Just spoke with bonny, and here's a message from her:

I'm still kind of freaking out and staring at him like he's going to break, but things are as good as they can be right now.

She reiterated her gratitude and wonder at all the support, and Bartleby LOVES his new bed.

I know I've been pretty gray, barely lurking. Can I ask for some ~ma directed towards Florida. Seems my dad is having a pile of health scares. First he was supposed to go in Friday to get an advanced check on the prostrate... But due to the mini stroke he had Sunday, the docs think that procedure is a waste of time right now. And while running tests to see what might of caused the mini strke, they discovered one of his coronary arteries mostly blocked, so they prepped for emergency surgery to shove a stint in there and get him dosed up on Plavix. So hopefully that is ok, so they can focus on the ___ on the MRI of his brain. (dunno what it is...a mass... Gas... I dunno). Being on the opposite coast doesn't make it any easier. From the sounds of it, he's doing ok. The strokes effects wore off before the ambulance got there, so that's good. But still, a bit unnerving.

Dad is home from the hospital. The stint surgery went fine. Today they did some scan of the back of the heart for the cause of the stroke. Apparently there are 2 types of strokes, one from blood clot, one from (dad couldn't remember what it's called), and of course, he has the one he can't remember what it's called. Dunno when the results of today's test will be in, but he is apparently well enough to send home.

All in all, a crazy week for him. Apparently he was going to visit the audiologist on Monday to finally get some hearing aides, and then today was the day to get his prostrate probing exam, and instead he had everything but those two things done. Stroke. Stents. And tests galore! Fun times!

Thanks for all the ~ma and support!

(x-posting with Bitches)

I found out that a friend of mine , at age 38 had a brain aneurysm yesterday. Luckily , she was with friends that recognized something was seriously wrong. the doctors are pleased with her progress, but a little buffista ma ~~~ would be nice. for both her and her DH and her family. there are a lot of reasons that the words 'ever lovely' proceed her name.

It's probably nothing, but I'm at the ER to get some abdominal/back pain checked out. It may be another ovarian cyst or appendicitis; it may be random cramping that means nothing. Nothing-ma would be appreciated.

It's another ruptured ovarian cyst--this one luckily a lot less painful than the last. I have pain meds and am about to be discharged. Everything else came back normal. I have to follow up with my OB/GYN and will figure out next steps from there. Thanks for the -ma, all.

In this season of giving thanks, I cannot adequately express my appreciation for the incomparable generosity of the Buffistas.

I xposted in Bitches about Bartleby's progress, but the short of it is that, halfway through his recovery, he is doing better than could have been expected.

We had his drain removed today and found out that the biopsy showed NO CANCER CELLS. So, we are doing the happy dance around here.

If you are of a mind, you can see a photo of the uber-ugly wounds left by the surgery in my blog post about it. It makes clear how incredible it is that he's doing so well.

I humbly thank each and every Buffista who helped to finance this endeavor, helped me to keep my sanity, gave me advice on treatments and kept us in very kind thoughts and prayers.

May your Thanksgiving be as warm and bright as mine will be as a result of this beautiful community.

[I might be slightly away from the board, fighting monstrous paperwork, trying to write papers and understanding why my country thinks democracy is passé, but it doesn't mean I can't do other things in and for this community, dammit].

So, without further...

It's time for my annually-Christmas-announcement/reminder to Buffistas with religious affiliates. Stompies, if this should belong in Press (since I do plan this to continue as long as I am a part of this community), let me know and I'll repost it there.

For those of you who don't know: I live in Israel, and spend pretty much equal amount of time in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa. I also know this board has religious people on it, or people with religious families and friends.

So if any of you of any faith would like something from here - the Old City, or anywhere else - for Christmas or any other occasion, it's really easy for me to get it and send it overseas. In fact, I'd LOVE to do this for you, given enough guidance and information (I am and was raised Jewish, and pretty much everything I know about Christianity came from popular culture TV). I'm even OK with rubbing objects against graves/approximated graves/holy locations, if that what turns you on.

Profile addy is good, and again - it's not a hassle. In fact, it's the opposite of it.

Happy holidays!

I've been terribly grey during the day. New job has the internet on lockdown. Can't even check gmail, and many people have warned me that Big Brother is watching. I tried to go to an online radio station that I like, and got the big red message.