kept it to herself), and a nice waiter in training to boot. They had huckleberry lemonade which was just delicious, and I once again gorged on chicken wings. I thought their wings were better than Quaker's. After supper we went over to Whole Foods for gleato, but found they had already closed. We ran into our friend Vince (gorgeous - and always good to see Vince), and ended up at Yogurt Molehill, which was fine. I was there as much for the company as anything anyway, plus I had already dictated where we had supper. I just got a little yogurt and put a bunch of fixin's on it, which I think is the way to go there. It was fine.
We sat outside for dinner and for dessert because the weather was so gorgeous, and rode home with the windows down, the cool soft spring air gentle on my skin. Tonight felt like a real celebration, and I so enjoyed it. I feel cut loose after having that port out. After all that I've been through, and despite the follow-up stuff that is left, today felt like the end of treatment. It feels like this is really going to be over now. I went home filled with quiet happiness and contentment, shut some very pissed off cats out of the bedroom (because of my new incision I'm not supposed to have them in the bed with me), and turned in with a window open. What a lovely day.
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