Surgery Scheduled

I heard from UCLA today that Janet's and Bob's surgeries are tentatively scheduled for July 23--10 days from today!--and that Maria's and my surgeries are tentatively scheduled for August 10.

Scheduling all four on the same day was not possible. This doesn't concern me as it did even a short time ago. We have been brought all this way. I just can't see Maria bailing. That said, I have asked the UCLA coordinator if she could arrange a meeting for the five of us. It's much more difficult to back out on someone you've met and spent time with than it is to bail on someone you've never met and never even spoken with on the phone.

In an amazing turn of events, before I got this message from UCLA, I was carrying out the recycling and met up with another neighbor, Barbara. She helped me carry the recycling to the alley. Barbara takes care of other people's dogs besides having two of her own. I told her that I would probably be having surgery fairly soon and wondered if I could pay her to watch Rasputin. She was excited about caring for him and said he'd have a good time with her other dogs. She'd keep him from getting lonely. Then she said that she has been thinking of donating one of her kidneys. She's an O and so am I. She said she would be my backup if things didn't work out with the paired donation. Isn't that amazing to have two people willing to donate to a non-family member, both within 100 feet of my front door! I am really being taken care of.