Warren L. Delano passes away

I was shocked when Derek let me know that Warren had passed away suddenly in Nov. Warren was an entrepreneur, open source advocate, scientist, and maker of one of the best software packages "Pymol". I met him during my tenure at Scitegic. He was one of my customers and was a very memorable person. He was extremely intelligent as well as open and giving. Every sales person has their favorite customers and he was one of mine. He was a young man in his prime and it is such to shock to loose someone so full of promise.

Merry Christmas to all my wonderful friends and family

I am laying in bed and it is almost midnight on Christmas Eve. Derek is already asleep and snoring softly beside me. It has been a difficult week. I have been having a hard time recovering from the most recent surgery. The pain got so bad that my Doctor admitted me to the hospital for blood work./CT Scan. I was very worried it would mean another hospital stay over the holidays. Luckily they couldn't find any obstruction and sent me home with anti-nausea drugs and pain killers. So I am very happy that I will be home with my family for Christmas. I was planning on cooking a really involved meal. But Derek (bless his heart) suggested that we go to Honeybaked Ham and buy the meat and all the trimmings. I was resistant to the idea.....but I had been unable to get out of bed the entire week so logic trumped my fantasy of cooking this wonderful Christmas Dinner for my family. Amy, Rich, Derek and his Uncle John and perhaps my son-in-law Ray will join us for dinner. All wonderful people with great sense of humor and love of family. It should be really fun.

Only concern is my poor daughter is still having a very bad first trimester. She can't keep anything down and can barely even drink. She has already lost over 15 pounds the first month of her pregnancy. She is going to stay with me for a while before she heads back. I hope I can cook or find some food that will settle on her stomach, I can't imagine vomiting multiple times per day for weeks on end. I feel so helpless as there is nothing I can do

Trying to stay positive

Not recovering quickly from this most recent surgery. I am still in a lot of pain and really feel best if I don't move around very much. I am going out of my mind staying inside with the beautiful weather. I had to do some Christmas shopping. It felt good to be outside. My posture is somewhat" hunched over" from the belly pain and that in turn hurts my back. Mentally I understand that my body has been through so much in the past two years and is unable to recover quickly. Emotionally I feel down and start to worry if I am going to be faced with a life of chronic pain. If I could just get a break and have a couple of years with no health problems, I think I can recover some of my strength, grace of movement and endurance. Right now I walk and move like an old woman.

I am going to be a Grandma!

Wonderful news!!! The only problem is that Amy is really having terrible morning sickness. My heart goes out to her. There is nothing worse than throwing up and feeling sick to your stomach. I told her that I hope it goes away after the first trimester. She had to go to hospital on Mon. because she was throwing up so much that she couldn't keep anything down. They did an ultrasound and sure enough there is a baby. I think she is only a month pregnant so you can't make out any details on the ultrasound. She thinks the baby will be born in early August. She will get her official due date when she goes to her first prenatal appointment next week.

Its almost a week and still in pain

I am getting really fed up with being in pain. I am so crabby that Derek is hiding in his office and just coming out for Diet Cokes. I don't remember this surgery being so painful last time. I pulled out my old pain pills from a year ago. It seems like morphine does the "trick" for this type of abdominal pain. The most difficult part is that eating causes a lot of pain. So today I have stopped eating. Derek will find out soon and then try and get me to eat. A battle will ensue and he will once again barricade himself in his office and fortify himself for the next battle. I am a difficult patient

Back home and healing

Thanks for all your emails, prayers and phone calls. They all mean so much to me. It appears the surgery has gone well although things are still very swollen and painful. I can barely get my largest sweatpants over my swollen abdomen. Every time I try and move my body hurts. My appetite is very minimal because just a small amount of food moving through my intestine is very painful. Today with some creative pain medication I was able to actually get some really good long hours of sleep. In the hospital, I had a morphine pain pump which I highly recommend. I wish I could have taken it home with me. Just push a button and the pain goes away.....what an invention. Derek and the dogs having been taking good care of me. Derek went back to work today so it was just the dogs and me. They know something is up and they are very gentle. Fergus sleeps right beside my bed and Wiley comes up stairs, sticks her head in the door to check on me every hour or so. God Bless them!!!