Hi Stacey, I thought I would read your journal to catch up with what’s new. It reads like a suspense novel. All these unplanned adventures would be overwhelming for most but I am proud of the way you meet each new challenge and keep on plugging along. What an example you are for those beautiful nieces and the rest of us. Your friends have such good ways of showing you how much they care about you. I especially like catching up on news from Denise (the comics) and other family members. Your cousin, Ann, and her Dad and stepmother were here Friday. Every 10 years four of her school friends from DC get together…she was here from Mass. for that. They all turned 50. After reading about climbing adventures, this will make you yawn. I’m going on a cruise on the Potomac for lunch and to play canasta or something equally exciting. Stacey, I love you and will keep praying for you. Wish I could give you a gentle hug. Aunt Norrie Gill, from Gaithersburg
Note from Miki
Stacey, your last message has cracked me up. I’m pretty sure that you aren’t inserting icons into your messages, as funny as it would be, given all the postings from go-men, etc. I think anytime you type a “u” “r” or “l” it gets goofed up. I’m no computer programmer, so I just think it’s kind of funny. I wonder what my message will look like! Just winding down after my daughter’s fifth birthday party. I actually got Chris into a Mr. Incredible suit. I sent pics to your hotmail account, can you access it yet? Glad to read (sort of — ha!) you’re home and doing better. You are awesome, Stacey! Much love from STILL the Icebox of the Nation. Miki, from Its Snowing here!
Note from Stacey
Felix, thanks for taking care of the spammers for me. John, good to hear from you. It has been good to be out of the hospital. In the past few days, I have been spending some quality time with my mother and Robert. I have been making some good strides in recovery this week. Instead of lying in bed most of the day as in the hospital, I’ve been going on short outings to the cactus garden, the art museum, and the park. Stacey, from H.O.M.E. apartments
Note from Felix
Hi Stacey, congrats on the surgery and being able to go home! And don’t worry about the [url] spammer; I’m on top of it now. Wishing you a speedy recovery. love, Felix, from Fremont
Note from John
Just FYI, The #@*%! in the following message was not a curse word, but was a programming tag that has already been filtered by the developer. My mom reads the site and didn’t want her to think I was cursing. Love ya Mom and Stacey too… John, from Texas
Note from John
Good Morning Stacey, Glad to hear about your successful surgery and hope you have a speedy recovery. I know it’s tough for you, but try not to push yourself too hard. I think you should give you body time to recover. Sometimes, not always, the doctors know what they are talkin’ about…LOL! As for these hacker types investing your web page, have your web programmer search the message text for “[url]”; if instr(message, “[url]”) then don’t save the information to the database. Of course if that was already implemented this message wouldn’t post..LOL! Sorry, some programmer humor… but the hack that’s trying to redirect your site is going to keep trying till his posts no longer post. The other possiblity is to not post any message till an admin clicks “post”, but that maybe a pain to administer. Just don’t add any messages with #@*%! tags to the database. Have a great day and know that your family loves you. John, from Texas
Note from Stacey
Peter, thank you so much for writing. I would be really interested in meeting you and Karen when you come to Stanford. I will e-mail you with my phone number. Yes, your name is very familiar. I have read about you in more than one climbing magazine or book! I would love to meet your Yosemite friends sometime. Stacey, from H.O.M.E. apartment
Note from Stacey
Aunt Carol, thank you for your sympathy but I’m sure childbirth is much harder than gall bladder surgery. They put me under general anethesia so I didn’t feel anything during the operation. I woke up to some pain from the surgery, but the internal pain I was feeling had evaporated so I guess surgery was the answer. It seems strange that we would have an organ that we can live without safely, but I suppose that is the case. After the surgery, I was taken off IV food (called TPN) and disconnected from the other IV medications too. Once I was off certain meds, the nausea lifted and I was able to eat normal food and keep it down. I was still very weak on Friday, but within three days I went from hardly being able to move or speak, to being able to sit up, take a shower, and go for short walks, and sit up most of the day. Moving day was long. It took 2 1/2 hours to take down all my posters, card display, books, clothes and deliver them to Dave’s truck. We waited for 4 more hours for the doctors to come by with the proper forms. Now that I’m out, I feel more normal and healthier. I still have to lie down much of the day, but I can get up and walk around the house, take a shower, wear real clothes, sleep in a real bed, and eat regular food. Thanks to a friend, I have a full-time paid caregiver named Myrna for the next two weeks, which frees up Dave so he can go to work. My mother, who is visiting for a week, has been busy cooking ahd teaching Myrna the ropes about transplant patient care. Stacey, from H.O.M.E. apartment
Note from Aunt Carol
Dear Stacey, I have not checked in for a while and was surprised to find you have had gall bladder surgery. Now there is something I can relate to. Many years ago I had that surgery. It was more stress than giving birth 4 times except when it was over it was over. Just kidding! My sons are a great blessing! I sympathize with you and hope you were able to have laproscopic surgery. We just had a blizzard on the shore of Lake Huron. It was a record for the last 82 years. Spring flowers were in bloom, the grass was ready to cut, and farmers were planting crops. We had high winds and blinding snow mixed with rain over the weekend. The TV said we had 12 inches. I measured many places in my yard and here we had 5 to 7 inches. Your cousin Ron and his 16 year old were at Boy Scout Camp in the wild and Ron came home very sick after two nights in a tent at 30 degrees. Don is working on his Eagle Scout rank. I am back at teaching my grandchildren to sew in preparation for the summer 4-H fair where they will show their calves and crafts. David,12, is making pajama’s from cow print material. He wants to add a detachable cow tail to the pants. One of the show calves is sick and after calling Jim’s wife (a veterinarian) the boys are treating it for bleeding ulcers. I hope it gets well in time to train for the fair. I feel sure that getting rid of the gallbladder will allow you to eat more and get your strength back. Love, Aunt Carol, from Michigan
Note from Peter Mayfield
Stacey, I am so glad to hear you are leaving the hospital! My girlfriend, Karyn Erickson, was diagnosed with LAM four days ago. Karyn has a background in molecular biology so we have been inundating ourselves with web research, and reading countless abstracts. Yours is the only real person perspective we have been privaleged to discover. Thank you so much for sharing your story, situation and positive energy in this way! Karyn is a cross country skier, cyclist and climber. We are just getting into climbing this year as the snow is melting (some days), though this weekend we were back on our skis. I hope you are back on rock soon! I know Karyn will be writting you. We are heading to Stanford as soon as possible for a day of tests at the hospital. Maybe we can meet sometime. I love bouldering in the Bay Area, (I grew up at Indian Rock) and I am teaching a class for middle school students at Castle Rock in May. If you ever need information about Yosemite climbing or introductions to some of the many awesome women climbers who live there, let me know. I have lived and climbed there for most of the last 30 years. Thanks again, We wish you the best, and have a wonderful homecoming! Peter Mayfield, from Truckee