well I am now officially a big girl who has faced her fear of IVs.

the hours yesterday morning leading up to my 8:30 appointment were pretty rocky, and when I actually sat down in the chair to start the removal I was hella nervous. my blood pressure was about 30-40 points higher than it normally is and once it was time for the IV (I'd made my fears clear to all involved) I braced myself.

the initial insertion wasn't bad at all--it only stung the very slightest bit--but then when my surgeon slid the needle deeper into my vein, a strong case of the heebie-jeebies hit me and I started wildly tapping the fingers of my non-IV'd hand on the armrest and jiggling my legs. then, once it was all taped up and done it was like nothing at all and before the surgeon even had a chance to request the start of the flow he exclaimed, "whoa, your blood pressure just dropped a ton after the IV went in." I replied, "uh huh," and one of the assistants said, "it's like you were more afraid of that than the surgery!" I said, "that's absolutely true," and then about a minute later I was off.

after the removal was over, my surgeon said he could see the nerves running next to my bottom teeth after he removed them but that they were intact so I shouldn't have any problems. that was a big relief. the only thing I'm bummed about is they didn't give me my teeth to keep! :(

recovering yesterday was really a breeze--the pain doesn't bother me, and after my lip and chin regained feeling it was only my cheeks and lower jaw that had a little swelling. I was still bleeding a bit before bedtime and I've tasted a little blood every once in a while this morning, but that's ok. now all that's really annoying me is my new swollen jowls that seem to be a bit stiffer than yesterday. but all in all, it's done and I'm soooooo happy I finally got it over with!!

my dad and my little sister get into town this afternoon. after all my parents have been through this week, they found out yesterday that the father of one of Amanda's friends, who was also the doctor who removed her tonsils, was killed in a car crash yesterday. my dad took it pretty hard, I guess--the guy was 2 years younger than he is and has three daughters and they were kind of well acquainted. and Amanda's really upset about it too, so much so that she stopped looking forward to visiting her friend in Providence this weekend. there's just been a few too many unfortunate occurences for my parents this week. I'm so glad they're going to be here over the weekend so at least they can escape from reality for a while. I can tell my mom's happy to be here. she was so comforting and helpful all throughout yesterday--making me potato soup from scratch, mixing up some jello, picking up things from the grocery, running to get me more gauze pads once I blew through the ones my surgeon's office gave me. and now hopefully once she and my dad and sister start sight-seeing it'll be a big help. as my mom said to me over dinner Wednesday night, "getting old isn't for sissies."

things with Adrienne still remain unresolved but she went to another doctor's appointment on Wednesday and has qualified to have all her bills compensated and to receive assistance from WIC. also they've referred her to some sort of therapy group, but I still insist she go to BirthRight or Planned Parenthood. we'll see. I'm hoping by next week she'll be more willing to listen to reason and that my mom will be able to pursuade her more effectively.

that's about it for now.