Bad news yesterday, good news today

Yesterday, I decided to work late. Today is end of month. There is a lot that goes along with it. So I decided to stay.

While at work, I got an email from a coworker, Dave. He only said to call him ASAP. I did so.

And as it turns out, a good friend of mine, a coworker, took his own life last night. His daughter found him. It was his birthday, and it was the day after his daughter’s birthday. She is getting married in February. During all of her grief, she also made the observation that her daddy would not be there to walk her down the isle.

You never expect anyone to take their own life. But Jeff would be one of the last people you’d ever think would do it. He was under a lot of stress due to some changes at work, but I had no idea that he was at that point. None of us had even an inkling.

This has hit me pretty hard. And it will take some serious time to move to the other side of this pain.

Today, work was rough. people were way too nice to me. They are very concerned about me because of how close he and I were. We weren’t like best buds, or anything… but we were friends. He was just such a nice guy. He loved his wife, his kids, his house (minus the sinkhole)…

Sorry, I was going to talk about today and the good news I got.

I went for my follow up visit with Dr. K from my 2 MRIs that I did last week. He said

K – “Your MRIs look good, they’re normal”
Me – “Normal?”
K – “Yep, Normal”
Me – But what about my Chiari’s?
K – What about it?
Me – Normal as in no sign of my Chiari’s ?
K – No, you have Chiari’s… but really, nothing bad enough that outweighs the risks associated with surgery at this point. You may need it in 5 years, 10 years… sometime down the line. For now, we can treat the symptoms.
Me – Cool!

However, this isn’t set in stone yet. I have an LP (lumbar puncture… spinal tap) scheduled for Wednesday (next week, not today). I’ll be out of commission then and the day after as I have to remain on my back for 24 hours after the tap. I’ll go back to Dr. K on that Friday to get the results and our action plan.

Timmy is taking off Wednesday to take me to the hospital for my LP. He’s such a sweetheart. I love that man. Last night, when I found out about Jeff, Timmy drove an hour down to pick me up from work so I didn’t have to drive in my condition… and then drove the hour back from work to home… and then drove me to work this morning. What a great guy.

Okay, I’m still pretty emotional right now, so I’m ending here. But that’s teh updates, loves.